Paid off a collection, 2 part question on scores?

[Aleforge]

I paid off a collection last July and it was never reported as being paid, this leads me to the first question. They are in agreement as of last week that it was paid in full. When they update the report do they have to put the information on when it was paid in full, or will they update it like it just happened? Will this effect my score, and if so can I dispute the date and have it updated?

Second question, does having a collection show as paid help credit scores? If so how much on average will they go up if it does? I am only 10 points away from approval. 

Thank you very much!

[guiness56]

First question could be a little sticky.  If they haven't updated to paid for a year and have not been updating the account for that long, when it is updated you may take a big score drop.  When it is finally updated to paid it will show a current date (activity on the account) making it look new and drop your score.

Second question.  Paid and unpaid collections are scored the same, as a collection.

I would ask the CA to delete the TL since it has been paid.

[Aleforge]

Wow, that is really bad news. We are 10 points away from pre-approval and the account was actually paid back in July. However the collection agency didn't report it as paid. The account was a one time charge, (not revolving) . I had no idea paid collections vs open collections scored the same. We were hoping once updating it would increase our score. 

Back when we paid it we asked them to remove it and they refused. Does anyone have any luck with asking for it to be removed after the fact? 

Thank you

[guiness56]

It really depends on who the collection agency is.  Some will tell you no over and over again but once paid, send a GW letter and they delete.

[Aleforge]

OK, we will do that. Thank you for the help!