applying for a mortgage

[Anonymous]

right now my scores are 620,609,590.  When i talked to my lender she said she would like to see my old verizon bill paid. it was open on 2008 and closed in 2010. balance is $354. On equifax its showing closed and Transunion it is showing it as open. it is my oldest account. one of my credit cards is 2 years old and i have two new ones from january of this year. i also have 2 school loans from 2011. I dont want to pay it and have it updated and stay on my credit report longer. i also dont want to pay it and it do nothing. but i definitely dont want to pay for deletion and it drop my score because of my credit age.I have heard that there is good success for for PFD for open accounts though. which route should i take? 

[Anonymous]

Paying it won't make it stay longer.

[Anonymous]

Verizon generally won't pfd.

[Anonymous]

The negative of the account is hurting you more than its age is helping. Age is a very small factor.

[Anonymous]

I've heard of some successful stories. It just take alot of phone calls to speak to the the right person is willing to help you. Thanks guys. I figured the credit age was helping me more than having it as a negative was hurting me

[_NERD]

I've said this before, but YEMV. I got my Verizon account and the related CO collection account deleted by disputing it. I think I selected the debt validation. It was deleted quickly after I initiated the dispute. By the time the collection agency letter stating they would validate arrived in the mail, everything relating to the Verizon account was deleted.

Mine was opened in late 2009 and closed off a few months later in 2010. Doesn't hurt to try.