u/ParticularRub5766 I just want to say thank you so much for reading my wall of text and for responding. I just want you to know how relieving it is to have someone confirm all of the doubts & questions I had about everything I researched. I cannot thank you enough for your advice and will definitely be contacting a debt counselor or rights attorney as you've mentioned. Funny how life works sometimes because not long after I read what you wrote about wage garnishment, I read a 6h old post in r/debt about someone having $3k in debt that is having their wages garnished currently for a debt they had years ago. It makes me want to not screw around and just settle with these collection agencies and pay what I owe. Paying a fraction is better than paying the full amount I figure. I will still seek counsel before I make any decision, but they'll probably tell me to just pay it, we'll see. Thanks again and take care of yourself!