Payoff collection account that is on record until Oct 2014?

[TT52]

Hi All,

I'm trying to build up my credit to prepare for my first house within the next 1 to 2 years.

I have two negative items on my credit report and was wondering what would be the best move for me... I have read it may be better to let the item fall off instead of paying because it will renew on my report. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Additionally, I have two student loan accounts with $38K and $17K that I have yet to start paying on because I'm still in school. I'm assuming if I start making payments now, it should only help my CS...but how much should the payment amount be? I'm trying to weigh the pros/cons of living a tight budget to raise my score.

Thanks for any and all help!

Item #1

Status: Collection account $360 past due as of Jul 2012

Details: Account scheduled to contiue on record until Oct 2014

Last Reported: 7/2012

Item #2

Status: Collection account $250 past due as of Jul 2011

Details: Account scheduled to contiue on record until Nov 2015

Last Reported: 7/2011 

[fishbjc]

These items fall out of SOL, but don't really go away. 

Will the collection agency accept a pay-for-delete?  If not, I'd pay them and ask for a goodwill deletion.  Otherwise, they will pop up again from a JDB.  UGH.

These amounts aren't that large, so I'd just pay them when I had the funds.

Who are the Ca's?  What are these collections for?

[fishbjc]

I paid on my sons loans early, I just paid like $100 monthly to knock it down.  I recently paid it off for him and it feels good! 

[TT52]

I am able to pay off the debt now and will request a pay-for-delete in writing when I do so.

CA's are CommonWealth Financial Systems and JR Brothers Finance. Both are medical/hospital collections (one was an insurance mixup and the other was a collection I was unaware of. The debt was sent to the mother of my child who refused to pay...when I called the pediatric office years later to change back to them as primary care doctor, they notified me of the debt and then reported me as the joint owner).

I can afford to pay about $100-$200 towards my student loans starting now, but the money may also be needed elsewhere. Any idea how much this would affect my credit score? I know it would be much better to start paying down now...but if it will make very little difference in my score, I would much rather wait until I'm finished with school.