Rich??

[JustMrsJoann]

Hello, and welcome to MSOS.
I've got a couple questions for you.
My husband and I are planning on paying off our debts (sad to say, but, almost all are in collections) with our income tax money.
We have gotten settlement letters. If we settle, will that hurt or help our score? I've read and heard both, so your help will be wonderful as we are about to get it paid.

And, how soon after we pay them, will we see our credit score go up?

[Rach]

That's a good question.

I'm going to answer on my end and maybe I'll be right From what I have seen (I've had settlements marked on mine), whether it was a settlement or paid in full doesn't affect your score- what matters in that regard is when you go for a loan or whatever and the company looks at your report and see's you only settled. It might not affect you, but it could.

I don't think it affects your score, though, whether you pay in full or settle. The quicker you get it taken care of and stopped reporting every month, is what helps your score go up, I think.

For me, I started seeing my score go up right away (maybe 2-3 months). One bureau wasn't much, but another can jack up the points quickly. Those bureau's are weird!

But...let's see what Rich says

[JustMrsJoann]

Thank you.. it's the same thing I was thinking. As soon as we get our income tax money in, we're paying a HUGE majority if not, all of it off. We may have to settle on some, but, I'd rather settle than let it be on there every month!