Hello, new to the forum...I have been lurking for sometime. There is ALOT of great info here. Wish I had discovered it earlier in my life!! It is all very confusing and scary for lack of a better term...and I get shot at for a living! Anyway, heres the deal: I am 27, and have about 8K in debt from several years ago. I recently pulled my credit report, and my score is 587. Not too steller, I know. My wife is 32 with about 16K in debt..her score is 590. All of my debt is unsecured debt. Credit Cards. Hers is unsecured and medical. My first question is this: Since the debt is so old (nearing the 7 year mark) would I be better off to wait, and let it fall off the CR, or settle it, restarting the 7 year clock, and try to get the negative info changed/deleted? I want to pay it, because it is debt that I owe...but I cannot afford 7 more years of horrible credit. As for my second question: What strategy do you recommend for me paying her debt? I am thinking pay it, and then try to get the deragatory info changed, or the item deleted entirely. This is all very new to me...and as I said, confusing with which strategy to use and which letters...I just dont want to screw up or credit any worse than it already is. Many thanks in advance for all of your assistance, and I will continue to read. Be safe!
How near is near? Settling a debt *shouldn't* restart the 7 year reporting clock. What state are you in? You are likely past the SOL for a successful lawsuit. Some of this stuff might go away by simply disputing errors in reporting. Have you re-established any credit? If you haven't chances are, its not your old bad debt that is holding your score back, it is more so your lack of positive credits that is. Continue reading for a while. Get your head wrapped around this stuff better. Be safe![/QUOTE]
JLynn: When I say near 7 years, I mean, the debt is 6 years old+ some months. I currently reside in FL, however, when I incurred the debt, I was in the military in NC (if that matters at all) I will have to search around and find the SOL for FL ( I am assuming that it matters for your current residence?) To date, I have not been able to establish any new credit, given my horrible credit score. Buy a new car, for get it, get a credit card, yeah right, get a home loan, not a chance... Sorry if I seem down or less than positive...I have been in Afghanistan for the last 13 months, and trying to figure out my credit report, and get this squared away/paid off...frustrating. And I understand that it is my own fault, and that irks me even more LOL
Honestly, I wouldn't pay this now. It can do nothing to help your scores. With that old debt, there are a number of better ways to go about handling the situation at hand than paying it. That is probably the worst thing you could do in terms of helping your credit worthiness.
Some clarification. When you say "old" does that mean you haven't made a payment for 6 years or you incurred the debt 6 yrs ago and have been making payments? If you've been making payments, then get the account current and keep it current. That will help your score as any delinquency ages. If you haven't made a payment, I'd just sit tight and wait for things to expire and disappear. Put your money in the bank. They could come after you, in which case you could THEN try to make some sort of a deal, but at this point, it's probably better just to lay low. (Also don't apply for any car or home loans until it goes away because those have a way of waking up sleeping collection agencies). Paying it off WILL bring it current and WILL reset the reporting date. No good deed goes unpunished. Same advice for your wife's accounts. If the accounts are current, then keep them current, if they are a year or so, pay them if you can, if they are older or beyond SOL, then just leave them to go away. The problem with leaving them to die is they can always come back to haunt you. e.g. a JDB could pick them up and take you to court over it. You could also file bankruptcy to clear them out AND keep them from following you around. Either way, it'll take a couple of years for things to age and fall off your reports before you'll be in a position to start shopping for loans again.
Well, now, he could proactively go after these tradelines. They appear to be time barred and they're so old I doubt the OP would see a lot verified. Seems another issue is lack of open accounts now. But, you're right that they will fall off absent some JDB raising their ugly head.
All: Thanks for the great info and assistance thus far. As for my debt: It is 6 yrars unpaid... My wifes is a mix, some havent been paid in a while (year or two) and others are current, while still others (the 10K medical bill) is like 5 years old. I will have to pull another CR and see what it says...I pulled them about 4 months ago. As for the SOL, where can I find this? I have searched high and low, here and on google, with no luck... What is the likelihood of a JDB coming after me? What does "time barred" mean? Thanks again, you all are wonderful!!
The more I read, and the more I think about this...I dont know that I am really equipped to handle this... I think it may be in my best interest to use an organization like Apex, given that I am not knowledgable in this area. Thanks for all of your assistance, and I will continue to hang around to learn more, but I think initially this is my best bet. Apex, you have a new application
Not to take food out of Apex's mouth, but unless they are coming after you, there's not much to do: 1. Pay the current ones 2. Ignore the old ones and hope they go away (and the most important one 3. Don't get in over your head with future credit If they are "time-barred" (past the statute of limitations) then you can try to get them deleted before the 7 year reporting limit but that may or may not be worth the effort.
This is merely my opinion, but under Full Factual Reports, a CRA can show debts that are older than 7 years. I humbly believe deletions, wherever possible, are always better than aging off. Who knows, with the mortgage lending industry in turmoil, we may start seeing more and more companies taking advantage of the Full Factuals.
