The credit reporting after payoff will depend on the relationship between the debt collector and the original creditor.

If the debt was truly sold, then the original creditor probably will not change its credit reporting if you pay the debt collector. It will probably continue to report the account as a charge-off.

If the debt collector didn't actually buy the debt but is an independent contractor working for the original creditor, the original creditor may change its credit reporting to show "paid after charge off."

But, "paid after charge off" is almost as harmful to your credit score as a "charge off." So, there may not be a dramatic increase in your credit score after you pay off the debt.

Disclaimer: I am not licensed in Virginia, so the above is general information only and not legal advice.

I agree with Ms. Ware's assessment of the facts, I would add that if the charge off already appears and the paid comment will do little to improve your score.

Good Luck

The defaulted account can legitimately appear in your credit report's "tradeline" section at most two times: once for the original creditor, and once for a collection agency that either is collecting on or that did actually collect the unpaid balance or for a junk debt buyer that owns the account or has been paid on the account.

Any intervening collectors/owners should be disputed away.

While it may be true that paying the account will not immediately improve your credit score, unpaid accounts are insurmountable stumbling blocks to many types of credit. If you have chosen to pay, the only scenario where you would be sensible to delay paying on the account would be in a mortgage situation where you already have an acceptable score but the unpaid account is unacceptable to the mortgage lender. In that case, you should arrange to have the payment of the account rolled into the homebuying process so that a check is cut to the creditor at closing.