any collection account is going to cost you on your score, paid is always "better looking to lenders- notice I say lenders" but it doesn't make any diff. to Fico if it is paid or not in the scoring- that is what the typical consensus is.
I know, it doesn't make any sense, you want to do the right thing and pay them- but just because you pay a collection does not always help. Again, as I said- it looks better to lenders.
A paid collection looks better to lenders than an open collection- and a paid collection looks better than a charge off collection. Anything over a 100 dollars is a sticky situation cuz the CA may try to sue you. A paid looks better than settled to lenders too if the amount was settled for pennies on the dollar but the lenders really won't know that unless they research it.
I am going to pass this on to the mods cuz colllections get sticky- you have to know the SOL and older colls. do not hurt your score as much as recent collections.
Bottom line- I had 2 med colls. that because of "principles in 2005" because of what I tho thought was unfair billing I let them go to coll. Wish I had never done it now. They are really stupid amounts- like 116 and the other a little over 100.