I have been reading through posts and you guys seem to have great ideas and insight on getting credit cleaned up. I have several cards that have been charged off due to job loss, health insurance loss and a child with special needs, it was either pay doctors for the care my child needed or pay the cards, and so I let the cards go. I attempted to work with the card companies and since I had no $ to work on repayment they were charged off. I have paid 1 of 6 off and am working on another one and have a slew of other things that have come up and so slowly I am trying to pay 1 thing at a time and that does not always works as people want their money right now and not a place in line. I am trying but cannot keep up, is there a credit repair and debt consolidation company that could help and not charge a ton in fees or am I on my own. I would love 1 payment for everything every month and everyone is happy. I am not sure this is even possible. Any advice would be helpful.
Welcome to the board. Using a Debt consolidation company isn't really advocated here. There is nothing they can do for you that you cannot do for yourself in terms of negotiating, if that's the path you choose. Yes, one payment is easier to deal with instead of five, but what you are giving up is many many years of decent credit. All of your accounts will be listed as Settled (not paid in full). First things first, how old are the charge offs? List the OC's/balances/DOFD so we can get a better idea of where you stand.
Like mindcrime, we don't really advocate a debt consolidation company. Have you thought about getting a balance transfer credit card? With these, you can consolidate all your debt onto 1 card (so you won't have the 5 extra cards). There are a lot of 0% intro APR offers too that can help you get back on your feet without paying interest for a short period.
