I've heard a bit about this - you negotiate to pay a percentage of the credit card balance after it has been delinquent and turned over to a collection agency, and your credit can improve quicker than bankruptcy. I hear it will report on your credit as "settled less than balance" which is somewhat negative. Anyone have personal experience I can gain from? Just received a notice of one of my credit cards raising the rate from 15% to 21% - with a perfect payment history. I can't take it anymore.