I posted a few weeks ago about my husband and I trying to buy a house. Thanks for your responses. I took the advice and got a three bureau report. Not quite as scary as I thought... I was sure my computer would burst into flames or be instantly repossessed, but so far, so good. Advice to all those scared of getting a report: do it. It will actually make you feel a little better, and it is the first step to getting through all this. My score is *eek* 559. I have three charged off accounts and apparently been sued and have judgements filed against me. I had no idea, and have no idea how to make good on those judgements. I did not know one could be sued without being informed. Any ideas on how to handle those? As far as I can tell, all of the stuff on my report is valid. What do I do now to start cleaning up this mess? I want to pay as much back as possible, but I don't even know what my rights are, and am afraid of contacting the companies directly, or at least without solid knowledge of exactly how much I have to pay. Bottom line is, while we may be able to get a mortgage, all this stuff is not going to go away. I feel like a deadbeat, and even if paying off my creditors does not improve my score I want to do so out of principle. I never meant to get this far over my head, but here I am. The good news is that as a joint account holder with my husband I have three very positive open credit accounts, and an unsecured card that I was able to get with Capital One on my own with a very low limit that I pay in full every month. I only use it to buy groceries and gas, things that I would normally pay cash for. My mother (bless her) also opened accounts with me as the joint holder years ago, and while I do not use those accounts she does, and pays them in full every month and has done so for many, many years. I think those are just about the only positives on my report. Sorry for the novel, but thanks for listening and any adivce anyone can give. And thanks to the powers that be for this site... I feel good about all this stuff for the first time ever, and feel that I can actually do something to fix this mess. Liz
As far as I can tell, all of the stuff on my report is valid. esieber ===================== This is not the question! The question is are the CAs OCs and the CRAs ACTIONS LEGALLY VALID? ><- <>- ><- <> ~~~ ><- <>- ><- <> ><- <>- ><- <> ~~~ ><- <>- ><- <>
Well, first thing you can try is disputing the accounts as not mine. However, if you know you owe the money, and you know they can prove it, and you have any money, you might want to offer a written settlement for 25% with deletion of the trade line as a condition of payment. How old are the judgements? If they are more recent than 1 year you might be able to get them vacated due to improper service. But same thing applies - if you have the money offer to settle with the vacating of the judgement as a condition. Meanwhile, open some more accounts and pay them RELIGIOUSLY!!! you want to have as many positives, low utilization tradelines as possible. I hope others with more experience can assist you. Good luck! Poochie
