Paid in Full vs Settlement on credit report

[Csthreatt]

What is the name of your state?California

I am currently in the process of repairing my credit. I want to pay off all of my credit card debts that appear on my credit report (all more than 3yrs old) but the companies are offering a much less settlement offer.

In terms of rebuilding my credit, should I pay the settlement amount or try my best to pay the full amount? Please help

 

[Debt Guy]

Paying the full amount does not improve your credit score.

What is causing your credit score to tank is the fact that you were delinquent, charged-off, etc.

Sometimes, you can convince a creditor (usually not the majors) to completely delete the tradeline. If they agree, then your score would improve because the old nasty stuff is gone.

Some would say the best strategy is to settle the accounts for least amount of dollars and then undertake a program of disputing the tradelines to the CRAs in the hopes of having them deleted. Personally, I think that is dishonest.