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As ophelia783 mentioned, I'm a third-part debt collector specializing in delinquent credit cards. I know that in my office, the accounts we recieve are anywhere from 30-180 days behind. Anything before the 180 day mark can be cleared up without showing up as a "charge off" or uncollectable debt on the credit report. Anything that's turned over, however shows up as slow-pay or slow-credit.
As far as how bad it looks, I know that even a badcheck will show up on a long-form credit report. Generally, a small balance that was paid before the account could go to a recovery agency is not TOO damaging against your credit report. However, anything on there can be detrimental. For example, I have a medical bill from when I was 17 or 18 and still living at home that should have been paid by my mom's insurance (I wasn't really making jack-shit at work at the time, and the tests alone were over 400.00 US).
Long story short, I thought the bill had been paid, and my mom claims to this day that she paid it, but I know that I almost didn't get my current apartment jsut because when the ran the credit check, the medical bill showed up as having been turned over to collections (and then paid).
If you're really worried about it, I believe that you're entitled to a free copy of your credit report every so often (once a year?). Contact one of the three major credit beauraus to see how to obtain that.
Good luck!
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it's all about self-indulgence
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