The situation is this... The credit card company has offered a settlement that is lower than the balance on the card. The card is deliquent by months. Pay the settlement? How does that effect credit history and credit score? Would the company report this payoff?

I've actually just looked up this information for myself--if you Google it you'll get a bunch of websites that will give you a bunch of tips and ways to deal with it.

But I heard that sometimes paying of the debt collector does not get rid of the bill. Sometimes they'll send it back to the original creditor and you'll still be stuck paying the rest of the bill anyway. You can fight it, but in most cases a judge will rule in favor of the creditor. I threw in a couple sites for you to check out... maybe something will help. Just be careful and request everything in writing and DO not pay with a credit or direct deposit from your bank because then you have NO paper trail. It's best to pay with check, that way if something does happen and they decided to show back up later, you have physical proof that you paid the bill.

Fair Debt Collection 12 tips for negotiating with debt collectors - MSN Money