credit agencies, experien, etc. removing bad credit

[cicy33]

As some of you noticed I posted recently that we were coming into a bit of money. It's not here yet but one of our plans is to pay off all debt old and current. My question is this. We want to clear up our credit score. Not because we want to use it but because it does affect insurance and all that. I need advice on how to get these companies to remove stuff if you pay it off. or will they? He wants to call a "credit cleaning" company and I don't think they are reliable.

[dczech09]

Do not call the "credit cleaning" company. These companies are often more harm than good. I would talk to your creditors. If you owe money, pay off the obligation or work out a plan to pay off. If it is false information that is on your credit report, you have the right to dispute the information with the credit reporting agencies. Do not go to a credit counselor or company of this type as these companies are usually more harm than good and do not help you improve your situation.

[cicy33]

Do not call the "credit cleaning" company. These companies are often more harm than good. I would talk to your creditors. If you owe money, pay off the obligation or work out a plan to pay off. If it is false information that is on your credit report, you have the right to dispute the information with the credit reporting agencies. Do not go to a credit counselor or company of this type as these companies are usually more harm than good and do not help you improve your situation.

Please reread what I posted. this is not the problem. we are going to pay them all in full. completely. totally. (just making sure this is clear) we want to see what we can do to get these off our reports when we do. Is there anything we can do to try to achieve this?

[wincrasher]

Your best course will be to work with each creditor independently. If you are paying in full, they may agree to remove the negative information. Just having the account paid in full will be a vast improvement in your FICO - then only time will help improving from there. If they are willing to remove the information, get them to fax you a letter stating such, before you give them payment. If it's not in writing, there is no agreement to do anything.

Also, when you do pay, you want some correspondence that confirms that the account is paid in full.

If you settle for less than the amount owed, you can still negotiate removal of the negative information, but they most likely will show a write-down or charge-off - which is very hurtful to your score.

Bottom line is that everything is negotiable. But they aren't required to do any more than show that you paid. So be courteous, but firm, and see what you can do.

Good luck!

[cicy33]

Now most of these are older items. so even just paying these items off will raise the score? I thought it would remain the same until the 7 or 10 year mark.