Seven years goes by in the blink of an eye once you're old enough ;-)
Forgiving the debt is not meaningless: it's a big chunk of money you don't have to pay off. Granted, it's better to work with the creditor and get them to settle for a smaller amount, but a $15k debt removed from your record is not likely to cause you $15k of increased expenses over 7 years.
I'm actually interested in knowing if I bought the debt of someone else, could I write whatever I wanted on their credit report? For example, could I purchase $15k worth of debt for $500 and then forgive the debt and report to the credit agency that it was paid in full?
I walked away from my primary residence because it lost over $100K in value. My credit score only dropped from ~705 to 655 (per Creditkarma.com). Also, only one of my creditors lowered my credit limit (Citibank). American Express didn't even blink, and I've got a Platinum card with them with a $75K+ limit. To date, I've missed over 22 payments on my mortgage, and my credit score still remains fairly usable (I may complete a short sale, or may let it forclose. Depends on how amiable the noteholder is to both scenarios).
You've been lied to. The risks of walking away from most debt is highly overrated.
Forgiving the debt is not meaningless: it's a big chunk of money you don't have to pay off. Granted, it's better to work with the creditor and get them to settle for a smaller amount, but a $15k debt removed from your record is not likely to cause you $15k of increased expenses over 7 years.