consolidation vs settlement

[EaglesFan2006]

So I spoke to someone at a debt consolidation care place and asked about effect on credit.  he said the difference is that debt settlement hurts your credit, almost ilke bankruptcy, where as debt consol you still pay off in full and it helps credit by brining things current.  is this true?  i mean the guy didn't say they delete negative items or anything, it wasn't like one of those too good to be true things.  I mean i'm hoping to get this current enough to hopefully within a year be able to get a car.........

[Leele]

I was told that debt settlement and debt consolidation are both  like  bankruptcy since you are going through a 3rd party to help pay your bills and or not paying the full amount...If I were you, I would try to contact the OC and work out a payment plan with then and ask them to please remove any negative remarks on your CR once the agreed amount has been satisfied (make sure to get that in writing first) this is what I did and my credit scores went from the low 500's to the high 600's in about a year...Let me know if this helps.

[EaglesFan2006]

I appreciate it.  I've tried that but it hasn't worked.