Many lenders reject borrowers' applications if their credit reports mention "settled" for a loan or credit card account. In this case, it doesn't matter how old the loan was or what is your existing score. "Settled" status in your report means that you didn't pay a loan entirely. Let's take an example to understand it. Suppose an individual got a credit card 15 years back when he started his first job. New to credit, he overspent on the credit card then. As he couldn't maintain financial disciple with a limited salary, there was a large outstanding. Unable to recover the money, the issuer asked him to pay a lower amount and settle the dues. If the individual opted for it, the issuer would report this account as "settled". It means that the cardholder was a defaulter and the issuer had to recover its basic dues from him. The "settled" status would continue to reflect in your credit report. Most lenders would not like to issue a...