I would verify the date of first delinquency of all your accounts (the month after the last payment you made), do this with the original creditor and not the collections agency.

You might find that some of the items are actually past 6 years already and should be wiped fromy our account. If are past 6 years, ask the original creditor to send you proof.

If they do....start writing dispute letters to Equifax and Transunion witht he letters attached, in my experience it takes about 2 -3 letters before they will fix the account.

The short answer to your question is an emphatic NO. I am assuming that Rogers Wireless is showing as a collection account on your credit report. All collection accounts are negative information and will show on your credit report for 6 years regardless if you pay the outstanding amount or not. If you pay the outstanding amount, it will show as "paid by debtor" but it will remain on your credit report for another 3 years. Only time will gradually restore your credit score to 500.

Thanks dcallaghan....I do have some other old items that are about 5 years old, my total R9s add up to under $40K.

I don't currently have any cards and haven't since early 2008.

Could the fact that a CA such as iqor constantly keeps an item "current" impact the score?

Settling will increase your score, but not by 59 points immediately. Over time it will. If you have a score less than 500 and the collection is 3 years old there must be other problems with other tradelines. Are you over your limit with any cards? If you are over the limit by even $1 you drop 50-60 points. Pay these down if so. Try to keep your balances within 70% of your credit limit for optimum credit scoring.

Here's my situation:
I've been unemployed for 6 months and my wife hasnt worked in 3 years.
I have a mortgage and own 2 cars outright.
I've been offered a job but can't complete the offer until I increase my credit score from 441 to 500.
My most recent item on my credit report is for Rogers Wireless for $2,600 and is 3 years old.

If I settle with the collection agency (iqor) will that be enough to pop up my score by 59 points?

Thanks so much in advance for any help.