<prompt> Human: Ive read plenty of posts on here talking about how to repair credit, and most of them it suggests that we ask for validation of the debt that we owe. The thing is, I know that I owe the debt and Im finally in a place that I can pay them off in full. When I say debt, I am referring to accounts that are in collections, rather than my healthy debts like my auto loan and secured credit card with a zero balance. So, do I actually have to get a validation of the debt, or can I skip that step and just pay the balance in full? I dont want to hassle with trying to pay less, or doing a pay for delete, I just want to put the account in good standing and increase my credit score into the 640s so I can qualify for housing loan as quickly as possible. What should my next steps be?  <response>: You really should get your credit score up to the 700s before you consider a housing loan. Compound interest over a 30 year mortgage with even a 1 difference in interest rate will mean 10s-100s of thousands of dollars extra depending on the amount of the loan. 