How to Get Pay for Delete or Goodwill Adjustments on Your Credit Report

[Ekelly1776]

During college I made some poor choices regarding my finances and credit which very negatively affected my credit score. I am now in my 30's and am attempting to raise my score enough to get a mortgage loan.
I disputed everything negative on my report, and had a few things removed which has already helped my score. I also saved money and got a secured credit card that will help me continue to build good credit.
Here's what I need help with:
1) Collections. I have two accounts in collections. One will fall off my report 12/18 (we'll call it collection A), one is more recent and will take at least 4 years to fall off the report (Collection B). I have sent a "Pay for Delete" (via certified mail) letter to each company, politely and clearly written with a PARTIAL SETTLEMENT offer for the old debt and a PAY IN FULL offer for the more recent one. We are 3 days away from 30 day mark since receiving the certified mail receipts, with no response at all. I am happy to pay these debts, and have the money set aside to do so, however, I am hoping that it is possible to have the negative marks removed once I pay the debt.
-What should my next step be? Do I wait a few weeks and write another letter? Should I try to find the president or person in charge instead of the customer service department and see if they will accept my offer?
-How long should I fight this battle before giving up, paying the debts, having them listed as paid collections on my account and suffer the credit consequences?
-Since Collection B falls off my account 12/18, is it worth it just to wait for it to be removed without paying it?

2) Late/missed payments. During the first time I was in college, I took two medical leaves, and while dealing with more serious concerns, I let one month of student loan payments go. Because I have multiple loans working at the same time, this is now listed as 9 missed/late payments on a closed/transferred student loan account (US), and 7 missed/late payments on an account that is currently deferred/paying as agreed (FL).
For my old loan (US): There are 9 late payments listed during the time I was on medical leave (yes, I know now that I was responsible for staying on top of that, but my medical issues took precedence and I didn't even consider it.)
For my current loan (FL): (paying as agreed/deferred while I am still in school): I disputed these negative marks with all three credit bureaus and Experian and Equifax both erased all of them, TransUnion erased four but left 3.
I wrote Goodwill Adjustment letters to both companies explaining my situation, sent them via certified mail, and have received no correspondence. I'm not sure how/why FL would remove late payments entirely on two credit reports, but then only partially on another?
-What should my next step here be? Do I try writing another letter to someone higher up? Do I try calling these people since it's not about collections or admitting to owning debt?

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!

[adjusterjack]

I don't know where you are getting the idea that this letter writing campaign is going to do you any good. Never mind. That was rhetorical. It isn't.

Collection agencies are concerned with only one thing: getting money.

They ignore letters. They ignore talk. They aren't going to respond to certified mail or sign for it. The company executives aren't going to talk to you or respond to you.

Why? Because you aren't sending money and you have no leverage.

If you want to settle for a lump sum cash payment, call up the collection agency, offer it and see what they say. If they say yes, get them to send you something in writing documenting the agreement and THEN they will tell you where to send the money and how to track the delivery.

Don't count on them EVER removing an item from a credit report. They aren't likely to do that because their contracts with the credit bureaus prohibit them from making deals like that on pain of losing access to the credit bureaus. I know what's in those contracts because I used to be a member of a credit bureau and had one.

A mortgage company is going to want to see your delinquent debts PAID and your active loans paid on time for a while.

The best way to straighten out your credit is to pay your delinquent debts off and get your active loans current.

That doesn't happen over night and might take you a year to see your score go up even 100 points.

All you accomplish by continuing to write letters is delay any improvement you might hope to see.

Meantime, if you have cash set aside, start making payments. Paying is what gets the attention of collection agents, not talking about paying. I hope you understand the distinction.