what should I do?

[improvemycredit]

Hello, I am in need of some advice, I have recently been denied a mortgage loan due to poor credit. My house is closing in 3 months...needless to say I am pretty uopset, but hopefull that I can do something to help my situation. I have 2 collection agencies on my credit bureau for only a few hundred dollars. My score is 580, my question is, will paying off these debts increase my score enough to change the lenders minds?

[Trish]

Simply paying them off will not raise your score.. You would need to get them removed for it to help your score.
BUT....You should talk to your mortgage counselor. Sometimes lenders just want to see current (within the last couple of years) debts paid and it's not the score that matters as much.

If their decision is score driven then you need to try and get them off. I know you're in a hurry so..... you could try disputing them off (do a 1 2 punch)...... but that will take you a month before you know/see the investigation results...
OR you could skip the whole dispute/dv process and just contact the CAs.

Generally, you do not call CAs....as a matter of fact a lot of people will tell you to stay off of the phone because they are rude and shady..
In this particular case, you are trying to take care of it asap.... so as long as you keep your cool and negotiate with them.... you may be able to get them the debt off a little more quickly.
See if they will remove it from your CRs in exchange for payment. Remember to get EVERYTHING in writing. CAs will lie to get paid.... so you HAVE to get them to sign an agreement that they will take it off of your reports.

Read the beginner's section on how to pay for delete.... that may give you some info/ideas..

One other thing that will give you a quick boost in score is becoming an AU on someone's CC that has excellent credit. If you know someone (a family member or close friend) that has a credit card with a long good standing history, they can put you on their card as an authorized user. It will not hurt their credit in any way and you never have to have the card. They just call up and add you to the acct.

Hopefully that helps you some....
Good luck... let me know if you have any more questions.

[improvemycredit]

Hi and thanks for you reply it is much appreicated.

I have contacted these CA's and I asked them more than once if they could remove it from my bureau in exchange for payment, they keep telling me it is not a possibility, one told me it would stay on my report for 7 years, and the other told me it would stay on there for 2 years. Im so confused as to what to do. Are they any other tactics to employ or am I pooched?

[Trish]

Hmm.. well, you could try a pfd (pay for delete) letter. What state are you in?