What to do

Have you tried debt management program? It will consolidate your debt, lower your interest rate and waive off your late fees. It will have positive effect on your credit score.

first decide if you would need debt management or debt settlement. and the way you need to figure that out is are you barely paying the minimums? can you afford a long term payment plan? and can you deal with your credit score? The reason why you need to ask yourself these questions is because there are cause and effects to everything here is the tip of the ice burg:
management or counseling consolidation; still pay it all off but cousel will negotiate fees and percentages away or mostly away you will make monthly payments for as long as it takes to pay it off. does not effect your credit much from what i hear but it make take 5 years or more.

settlement, usually 2 years average but will trash your score. but it is easily repaired. with settlement you will stop making payments and start saving. you can do this on your own or through a company, and negotiate with the collectors on how much you are going to pay them in one lump sum until a agreement is made. This option is quick. worse for your credit though than consolidation but better than bk.

like i said this is the tip of the ice burg so research some more and get the feel for your options and whats best for you

Set your priorities. If your main concern is improving credit score then debt management will be a better option for you. But if you are on the verge of bankruptcy and credit score is a secondary issue then debt settlement can be a better option.

If your goal is to 'preserve' your score, you really have no options.
If, however, you go with another option, you're probably looking at a decrease to your score, which can vary. If you're in the realty business, than you know there are companies out there that can fix credit, much more rapidly than the years it would take to 'build' credit yourself.
I could refer you to a solid national credit repair company, which I suggest to pretty much everyone. I think it would be deleted it I post right here, so pm me and you can check it out for yourself, or 'quick note' me, etc
I think if you weigh the costs of interest and fees on your credit cards, against the value of getting your LIFE back and then spending a couple hundred bucks to rebuild your credit, you'll find it's a really easy decision

Have you gone through the "Do it yourself" section of this site? It may come handy to you. I would recommend you to go through this section. It is a helpful one.

Here are some steps you may follow: -
How to settle your debts yourself and simplify your life