Originally Posted by Dr D
A derogatory account should only be reported once. This means that you should be able to successfully dispute duplicate entries for the same account. Negative items (except BK-10 years) should go away after seven years "from date of last activity". Exactly how this date is determined, is sometimes a mystery. While I usually advise people to pay off a collection that they owe, in some cases it can be the wrong thing to do. Credit scores are very time sensitive to derogatory credit. A 6 1/2 year old unpaid collection has minimal impact on a person's FICO score because of its age. If you pay it off today, then it becomes recent activity on a derogatory trade line, thereby lowering your score. Maybe unfair but true. I would advise you to try the dispute process first, citing the seven year limit. You have nothing to lose.