Hello everyone, I found this board through a close friend of mine and I hope I can get some help from the kind folks here. My whole troubles started in college when the technology boom ended and my parents could no longer afford to pay my monthly credit card bills for me. Needless to say, I had amassed quite a bit of debt and have been working hard in paying them off. I should be out of all my debt next year, 2004. What I need help is, is there anyway I could help my credit score? I don't know what my credit score is but here is a breakdown of my debt current and the history of it. Note: I worked with CCCS at the start of 2001 but got out of it July 2003. Sears $0 (paid off $200) Firestone $0 (they closed my account without me ever using the card) Capital One $0 (paid off $500 through CCCS) Associates $0 (paid off $2000 in settlement offer) First USA $0 (paid off $700 through CCCS) Orchard Bank $0 (paid off $700 through CCCS) Direct Merchants (paid off $900 through CCCS) Aria $0 (paid of $3000 through CCCS) American Express $1600 (paying $100/mth through RMA with no interest) Citibank $830 (paying $60/mth directly to Citi at 5% interest) MBNA $3000 (paying $100/mth directly to MBNA at 12%) Discover $1300 (paying $80/mth directly to Discover at 10%) Total current debt $6730 (down from $20,000 3 years ago) I had also financed a $25,000 car with $4,000 downpayment on May 2000 at 7% but sold the car in August 2002 and paid off the loan. I had a bank account closed in Dec 2000 while I still owe $200 and now I cannot open new bank accounts because of Chexsystems and a $120 Sprint calling card bill that was from 2000 also. My hope is to improve my credit score. My debt is going to be gone next year, I have a decent job with decent pay now and I might actually get a condo in 2-3 years. Should I pay off the $200 bank debt and the $120 sprint debt? I believe only 3 of my accounts were sent through collections? Maybe even less I am not too sure. I know I am screwed up but I have realized my mistakes and am working hard to get it off my back. Any advice, helpful and critical, would be most helpful. Thanks
It might not be all that bad. You've paid off most of your debt, that counts for something. Let's not assume the worst until you actually see. When you get the credit reports, get the ones that are scored.
Hello again I just received my credit reports and scores. Here goes Experian - 595 Equifax - 566 Transunion - 559 Discrepancies Associates Bank - Paid off with settlement offer Equifax says settlement accepted and account closed TU says settled and charged off as bad debt EX says account in dispute and legally paid in full for less than half the balance Aria/Emerge/Providian EQ says pays account as agreed and balance $0 EX says account is status, was past due 90 days and balance $0 TU says paid or paying as agreed and balance $1929! TU also has another providian, basically same account and says managed by CCCS and 90 days past due and balance $2311! Are my scores horrible? what can I do to make it better? Thanks
Re: Foolish when young and now in d Honestly I do not know I called CCCS last July and told them I did not want to go through them again because of their high monthly fees. They counter offered me about a lower fee but I refused. I have since never sent them a money order anymore and have been paying my cards by myself, ,paying more than the amount that CCCS had negotiated with them per month.
Re: Re: Foolish when young and now in d Do you have any open lines of credit with good payment history?
Re: Re: Foolish when young and now in d MyCroft Unfortunately I only have 1 BP/citibank card often that I have been using regularly and paying off on time every month. Although the CRs mention that my emerge/aria account is open I never received a card from them after they switched to Aria/Emerge
