How to start?

[Anonymous]

Hi All, 

I have been half-heartedly trying to clean up my credit for years...mostly because I'm not sure of what to do. I just pulled my reports, maybe 6 baddies total and everything else is current. I know I have to pay off my credit cards, but how do I go about cleaning up the rest? Contact the lender? Pay it off? Doesn't that re-age the account? 

All of you who have raised your scores are inspiring....I just want to know how to do it!

Thanks!

[DaveSignal]

I paid off all my bad debt too.... not because I had to in order to fix my FICO, but because of a job-related reason.  It is easier to get the creditor to remove a negative item if it is paid, but you can still dispute stuff that isn't paid.

[2NE1]

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@DaveSignal wrote:

I paid off all my bad debt too.... not because I had to in order to fix my FICO, but because of a job-related reason.  It is easier to get the creditor to remove a negative item if it is paid, but you can still dispute stuff that isn't paid.

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same here! but it still wasn't good enough... they let me go...

[RobertEG]

I would first prioritize the unpaid debts.

Number one, which are still within SOL?

Number two, which are most likely to get worse?  Unpaid debts can mature to charge-offs, collections, and legal action.

Re-aging an account usually refers to resetting a date that affects its ultimate credit report exclusion date.  All credit report exclusion dates, with the exception of unpaid tax liens, have a CR exclusion date based on the date of occurence of the adverse item, and are not affected by other reported activity.

For charge-offs and collections, the only relevant date for CR exclusion computation is the DOFD on the OC account.

For monthly delinquencies, the controlling date is the actual date of occurence of the delinquency.

[Anonymous]

Thanks all. 

Most are paid. I have one that isn't that will drop off in January 2013. I have been EXTREMELY careful with my credit in the past 3-4 years to rebuild, but I still can't make any progress which is why I came here! 

I guess I'm asking what to do first...I have an unpaid (collections) debt of $285. Should I pay it? Write a letter and ask for removal? What is a PFD?