Thanks community! This is my 1st post.
I have spent hours reading over advice and it has paid off. I know this may be a record for credit score improvement but I went from across the board 550s to 675-700ish in 3 months! Today, I qualified for a VA home loan through USAA for 200k @ 4.875. What a feeling to hear, "You've been approved!" 2 weeks ago USAA shot me down. I knew my scores had gone up last week so I decided to call USAA back again. I was told my scores had gone up 50 pts in 2 weeks which put me over the 620 median score. I have been working diligently for the past 3 months on improving my scores. I have been using a credit repair service for the past 3 months (excellent service). 9 combined items have been deleted with their help which included 2 identical judgments, a charge off and 6 old collections. I expect a few more deletions to follow. I am at my end of what I can get removed, I sent out the last 2 letters today and disputed items over the weekend online. What I cannot get removed I will have to send a 'PIFD' check to. Thanks for this advice that does work. My own letters and online disputes have helped tremendously to increase results. What has contributed the most is that I had 4 credit cards maxed out and paid them all to 0. I did not realize until I read into what effect credit card balances have on credit scores. High balances bring down scores drastically. Thanks for this advice. Something I will never forget. Persistence, determination and changing the way I pay credit (#1) equals RESULTS!.
I still have a few old collections left to pay and hopefully get removed on each but I can see 750 on the horizon in a few months.
A big thanks to everyone! 
