Welcome to the forums!
I'd suggest reading the following:
Common Abbreviations
Credit Scoring 101 - great for knowing what is in your credit score and to see how your score is impacted.
What Steps Do I Take - great for learning the repair process.
and Example letters - PFDs, GWs, DVs, etc.
If I had that, I wouldn't think about BK. The damage to your CR would only get worse with a BK and it would also push any future home purchase back by 3 more years (I believe that's the standard for mortgage lenders post-BK). PA's SOL is 4 years from last payment and you are poking at that now. Even if SOL had not expired on some, not every creditor will even sue. I would though save up to eventually pay them. I bet with some creative rebudgeting, increasing income, and decreasing expenses, you could easily save up for the full $15k inside of a year. And even if you had it, you won't need it because SOL would be over and you can be in a position to settle if you wanted/needed to. Moreover, I bet with some letters and effort, you could get your scores into the high-600s by the end of this year.
About 4 years ago, I stumbled upon this site after putting my head in the sand. I used to get bills and toss them into a box, most of which were never opened. I did this for years and when I wised up, my scores were in the low to mid-500s and had over $20k in bad debt. Some of it was in SOL and even got sued 6 times, but never considered BK. I just started making offers and paid most of it off, but to my benefit of having a cleaner report. Within 3-4 months of effort and dozens of letters, my scores were in the mid-600s and paid off quite a bit of debt in the process.
I suggest starting by pulling all 3 reports for free from annualcreditreport.com. If interested in repair, these reports are a necessity because they show more info not found elsewhere and contain info you can't get from here or anywhere else. If interested in FICO scores, then I recommend pulling your EQ FICO and TU FICO from here. Unfortunately scoresense and creditkarma offer scores, but they are not FICO scores. They are fake scores we call FAKOs. Your actual FICO could be much higher or lower than the ones you pulled. Your FICO reports will also show info with regards to what hurts your score the most and which accounts hurt the most. Another thing to note is that a paid CO or CA is equally bad as an unpaid one. In other words, it's OK to pay your debt, just try to get a deletion agreement before paying them to help aid your score increase.
Read the links above. In general without seeing more, Asset Acceptance and LVNV are CAs. I'd probably wait to do anything until SOL expires in September, but at that time, I would send DV letters to each. If they verify and you agree, then send PFDs. If they agree in writing, then pay it and they'll delete. In your PFD, you can offer less than owed of course.
CapOne and First Premier are OCs. You'd want to wait until SOL expires and then mail a PFD. You can offer a settlement in that PFD offer. CapOne loves to sue. I'd save up for them first because you have 2 months to go. And I'd also confirm the date of last payment just to be sure. PA's SOL goes off the DOFD of a debt but a payment will reset SOL in PA. And alternative to PFDs is just to pay it off. These accounts could be factored into your CC utilization if they report a CL and could really be dinging your score. Paying it off could result in a decent score increase.
For the 9 accounts reporting $0, send each GW letters. If they are younger than your AAoA then ask for a deletion in your GW. IF they are among your oldest accounts, you may want to wait then. Sometimes losing old accounts hurts more than the baddie itself. These 9 should be OCs. Even if the OC doesn't own the debt, and is reporting $0, you may want to wait until SOL expires on each first, just in case that OC contacts any CA that's out there. You wouldn't want the CA trying to sue for that debt.
