better option: Settle or pay charge off in full

[roman3689]

hi, Im in the process of fixing my credit and am trying to figure out which option is better. i have a few charge-offs and was wondering is it better to settle and pay less or make an attempt to pay the collector in full. I know obviously its better to pay in full but it would be easier to pay the offers there making to settle. What would you do in my situation?and what other options could i have.?. Thank you

[Lian]

Regardless of how you settle the debt, you arrive at only one currrent status.
Any debt settled, regardless of the amount accepted by the creditor as settlement of the debt, leads to only one current status: Paid.

Current account status thus does not differentiate. Settlement for less than the full amount is separately recorded by way of an additional "special comment" (field code 19), which simply reads "settled for less than the full amount." The monetary amount of the settlement is not recorded. If the creditor enters that special comment, it is viewable by anyone accessing your CR up until the normal CR deletion date for the item of information. Such a comment is generally not viewed favorably in a manual review, since it is an indication that you did not fully meet your prior debt obligations.

Many consumers are duped into the belief that if the creditor updates the current status to paid, that erases any indication that the full debt was not paid. Creditors dont inform the consumer of the special comments they submit.

It is your personal decision as to how important the presence or lack of such a derogatory comment is in your credit report. To me, it is a very negative comment.

[chane]

Your best option is a pay for delete. You can learn how to do it here:

How To "Pay For Delete"