Long-time lurker, first-time poster... Hi! 
My goal is to be able to purchase a home sometime next year. My rental lease is up in April 2014, so my goal is to be approved for a loan in Feb-March 2014. My current FICO EQ score is 541, and my EX purchased off their site is 530. Most of the damage I did to my credit was when I started applying for CC's when I turned 18 in 2005 and stopped paying on them. There are some past due student loans as well. I hadn't done anything recently to affect my score positively or negatively until I shopped for and was approved for an auto loan in May 2013. So there is now a few hard inquiries and a good-standing account with payments on time.
So here are my questions:
1. There are a few things that show a 0 balance, closed, pays as agreed. However, they have all gone into collections, so they aren't really paid as agreed. Should I try to send a GW letter to get them removed or are they just not affecting my score at this point?
2. There are a few things that show a 0 balance, 120+ days past due. These have all been charged off/transferred. Can I get these original lines of credit taken off my report? I'm sure they are affecting the score greatly.
3. Is it possible to PFD Sallie Mae to get the $15 @120+ days taken off the report? Or do student loans not do PFD's?
4. There are a few medical things in collections. Should I try to PFD? Do mortgage lenders take medical balances into consideration?
5. There's one thing that went to court and is listed as "Judgment Satisfied" which was a garnishment. Best course of action with that?
6. Those are my questions to fix my past. Now for my future, I'm sure I won't qualify for a credit card. Should I try for a secured line of credit? A couple? Store credit card? Credit union? I was going to try for a Fingerhut account, but I don't want to sign up for anything if it's not a guaranteed thing. I don't want any more pulls on my credit unless it ends in an approval.
7. Is it even a realistic goal to go from 530/541 to mid-600's in 5-6 months?
I'm sorry for all the questions, but there's so many things to attack that I am feeling overwhelmed and don't know the right course of action. 
Do I PFD things with low balances and get those out of the way first? Do I GW the 0 balances first? Do I try going for opening new accounts first?
Help. 
Here's the summary from EQ for everything:
Company Date opened Balance Status Negative Indicator? [?]
 Gecrb/Jcp | 11/2006 | $0 | Pays account as agreed | No | ||
| Hsbc/Bstby | 1/2007 | $0 | 120+ days past due |  | ||
| Hsbc/Artvn | 11/2006 | $0 | 120+ days past due | | ||
 Univofphx | 10/2009 | $906 | Bad debt/collection | | ||
 Sallie Mae | 8/2008 | $3,051 | Bad debt/collection | | ||
| Dp Of Educ | 10/2009 | $15 | 120+ days past due | | ||
| Dp Of Educ | 8/2008 | $0 | 120+ days past due | | ||
| Dp Of Educ | 8/2008 | $0 | 120+ days past due | | ||
| Dpt Ed/Slm | 11/2009 | $0 | 120+ days past due | | ||
| Dpednelnet | 11/2009 | $0 | 120+ days past due | | ||
| Dpt Ed/Slm | 8/2008 | $0 | Pays account as agreed | | ||
| Dpt Ed/Slm | 8/2008 | $0 | Pays account as agreed | | ||
| Wellsfargo | 11/2009 | $0 | Pays account as agreed | No | ||
| Wellsfargo | 11/2009 | $0 | Pays account as agreed | No | ||
| Sallie Mae | 8/2008 | $0 | Pays account as agreed | No | ||
| Sallie Mae | 8/2008 | $0 | Pays account as agreed | No | ||
| Midlandmcm | 11/2009 | $946 | 120+ days past due | | ||
| Lvnvfundg | 8/2009 | $859 | 120+ days past due | | ||
| Afni-Bloom | 10/2011 | $616 | 120+ days past due | | ||
| Aac | 6/2011 | $304 | 120+ days past due | | ||
| Sears/Cbna | 7/2005 | $0 | Pays account as agreed | No | ||
| Barclaysbk | 11/2006 | $0 | Pays account as agreed | | ||
| Dte Energy | 1/2010 | $0 | Pays account as agreed | No | ||
| Dte Energy | 2/2013 | $0 | Pays account as agreed | No | ||
| Chase | 11/2006 | $0 | Bad debt/collection | | ||
| Hsbc Bank | 1/2007 | $0 | Bad debt/collection | | ||
 Exeter | 5/2013 | $15,546 | Pays account as agreed | No |
@mrsbunyip wrote:Long-time lurker, first-time poster... Hi!
My goal is to be able to purchase a home sometime next year. My rental lease is up in April 2014, so my goal is to be approved for a loan in Feb-March 2014. My current FICO EQ score is 541, and my EX purchased off their site is 530. Most of the damage I did to my credit was when I started applying for CC's when I turned 18 in 2005 and stopped paying on them. There are some past due student loans as well. I hadn't done anything recently to affect my score positively or negatively until I shopped for and was approved for an auto loan in May 2013. So there is now a few hard inquiries and a good-standing account with payments on time.
So here are my questions:
1. There are a few things that show a 0 balance, closed, pays as agreed. However, they have all gone into collections, so they aren't really paid as agreed. Should I try to send a GW letter to get them removed or are they just not affecting my score at this point? You would goodwill the original accounts to try and have tradeline deleted. You would pay-for-delete collections. Some will not PFD or Goodwill. I see you have Midland; they are very hard to crack. I have seen a couple of successes, but most are not, and I, myself, was unsuccessful.
2. There are a few things that show a 0 balance, 120+ days past due. These have all been charged off/transferred. Can I get these original lines of credit taken off my report? I'm sure they are affecting the score greatly.
@3. Is it possible to PFD Sallie Mae to get the $15 @120+ days taken off the report? Or do student loans not do PFD's? Are student loans still open? Can you rehab them? if they are no longer with Sallie Mae, try goodwill.
4. There are a few medical things in collections. Should I try to PFD? Do mortgage lenders take medical balances into consideration? I have had success with Medical collections in agreeing for PFD.. try that route if original creditor will not pull from collector and take payment.
5. There's one thing that went to court and is listed as "Judgment Satisfied" which was a garnishment. Best course of action with that? Since satisfied, see if you can have the judgement vacated; then, it will be removed.
6. Those are my questions to fix my past. Now for my future, I'm sure I won't qualify for a credit card. Should I try for a secured line of credit? A couple? Store credit card? Credit union? I was going to try for a Fingerhut account, but I don't want to sign up for anything if it's not a guaranteed thing. I don't want any more pulls on my credit unless it ends in an approval. Do you have any current positive tradelines reporting? Or is everything either negative or closed? If you have no open accounts (revolving), then, it is important that you get positive info reporting. If there is someone that can add you as an authorized user on a positive account, that would be good. Otherwise, you can get a secured card to start jump start the rebuild.
7. Is it even a realistic goal to go from 530/541 to mid-600's in 5-6 months? ummm not sure; you have a lot of work ahead of you, but anything is possible.
I'm sorry for all the questions, but there's so many things to attack that I am feeling overwhelmed and don't know the right course of action.
Help.