<prompt> Human: Hello everyone. My wife and I are starting to think about buying our first house. In preparation, I ordered my credit reports to see what needed to be cleaned up. I have 3 negatives on my credit reports that total about 4,000:1. Repossession of vehicle 2. Student Loans government held 3. Charge-off from University of Phoenix Ive called all of the above companies, spoken to several people, and offered to paysettle if they delete the items from my credit reports. All have agreed to take my money of course, but they all said that they would just report that the account is paid in full or settled.So, since they wont remove the info, should I pay them? I know that these debts are mine, and dont mind paying them. But, if its not going to help my ultimate goal of getting approved for a mortgage, I dont want to waste 4,000 either!Thanks for your help!  <response>: If you do agree to pay old debts with the agreement that the collection agency will remove or modify their reporting of your credit report, have them send a letter to you BEFORE you pay them any money. Make sure the letter is in your hand and it says exactly what you want. Collection agents will say anything to get you to pay 