@Anonymous wrote:
I would like to get in a house later this year or early next year if possible. I had a decent year last year and was able to buy a decent car in cash (8k ish) as well as have enough to payoff about 9k worth of my debt (maybe about 4-5k in actual payments).
OK, after the dust has settled, when you are in the 630-640 range, you might want to talk to a mortgage broker or lender about your situation. Even if the lien is a bit of a drag on your scores, 630-640 should give you some decent options. And the lien IS paid off, which in some respects makes it better than having a large unpaid collection sitting on your reports. If the date of first delinquency was in 2003, it's obviously too soon for it to drop off, and probably too soon to ask the CRAs to bump it off early. But that would make the lien 4 years old, and that might dilute its negative effect as well. Supposedly, negatives have less effect on your FICO as they age.
With all that said, investing $500 in a possibly dodgy credit repair effort doesn't seem worth it, especially if there might not be a massive amount of points to be gained. I'd hang onto the $500 and between now and mortgage time, I'd try to maximize DTI and work on the other usual FICO tweaks (utilization, etc.). Since there are 6+ months left for AU status on two of the CRAs, you might even look into that option (finding a friend or relative with an old clean TL) for a temporary score boost prior to applying for a mortgage. And hopefully things will continue to get better ...