What now?

[WYBOWHUNTER]

I want to get my credit rebuiilt. I just pulled my FICO score from Equifax and I'm at 539. I've been working to get everything paid off by the end of this year. It says my payment history is bad ( we got hit with a ton of DR bills that at the time we couldnt afford) I have a good job and income now. It says amount of debt is good, and it says very good for length of credit history and amount of new credit. What would be the next move to start rebuilding my score?

[Anonymous]

Just paying collections and COs will not improve your score.  These items would need to be completely removed.

Do you know what your SOL is?  Do all of the negatives have a DoFD?

What is the oldest CO or collection, what is the newest one?  Newer ones will have a bigger impact on your score.  Older ones, though they still hurt, have less impact over time.

[WYBOWHUNTER]

I dont know what SOL or DOFD is? How would I find it? Newest one is 9 months and oldest is sept of 2005

[Anonymous]

SOL is the statute of limitations on the type of debt in your state.

DoFD is date of first delinquency - this is given by the OC and is used to determine when an account will come off your report. 

SInce a newer collection has a bigger impact, I would start there.

Don't talk to a CA, do everything in writing, CMRRR.  If you can afford to pay in full, offer a pay for delete.

[Anonymous]

Just started the posting thing on here myself but have been trolling the boards for a little while now.  First off don't go off just paying things off and especially don't bring anything current that you can't keep current with the OC cause this will re-age the account.  Send DV's to the CAs so that they have to verify the account and work with sending PFDs for the OCs if you can pay them.  If you've already paid one off you can send GWs to them to see if they will take them off.  Don't fret if they turn you down the first time, just keep sending, they'll probably get tired of you.   Look through the posts for people that have had success with your type of problem and post any question no matter how dumb it may sound, this may save you some headaches.  And lastly talk to someone who's been doing this awhile,  i.e., someone who has more experience than me.  They will ask for more specifics to help you with your situation. Good luck and happy trails.