Hello Credit Talk Members. I have never been good managing credit. Actually I never even had good credit because of my complusive spending paired with low wages and loss of employment due to layoffs. I have been out of work since Spetember 2008 and while I am still seeking a job, I decided that at age 35, I need to fix this mess. I pulled my credit reports yesterday and I have 25 negatives on TU, 15 on Equifax and I couldn't pull Experian due to a security freeze which I have no idea about. I won't deny that my ruin is of my own doing, and I have plenty of charge-offs that I need to take care of. Some are old and are due to come off at the end of the year, while some will haunt me for a few years down the road. Since I owe the debts, I do want to begin repayment, but with no income or assets, this isn't the best time. I have been a sporatic member for years here and now I want to get serious. Where should I start? Should I find the smallest debt and try to settle with payment for deletion or is there a better method? Any advice is appreciated.
You shouldn't pay anything that is past the statute of limitations (for collecting, not reporting) until you have your financial house in order, at least--and probably never. You shouldn't pay anyone who can't prove that it's your debt and how they arrived at the amount they're asking. You have your reports. Now go through them and look for errors--wrong dates, balances, etc. Then come here with one problem at a time and let's tackle everything in an orderly fashion. In the meantime, you need to learn to control your spending. Search here for subjects like "budget" and see what you can find. If you don't learn to budget and control the spending, you'll never get out of the spiral.
Thank you for the advice. I am so anxious to repair the mess that I created, that I overlooked the fact that I need to use the law on my side. According to my research, the SOL on the dates in question is 4 years in Pennsylvania. Many of these are beyond the SOL, if my information is correct. If I understand correctly, I need to dispute what is not correct and get validation for every debt. There are some more recent debts that I know are correct and are within the SOL. Should I just try to get a payment for deletion on these? Thanks again.
