Improving credit; pay or ignore?

There has been a debt haunting me for the last 13 years. However, on the credit report it states that the loan became delinquent on March 2006 and major delinquency Sept. 2008 (I'm not sure if that has to do with them selling around this debt). They also keep reporting the debt, last date being April 2012. I am trying to fix up my credit but I'm not sure if I should just continue to ignore it, send them a statute of limitation letter or call them to set up a payment plan- none of their offers have been too "offering". Money is tight as with most but I am trying to think ahead to hopefully own a home in the next 2 years. Help? :-|