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girlieemt wrote:Hi all,First off, let me thank anyone who can help me figure out what I need to do.That being said, I did I pretty good job of messing up my credit when I was 20ish for financial and medical reasons, and am now finally getting back on track, additionally I would like to build a house in 7-8 months, which would require my FICO score to be higher and my credit report to be less blemished.I have several (10-12) collections (charge-offs) that mostly date from 2001-2003. They range from $75.00 to $1000.00 each. I have sent out two letters to two different collection agencies disputing 2 reports that I do not think that I righfully owe. I know that I owe on the rest of them, but am unsure as to how to go about paying them. I have a large sum (3500.00) of money coming this week/next week to be used for the sole purpose of getting rid of my collections on my account. Ideally, I would like to see if I can get them to do a PFD, but I have read on this site that I should only contact the colection agencies by mail, which is fine. I was planning on using the model letter that Tuscani so gratefully drafted.My first question is:How do I figure out how much money to offer the colection agency in return for deletion? Honestly, I would like to 'pay my fair share', but realistically, want to see if I can settle for a portion of the amount owed.Second question:If the SOL is 6 years in Maine, does that mean that my old debts with the date of delinquency of greater than 6 years should be removed? Do I just contact all of the credit bureaus individually and site the SOL for my reason for having the debt deleted from my account, OR will it stay on there for 7.5 years because that is how the credit bureaus report?Third:Also, what would you reccommend is the best way to ensure that I can get the creditor to mark the account as Paid instead of settled?Fourth:Would writing a GW letter help me at all in dealing with these charge-offs? I only ask because they seem to only be helpful in waiving late payments, I'm not sure how I could use one to my advantage.Thank you again to anyone who has any ideas on what I should to to finally resolve this huge mess.