You finally paid off the collection agency that's been hounding you over an old debt for years, but what about the creditor that originally owned your account? What happens to the charge off they've been reporting on your credit reports?
A lot of people expect the charge off to magically disappear from their reports once the debt is paid, but the truth is it can stick around for quite a long time before it falls off on its own. The original creditor should update your account to show that it's now a "paid" charge off instead of an "unpaid" charge off, but they are in no way required to remove the negative mark.
Of course, that doesn't mean you can't ask to have it removed. Sending a nice letter won't hurt, and who knows—you may just get lucky.
