Cleaning Up Credit

You first want to start with the newest items first, as they most heavily impact your credit rating. Anything less than two years old should get top priority.

Start with non-revolving items like defaulted cell phone or health club bills, as you can negotiate the complete removal on these non-revolving items from your credit files. You can get written Pay for Delete agreements when they agree to delete the item from your credit report upon receipt of the agreed-to amount. Get all terms in writing FIRST prior to paying them....DO NOT accept verbal promises from debt collectors regarding settlements. Once they get your money they will continue collection activity and deny that any settlement agreement was ever made. Without a written agreement you would not be able to challenge them.

Defaulted/charged-off credit cards are another matter. These can stay on your credit report for up to seven years.....paid or unpaid. Paying off charged-off debt will not magically repair your credit rating....If the debt is over two years old, there's not much point in bothering. Even if you negotiate with the debt collector for the removal from your credit report, the original credit card company will continue to report the charge-off on your credit report.