If you settle for less than the full amount, the creditor/debt collector has the option of reporting that fact.
It is never favorable to have a comment posted to your CR that, in the past, you did not pay your entire obligated debt.
While the FICO score impact is questionable, it is never good, upon a manual review, to inform others that one of your prior creditors took a loss in their dealing with you.
While many furnishers will not do a pay for delete, they may agree not to report settled for less. It's the next best thing... save money, and not report settled for less.
In that event, the debt will appear the same to both scoring and upon manual review as if it had been paid in full.
