I agree with Roger, and warn that I have seen credit counseling help for a short time but not the long term. Managing it yourself for as long as you can is likely the best course, unless you have a target date it needs to be better by.

Roger,

Everyone being 740 or better is not realistic. I wonder what the guideline is for renting these days?

I do not think of the “7 year rule” as a guaranteed outcome, or a reliable rule.

One of the problems with credit reporting and scoring is that there are no hard and fast written rules that we can all play by. A lot of it is done according to hazy formulas.

Most people don’t really need to think much about their credit…just pay your bills on time, and keep your CC balances low, and it will all work out fine.

However, in my experience, those that have had a serious train wreck with their credit need to manage it carefuly over several years, as issues that have been beaten down can reappear. Some folks are great at managing the minutia of it, and some are not.

These days, unless you are going FHA, it is well worth the effort to keep your score above 740.

Most loan originators know credit counseling companies to recommend. Whenever a client has that many derogatories that they want removed, I will usually suggest they use a service.

Typical costs are around $100 set up, and a monthly fee of about $40 (until you decide to stop). You only get clerical help, but often that’s what is needed. They don’t do anything you cannot do yourself, but they can probably do it more efficiently.

I do not recommend paying a large sum upfront for “guaranteed” results. No one can guarantee the outcome of credit cleanup.

I have often worked with clients for a year or more, as they work their way through these kinds of issues, before they were ready to buy.

As always, consult a local mortgage professional, or in this case, a mortgage and a credit professional.

I had a similar problem many years ago and opted to buy a house before I got married to avoid the issue. But we sold that house and bought a bigger one within a couple of years, so I only delayed the process.

The way I handled it may not work today, given we didn’t have credit scoring back then, unless you are planning to buy FHA with a live underwriter. I gave the full amount to an attorney friend to hold while I worked on which ones to pay and not pay. By having paid it to a third party, the mortgage underwriter considered it to be paid and approved the mortgage. I do recall the 7 year not being “automatic” and my having to get the credit reporting companies to manually remove those.

I used an attorney, and with the number of items you have on your plate, I’d suggest you consult a lawyer or credit counselor at the point when most of them are 7 years old or older. If you have a year or so before that happens, their ability to assist you may be increased if you wait to see if they automatically drop off.

Good luck.

My question, is when they reach their 7 yr mark do the leave forever? If I pay the ones that still are there till 2014 will they show “paid in full” and bring the score up, or will it even affect it at all?

Should I pay the ones that are at the 7 yr mark in 2010 or just leave them alone?

Most of these are Loans, Cell Phones etc…

Thanks!

If you neglect to pay someone…there is not always a way to make a “bad” a “good”. Generally having few bad and more good, and more recent good, is the best way to go. Unpaid amounts are often the worst, so your only recourse may be just to pay it off as soon as possible.

If you don’t feel you owe it…then you should dispute it.