Thanks again, I don't feel quite so sick to go ahead with the settlement.

I would say its likely the score will improve if you settle, transfer the balance to the other credit line and pay it off as quickly as possible.

Stick to the repayment terms and the score should rise.

Thank you for your quick response. I know you must be busy. At the moment I have no debts except this one (my daughters) and my mortgage. As I mentioned I have good standing with other credit cards and a line of credit. Is it likely that my score would improve simply by maintaining these?

I will take a look at Average_Joe's posts.

As for my daughter, I have become very forthright with her on this subject. She is an adult and knows that I will not be involved in any further financial incidents made by her. She feels bad to which I have responded that she should. No more sympathy, only advise and support from me.

First things first, your credit has already taken a dive if they are willing to settle... creditors dont settle unless you are behind in payments.

If you settle and transfer the balance on your credit from $17k to $8k your TDS (total debt service ratio) will go down, so thats good for mortgage refinancing. The bad news is your credit score has already gone south so a bank may/may not want to deal with you depending on your credit score in 3 years time… no bank = higher mortgage interest = higher cost to you.

They can't sell the balance if you settle correctly, search this forum for some tips on how to do it right - Average_Joe's posts are good to follow, he knows his stuff in DIY debt settlement.

Lastly teach your daughter a lesson here – get a contract drafted up showing that she owes you the $8k – make sure she doesn’t do this again to you. I feel for your situation, we see several like this every day in our office.. its up to you as her parent to set her straight and make sure she respects credit.

I allowed my daughter to use my credit. Stupid, I know but whats done is done and now she can't pay it and neither can I (nor do I want to). The amount owing is $17,100.00 (at 14%). The credit card company will settle for $8,500.00. I would settle this using my line of credit (at 5.25%) which has a 0 balance. I have good credit and am concerned but at the same time I feel this amount is more achievable for my daughter to repay within 2 years and I guess a drop in my credit score would be my lesson learned.

My question is - as I have other credit cards and this line of credit in good standing, would this mark against one credit card create difficulty when I remortgage in three years? Also, would it be possible for the credit card company to sell the balance resulting in my having to deal with this all over again?

Some advice on this would be greatly appreciated.