Heartland/ECSI said their approval of the forbearance will “remove the negative credit report”. It is my understanding that paying off a bad debt does not automatically “remove the negative credit report” rather it simply results in a new entry being made that says the bad debt has been paid.
I will check with Heartland/ECSI to see if there are any advantages of paying off the loan in full, which will cost about $1,000, versus applying for the forbearance and once granted, turning right around and paying off the loan in full.