Paying off old credit cards in collections

[venessa1524]

I have 8 credit cards, about $25,000 in debt, creditors have sent me collection papers for all of them. i fell thru hard times and all my cards went to collections.

now i wanna try to pay them back off. alot of them have sent me settle out amounts for almost 40-50% off

question 1- if i pay all my debts off will it help my credit score or since its been 2-3 years that it wont matter?

question 2- what are the odds of the agencies deleting these off my account after paying them? is it worth paying these off now?

question3-if i pay these off how long would it take to make my credit score go up? any help would be great just really scared that if i pay these off then it wont make a difference

[Lian]

FICO does not directly score the payment of bad debt.

FICO scores the delinquencies, charge-offs and collectors that occurred along the path of ultimate payment.

Payment of the debt without securing CR deletion, either by way of acceptance of a PFD or a GW offer, wont improve your credit score.

Improvement will gradually come as they age, but not due to their paid status. Collections are major derogs, and don't age well.

In my opinion, the chances of acceptance of a PFD offer go down when the offer is for less than the full amount of the debt. Many debt collectors will not even accept a PFD for the full amount. Adding another condition for acceptance of less than the full debt reduces their chances acceptance.

Before considering a PFD, make sure you know if the debt is still within SOL. The collection could escalate into legal action if still within SOL.