fico scoring

[Anonymous]

Could someone please explain to me a few things? I am attempting to raise my fico score but I am a little confused. I have read......"do not pay old collections because it will serve no purpose other then to hurt your credit score by renewing the date." But then I have also read....."that this does not hold true for collection accounts" So does paying old collections hurt my score? I read on this site that amount owed has a impact on score, so therefore by paying the collections should raise my score.... am I correct? I understand that the mark will still show on my report but I should get a bump from owing less....correct?.... I also read that I should only pay debts less then 4 years old, as anything older has little affect on my score and could actually hurt my score because of the date renewing....is this true? The internet is a powerful tool but clearly can be a huge source of confustion Any ideas?

[Anonymous]

Just doing some more reading and I read that fico changed their scoring to not punish someone for paying old debts. That a person could pay old debtss without punishment and within a few months would see a small score increase from owing less....and one have any idea if this is true? I do not mind paying what I owe..... I just don't want to be punished for doing the right thing and I would hope that I would at least get a small score bump from doing the right thing..... any one know?

[Booner72]

Hi Tom - I paid off 9 different collections.  My scored moved one point, down.  Only one point.  But it was a contingency of my mortgage to pay them, so I did.  Hope that helps.

[Anonymous]

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@Booner72 wrote:

Hi Tom - I paid off 9 different collections.  My scored moved one point, down.  Only one point.  But it was a contingency of my mortgage to pay them, so I did.  Hope that helps.

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As alluded to here, there is more to it than the affect it will have on your score.  You can try and have the collections removed from your CR and part of that process will likely be settling for X amount or just paying the full amount.

[John060675]

In my opinion, do not pay your collections unless you:

1.  Are buying a home and need a mortgage

2.  Got a PFD letter by the company signed and on their letterhead.

3.  Being sued by the company for the debt.

Other than that, I would just let it go

[Anonymous]

so you took a 1 point hit but 2 or 3 months later did you see a increase due to paying it off?

[Anonymous]

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@John060675 wrote:

In my opinion, do not pay your collections unless you:

1.  Are buying a home and need a mortgage

2.  Got a PFD letter by the company signed and on their letterhead.

3.  Being sued by the company for the debt.

Other than that, I would just let it go

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that is the goal to buy a house in about a year

[Anonymous]

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@Booner72 wrote:

Hi Tom - I paid off 9 different collections.  My scored moved one point, down.  Only one point.  But it was a contingency of my mortgage to pay them, so I did.  Hope that helps.

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But did you later see a increase from it?

If it is just 1 point then I have several medical bills I would consider just paying as I owe them.

Maybe I will try to run around the collections agencies and pay the bill directly with hospital and then dv and dispute with credit reporting agencies

[Anonymous]

^It might take longer than 6 minutes for Booner to reply.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

^It might take longer than 6 minutes for Booner to reply.

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LOL.... I understand , I was trying to figure out how to quote and then....duh....I saw the quote button