Paying off a collection account will remove it from your credit report immediately. True or false?

Paying off a collection account does not automatically remove it from your credit report. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, negative items can remain on your credit report for up to seven years from the date of the original delinquency, regardless of whether the debt has been paid. Paying a collection may update the status to show a zero balance, which can modestly help your score under newer scoring models like FICO 9, but the tradeline itself remains visible to lenders throughout the full seven-year window.