Paying Off Collections......The Road to Repair

[Anonymous]

Good afternoon to MyFico Friends;

Just a litte history......I was laid of from work a few years ago and as a result, I have several collection accounts as well as 2 tax liens. Despite these things, I have have been able to re-establish credit. At one point I was living off of my credit cards and was nearly maxed out on all of my lines. Fast forward to the start on 2016, I have a full-time job and 2 part-time jobs. I have now been able to catch up on all of my bills and have paid off 6 of my 10 credit cards which now have a zero balances. I will also be able to pay off the other 4 by the end of November.

My question to my friends: How should I go about paying off my collection accounts and tax liens so that I can ensure that these items are ploperly removed from my credit report so that I can see an increase in my credit score?

Any advise that you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Reading the responses from this forum has been a life saver!

Thanks in advance!

[pmarti8]

Search for each collection agency reporting by name here in the forums.  You will find many others having dealt with them.  They can advise you which collectors will do Pay For Deletes.  First thing I would do is make sure I have the money to pay them and dispute them with the credit bureaus.  Seek  validation, and then attempt to do PFD. Depending on the age of the collections and how soon you need to make a major credit purchase, you can also wait for them to age off if its with 24 months for the 7 year reporting limit.  Some collectors know if its several years old, taking the money and removing it makes more sense than you not paying a cent and it falls off in a year anyways. Others are dumb and would rather play hard ball.  The amount of the debt will also be a factor.