Negotiate Your Credit Rating

After or during debt settlement you should negotiate your credit rating with the creditor. Many consumers do not realize even after you have a "paid" the collection will remain as a negative item to your credit rating. If you do not negotiate your credit rating your score will remain about the same as prior to paying them off. The only positive is that if a lender chooses to look into your report it shows a positive action.

Pay more to get more insist on complete removal of a listing from the secondary creditor. Lenders don't care if you have a "Paid as Agreed" collection account or "Paid as settled" no matter what the rating, every collection account is a negative mark. They have the right to not report just as they have the right to report offer more to get it off if you have to it will be worth it in the end.

Reflect it correctly Technically, they are obligated to do this, as this is the truth. For the creditor to NOT do this is a violation of the FCRA. Don't do this, though, if you plan on disputing the whole listing later, though, through credit repair

Accepting less as part of your settlement

You may find that some of your creditors are willing to hold out longer than you are before agreeing to delete the negative listing from your credit. Some creditors may be unwilling to delete the negative listing under any circumstance. If you are on a time-line, you may want to consider the following:

List the account as "Paid" you may suggest that the creditor list the account as "Paid" if they refuse to remove it. This is a true statement of the status of the account so creditors may be more willing to agree to "Paid". A "Paid" status is still a negative mark however it shows lenders good faith. A simple "Paid" notation on a regular trade line is neutral and should not hurt your credit.
List the account as "Settled" only You may suggest that the creditor simply list the account as "Settled" if they refuse to remove it. "Settled" is an essentially negative listing but not as negative as "Paid Charge-off." Don't agree to a "Settled" until you have run out of possibilities. "Settled" can prompt a credit denial. Only agree to "Settled" if all other negative notations such as: "Charge-off", "Repossession", late notations, and "Collection" are removed. If you agree to a "Settled" you should proceed with credit repair.
List the account as "Paid Charge-off", "Paid Collection", Etc This is what creditors will most commonly list once you have paid. These marks are almost as damaging as the current negative listing. However, it is common for an account to be deleted using credit repair once it has been paid. The creditor now has no convincing reason to keep the negative listing on your report. If your determined to get your credit improved and its time sensitive go ahead and take the deal and just do credit repair after all is said and done.