If you have a charged-off account, it will show up on your credit reports and lower your credit score. Having charge-offs on your account can make it extremely difficult to get approved for a mortgage, an auto loan, beginner credit cards or credit cards with low-interest rates, and more.
Whether or not you should pay a charge off account depends on whether the charge off is legitimate or made in error. It’s essential to follow the proper steps in either finding charge-off errors or paying a charge off to ensure it doesn’t continue to show on your credit accounts as bad debt.