Most debt collectors use credit reporting as one of their tools to aid in collection on the debt, with many consumers assuming that paying will remove a collection.
They have no business benefit in reporting after the debt is paid, and once reported, they must thereafter invest time and money to ensure any required updates are made, process any good will requests, or process and disputes filed by a consumer. Thus, they may decide not to report once the debt is paid.
However, reporting of a collection is the reporting that they either have or had legitimate collection authority at one point.
There is no provision of the FCRA, FDCPA, or CRA reporting policy that prevents reporting of their collection after the debt is paid, providing they corrrecly report the current status as paid, closed, and current balance as $0.
If you wish assurance, you can first make a pay for not reporting offer. If they agree, you then pay, and the pay for not reporting agreement becomes a valid contract term.
You can, as a middle ground, simply obtain an oral promise not to report, which then becomes an oral contract once you pay. While breach of oral contract is more difficult to prove should you later require a breach of contract suit, it is nonetheless a valid contract provision.
