Does paying off past-due credit accounts neutralize their negative status?
No. Many people believe that if they pay off an account the previous negative information is deleted from their credit reports. Once an account is late, sent to collection or charged off, the negative information will remain until the statutory amount of time has run (7 yrs normally, 10 yrs for a Bankruptcy). If you make a payment with 1 year left, you “restart the 7 year clock” and it starts ALL OVER again for another 7 years!
