Medical collections question?

Question

I have 3 accounts in collections due to surgery I had when I was younger around 2004/2005. At the time I did not have a great job or steady income because I was a full time student. One of the accounts has an amount that is very high and the other two are relatively low and could be paid. How should I approach handling this matter, is waiting 7 years until these marks drop off my credit a good option or somehow settling the amounts better? My score doesn’t seem to be that low between all my reports Ex: 627 / Trans: 664 /Eq: 630

I live in the state of Texas, I currently have 1 consolidated school loan and 1 credit card all paid on time and never late. There MAY have been some type of error in how the debt was suppose to be recorded, as the documents at the hospital were filled out to make my father the responsible party for the the bills (not sure if that is even possible)

Yes they are all showing up on all three credit reports.

Equifax is only showing the big one and one of the small ones as a collection mark, then it lists the other small one as "unknown past due". (2 collections, one past due)

Trans and Experian are showing just the big one and a small one in collections.(total of 2)

How much will my score be affected if I try and settle the amounts?

And how is my score so high with so many marks in collection?

Will settling raise my score? And if that is possible is my best option to go with some type of approved credit cleanup company?

Answer 1

Are these medical bills actually showing on your credit report? Paid old debt looks better than unpaid. The older these debts are, the less they impact your score.

You should try to negotiate the smaller two to delete the item from your report in exchange for payment. You might be able to negotiate payment on the larger onr for less that the full amount -- 50% to 75%. Get any settlement agreement in writing and don't give them access to your bank account.