credit card payment

Hi there - and welcome!

That really depends on what debt management/consolidation/settlement company you go with. When you post your questions here, you're asking them to a community of people dedicated to helping others get out of debt - we are not the actual "company" that handles your debt.

Certain settlement programs require you to pay in a named dollar amount or percentage of your debt before they will pay it to the creditor, which, yes, could damage your credit score, as the bills would go unpaid until that time.

Other programs negotiate a lower payment amount per month with each creditor, and you pay a single monthly payment to the agency, which in turn pays your creditors every month. It may be noted in your credit report that you are working with a debt management or consolidation company, but it certainly looks better to have that in your report than no payments at all.

I hope that info helps you out. I'm sure there are more knowledgeable memebers who will post more info for you!
Did you sign up with a debt management/consolidation/settlement company already?

As Sue has said there are different ways to do plans.
1. Debt Consolidation-most plans have a monthly payment to plan and is sent to creditors.
2. Debt Settlement- Company holds funds and barters down your debt for a percentage of it's actual balance.

Some of these companies can set up a contract to either delete the bad accounts off reports or have creditors do a FDIC reage
to present the accounts as 100% positive.
As always do plenty of research when checking out these companies and I would do one thing further.Call your creditors and ask for a hardship settlement options.Some allow you to settle yourself.