<prompt> Human: Im trying to buy a house and there are still some old debts on my history that I paid off long ago. From my understanding these are bringing my credit down. How do I get rid of these? Are there any firms that specialize in these kinds of things ?  <response>: Are they collections that you paid? Theyre not obligated to remove them. It shows future creditors that you have a history of ending up in collections. If you paid them off, the future lender may be more accommodating than if you had not. You can write a letter of goodwill to the collections agencies and see if they will remove it as a courtesy. 