Pay in full or attempt offer

[Anonymous]

I thought I had everything paid off but missed 2 that are in collections. I can afford to pay one or the other in full but not both. Would it take a hit on my credit to pay off with an offer less than what I owe? Or does it not matter as long as it's agreed to and marked paid off?

[RobertEG]

If they accept a settlement for less, they have the option to additionally provide the special comment of settled/paid for less.

That informs others, in a manual review, that you have a history of not paying the entire debt that you obligated.

You can, as part of any settlement offer, include the additional condition that they agree not to report any reference to the debt having been settled for less.Your credit report will then look the same as if the debt had been paid in full (i.e., status: paid;  balance: $0).