Reading a credit report – What does closed account status mean?

[Ben]

I have a few negative items on my credit report, three of which are old medical bills plus four old debts. On two of these old debts the account status reads “Closed”.
I have a few questions:

1. What exactly does that mean?
2. What should I do with it? Should I just pay it? Should I insist on “Pay to delete”? And if so – how to go about it?
3. Does it affect my credit score?
4. When will it come off my credit report?

Tnx

[Shirley]

Pay it off

Closed status means that the account is no longer active. What it actually means is that you still owe the amount stated there, but they are no longer trying to collect it from you. No one is doing a thing about this debt.
Any item like this impacts your credit score. If you have a few – I can only assume that your credit score is very low.

What I would do is try to contact the company that the account belongs to her. You should have their contact information in the “Creditor Information” section. Ask them to pay it in full – and in return they will remove it from your credit report. They may agree, and may not. It’s up to them.

In any case, if you pay in full the item will remain but the status will show “Paid”. It will continue to impact your credit score, but will fall of after 7 years.

If you don’t pay them, the Item may fall off anyways, but they may sell it to a collection agency which means that it will be opened again and may even so as a new item.

I’d try to pay it off if I were you.

Hope this helps

[Author]

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