@nate17 wrote:
My story- I have some teenage mistakes that still haunt me today. Collections and delinquencies from 6-7 years ago. The challenge is that I haven't had any correspondence with collectors in years, and am unsure who/what I owe. I've got my finances in order now and am trying to rebuild my credit from 590.
Today I started the process, and have a few questions:
I was told by a collector that I should dispute a charge, as it was no longer in there system. She was able to locate the debt that i saw on my credit score, but said it was gone now because of its age.....Does this sounds right, and how should I do this?
I found another collection agency on my credit report that i have outstanding debt with, how should I address the situation and any others? Is there a specific percent that I can pay to settle it, will it clear from my credit report, and should I ask the for paperwork or follow up to ensure it reflects on my credit?
I had another debt from 1-19-07. The collector said that it would essentially go off my credit in a couple weeks because it had been 7 years. Is this true, and if I paid it off for my peace of mind would it show just the same as it aging out on its own?
Last, are there any rewards cards for people with my level of credit? I want to get something going to help the rebuild, but don't know the first thing about credit cards other than I had a couple in the past that went delinquent....
I apologize for any redundancies, or questions that may have been answered already. Thank you for your time, and I really appreciate any advice given.
I do not claim to be a credit repair expert or anything of the likes, but I hope I can give some advice on the couple of things that I have read on these forums about. I am basically in the same position as you, except my score is worse and I have more "baddies" listed.
For the dispute, I would go ahead and dispute it, unless it is getting ready to fall off also. If it is not listed in their system then it shouldn't be on the report anymore, at least that is how I see it. I could be wrong, and someone with more experience and knowledge can correct me, but I think that disputing it to get it removed may be a good option.
For the one that is getting ready to age off, I think (again my very inexperienced knowledge) that you should just let it age off. I believe if you paid it it will list on your report as paid/settled or whatever with a $0 balance and it could remain longer than the age off date. Again, I could be wrong.
The rewards card option. I think, from what I have read and experienced that either the Barclays Reward (fair credit version), or the Cap 1 Quicksilver one might be an option. I tried the Barclays myself and was declined. Their letter said they pulled TU and my score (in their system) was 601. I was declined for high utilization and tried to recon, and was told that once my utilization is lower I can reapp or call them again and they could help me. My Score Watch score which is EQ from MyFico is 525. So I don't know how close the scores are in relation to one another but I have read about people around your score range being approved either flat out or thru recon. Personally, I was able to get the Cap 1 Quicksilver One when it was "recommended" as something I might qualify for via Credit Karma. I had 1 inquiry and decided why not. Surprisingly I was approved for $1000 limit. My CK score (which isn't to be used as an end all be all) was 570. I do have a Cap 1 secured with $200 limit that has been maintained well over the last 2 years so that probably factored into their decision.
I hope this helped, I know it wasn't great information, but I am trying to get on track and learn as much as possible and these forums have been a godsend. I hope I could put what I have learned so far into helping you in what little way I can 
.
Good luck!!!!