<prompt> Human: First of all, thank you guys for the wonderful and detailed information. I read this wiki entry and may end up taking advantage of the advice found there, but my initial question, as stated in the title, is about third party services. Im not good at negotiation, and in many cases would rather just pay to make sure its done right. I understand this is a conflict from maximizing my savings, but thats another issue. I have spent the last few years repairing my credit, and Im in the low 700s now, but I still have 2 items in collections, each are hospital bills for a few hundred dollars. Im willing to pay to have someone negotiate those charges and have them deleted from my report, but I wonder if there are reputable services. Apologies if my statement is confusing or doesnt include enough information, Im new to discussing this.  <response>: I want to take a minute to warn you about the debt repayment scam. Many companies will take advantage of a persons difficult situation to manipulate you into using their service. Often these companies do things which any person can do fill out a form and mail it, but charge you a large fee for completing this simple task.If you really need help with finances talk to a CPA or an Attorney who is will respected. Avoid flashy services which promise too much. Simply call an Attorney, ask if what you want is possible and then follow through. A couple hundred dollars in collections isnt a huge problem. 