How to write a company reporting on my credit report, about a payment plan to settle debt?
I am going to try to resolve some bad marks on my credit by paying off some older debt. I don’t have bad credit card debt or anything of the sort. Just some old bills that went to collections from hospitals, cell phones, utilities, etc. Many of these have been from years ago (some 5+ years).
Now that I am making a decent living, I am finding it hard to obtain lines of credit, and know what my score is. I ordered my 3 free credit reports yesterday, and will be expecting them in the mail shortly. I want to try to tackle these ‘old’ debts to get them off my report, and hopefully improve what’s written on my report.
I read that the first step in doing this, is to write a letter to each company listed on the report, stating that you want to rectify the situation, and to work out a payment plan. What types of things should I ask? Should I propose options? If they respond with a payment plan or settlement amount, do I accept it or negotiate? If I correct these, will they come off