I've decided to start trying to repair my credit this year. I had two agencies that had purchased old debts still sending me notifications with offers to settle or go on a payment plan. I made the mistake of not researching these options first and went ahead and started a payment plan (3 payments settling on 40% of the balance). My first payment charged to my account yesterday and today I have a hard inquriy on my credit report from a collections agency I've never heard of? Not sure why or how this is legal? Is there anything that I can do at this point to undo any damage I might have done? I've read on some forums that I should have called the agency that I settled with before paying anything to make sure they remove the debt from my report once I've paid. I read on a different forum that paying a settled amount is just as detrimental to your credit score. Help!?
