get score to go up

[ck33004]

will paying off your collections and getting them removed from your credit reports help your score go up and how long will take and how much

[Methuss]

Yes and no. Old collections generally are less damaging than new ones. Making a payment on an old collection can change the last activity date to a newer one and actually make your score go down[/].

If you cannot wait for an old colleciton to fall off naturally, you can do a couple of things:

First research the CA that is reporting. Not all CAs have survived this economy. You may find the CA is simply not around anymore and you can then dispute the tradeline. It should come off since there would be no one to verify it in this case. Keep good records because sometimes the CRAs just rubber stamp verify it and never really check. If the CRAs say it is verified and the CA is out of business, then a good paper trail can lead to an easy court case win.

Next you can try to reach a pay for delete agreement, if the CA is still around, where you pay a reduced amount and they agree to remove the tradeline. If you are not experienced with how to do this I strongly recommend having a personal attorney handle it. Obviously this is an extra expense, but you will be assured that it will be done right...and if the CA renigs on the agreement, you will have counsel standing by to enforce the agreement through the courts. If it is a particularly large debt you are looking to settle (>$1000) it is worth the extra hundred bucks to have a lawyer handle it and save yourself the headaches that could arise if you do it alone and mess it up.