Credit Advice

Just realized my opening statement could come across a bit pompous. I meant to say, doing well for someone my age this early in my career...

I was in the EXACT same boat as you. Blew my credit when I was young and paid for it ever since. I'm back up to almost a 700 through straight up hard work. I paid off literally everything I owed except for my student loans. I have been current on all payments for over 6 years, almost 7 when they fall off. One of the things that helped my credit the most was honestly a buy-here-pay-here auto loan. They jacked the APR way up, but I made double payments on it and paid it off in about a year, checked my credit a couple months later, and I was honestly shocked. Not saying it was the sole item, but I wasn't posting greater incomes every year, and I just simply paid everything off.

Thanks for the response mountainguy. Couple of questions for you...
Did you have anything go to collections? Reason I ask is because I've read that paying a collections balance sometimes hurts you because it's not the original creditor that receives the money, etc... I don't really have that much outstanding bad debt. $1641 isn't really a lot and I could easily pay it off, but I'm afraid of "restarting" the counter on that timer. It's so hard to get clear and concise info on the net. I've heard that sometimes you can talk a Collections Agency into a deletion request by paying the balance in full but I can't really find good info verifying that.

I had 2 cards go to collections (about $1300) when I was 23. They would call and I wouldnt answer the phone bc I knew who it was and didnt want to face the music. I did answer one day and it was really a relief. They worked with me to set up a payment plan that fit my current budget, stopped the interest from accruing further, and I never had to worry about who was calling and whether to answer the phone. In the end, it was the right thing to do; I made those purchase, I deserved to pay them. I was avoiding talking to them because I thought they would scream and yell and threaten, but that was truly not the case.

As far as your credit score is concerned, and the clock reactivating, I can't say for certain. I believe that your credit report will indicate "uncollected" vs "paid in full" in the remarks for that debt, which may be a red flag down the road when/if you apply for a mortgage or car loan. An employer may request a credit report and wonder whether someone with 'uncollected' on their report is someone worth hiring.

For me, it was the right thing to do to pay it off, and four years later, I have a 769 credit score.

i would normally advise not to pay off old debt. however yours is not that old. I would pay one and try to dispute 1 or 2 at a time and hope to get them removed. then if not pay them off. there not that old so they will be there for quite a while. If you make a payment though you are delaying the falling off period of usually 7 years.