I have been researching and reading posts about repairing my credit and have a few things I would like to clear up. If anyone can help, please do so. Ok... 1) Some people say paying on collections brings the account activity to new and may hurt me. Should I still pay? 2) How do I get the negative report removed after paying? I have read responses saying to get in writing that they will remove the listing when I pay it in full. 3) How long do they have to remove the listing? 4) If I have closed accounts that are negatively effecting me, should I have them removed? 5) Which accounts are the most important to pay off?
I am new to all of this as well, but maybe I can share some of the knowledge I've acquired. 1- While it does update the account activity, having the debt is still going to hurt you. You are going to want to get it removed one way or another regardless. (leads into answer for question #2) 2- You can sometimes get a CA to agree to remove it from your record payment. If you are going this route- BE SURE to get everything documented. Having someone "promise" over the phone means nothing to be frank. 3- The account by default stays on your reports for 7 years once last updated \ paid. They dont have to remove it any earlier unless there was some arrangement made in writing when you paid it off. 4- For sure! I personally have already had 2-3 negative accounts removed and a couple more (hopefully) on the way I watched my credit score jump greatly when some negatives were removed. 5- Honestly, the way I look at it, any debt that is going unpaid is going to hurt you. If you are looking for an "order of importance" of what to pay first, well I'm not to sure on that but I would think defaulting on a loan would be worse then unpaid credit card debt personally... Hope I could offer some help
Wrong. The account stays on your reports for seven years (or seven years and six months) from the time it went delinquent and was never again brought current. The date of last activity may be updated, or the status date, but the date it falls off the report is based on the delinquency date.
