https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/New-to-Forum-and-Need-Help/m-p/1040682#M151874 Keep trying to Goodwill the ones that are paid off. The will fall off in 7-7 1/2 years from the original date. In the mean time use your newer credit cards responsibly. Do not carry a balance on all 3 cards. Only keep a balance on 1 card and keep that balance under $30 in my opinion for best scoring. Read around the forums and you will see different advice on how to improve your scores by using and paying your credit cards certain ways. Good luck Sun, 25 Sep 2011 16:27:59 GMT Anonymous 2011-09-25T16:27:59Z https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/New-to-Forum-and-Need-Help/m-p/1040584#M151868 <P>Hi everyone,</P><P>&nbsp;</P><P>I'm in a bit of a jam. I've had bad credit for most of 20s and have been trying everything in my power to raise my score. I have 3 open credit cards, all with a CL of 500.00 and never had a late payment. I also have a student and car loan also with no late payments. The issue I'm having is that in 2006, 3 of old my accounts went into collections (due to a job loss), 2 of which I settled and paid off. The last account is now being reported by Midland Credit Management and the other 2 I paid off reports as settled and paid. I've written letters to them to remove this information, but to no avail. Now I have this account being reported which dropped my score to 523 on Experian. <img id="womansad" class="emoticon emoticon-womansad" src="https://ficoforums.myfico.com/i/smilies/16x16_woman-sad.gif" alt="Woman Sad" title="Woman Sad" />&nbsp;I really would like to own a home within the next 2-3 years, but how can I get these collections removed from my report??? Please help!</P><P>&nbsp;</P><P>Thanks.</P> Sun, 25 Sep 2011 14:07:34 GMT https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/New-to-Forum-and-Need-Help/m-p/1040584#M151868 Anonymous 2011-09-25T14:07:34Z https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/New-to-Forum-and-Need-Help/m-p/1040682#M151874 Keep trying to Goodwill the ones that are paid off. The will fall off in 7-7 1/2 years from the original date. In the mean time use your newer credit cards responsibly. Do not carry a balance on all 3 cards. Only keep a balance on 1 card and keep that balance under $30 in my opinion for best scoring. Read around the forums and you will see different advice on how to improve your scores by using and paying your credit cards certain ways. Good luck Sun, 25 Sep 2011 16:27:59 GMT https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/New-to-Forum-and-Need-Help/m-p/1040682#M151874 Anonymous 2011-09-25T16:27:59Z https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/New-to-Forum-and-Need-Help/m-p/1040922#M151890 <P>Thank you so much!</P> Sun, 25 Sep 2011 23:12:48 GMT https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/New-to-Forum-and-Need-Help/m-p/1040922#M151890 Anonymous 2011-09-25T23:12:48Z