As with the reporting of any account delinquency, its scoring affect does not decrease if the account remains delinquent and unpaid.
It increases once notified that the delinquency continues and has extended in time since intitial delinquency.
An unpaid collection does not "age" in the sense that its negative scoring effect declines over time.
When a collection is updated, it is equivalent to when a creditor reports that the period of delinquency has extended from, for example, 60-late to 90-late.
The update notifies the scoring algorithm that the period of delinquency has increased from the date of initial delinquency, and thus its negative impact increases.
Collections begin to "age" in the sense that the effect of prior delinquency decreases over time once the debt is paid, and the collection then is updated to show paid, closed, $0 balance. After that point, the CRAs instruct debt collectors to cease regular updates, and only report update if some item of information needs correction. The FICO algorithm then begins to age the effect of the collection.
Updates, if made after the delinquency is overcome by paying the debt, do not continue to extend the period of delinquency,and thus do not continue to depress scoring.
