Hi everyone! this is my first post in a long long time. is there any hope for me? all 3 of my scores are in the mid 400's which is horrible. i don't own any collateral, all of my debts are unsecured. i'm a victim of subprime credit card fees and interest charges mixed with being laid off for 4 mths. i got to the point where i could not afford to pay even the minimums. i know i should not have gotten in so deep, but i did and i'm trying to deal with it. i already have a judgement against me, i have a couple collectors harrasing me for payment and threatening legal action, and i have a lot of other collection accounts and charge offs which are mostly unpaid. i don't know what to do. am i doomed to have such horrible credit for the next 7 years? should i file bk? should i try to settle? should i dispute with the 3 credit bureaus? please someone give me some advise and direction. thank you so much
Read the board...no ones doomed until they give up...when I started my TU score was 385....there is hope...just do your homework and ask questions...we are all here to help each other!!!!
MP: I am now employed (new job) and have been for almost a year now. i just recently took on a 2nd job too to try to help alleviate my debt problems.
Don't give up, I started at 450 on all three, now I'm finally in the 600's! I have been at this for about four months. It really helps to search the board. You'll learn a lot. Good Luck!
I don't have my old report in front of me but about 1 cc authorized user 5-6 collection accounts medical, utility, even an old video store I believe that went belly up that was about it on my report.... my first cc was cap1 with a $200 limit Now $1900 then ccb with a $350 limit Now $1250 FPB $250...stayed the same..then closed Subprime Hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mandy: I owe approx. $10-11K total. My major debts are about a year old. then i have a lot of smaller debts that are 1-5 years old.
You can do this. When I started, my TU score was 398 (OMG!!!) but now I am at 584. So I have gained nearly 200 points and I have only been at this since January of this year. My worst things are 4 subprime CC's charged off - one of them paid. I am working on the charge-offs now - and a few old medical bills. Before I found this board, I thought the only answer was BK. Thank God I found it (and all these wonderful people) before I filed. My scores are still not the greatest, but I think I have made excellent progress in six months - and the only money I have spent is on certified mail, probably $80 in six months - and I have done it all by myself (with the help of all the great people on this board). Don't pay somebody to do what you can do yourself. You know more about your situation than anybody - so (just my opinion) don't hire a credit repair firm to do it for you. I actually have started to enjoy it - it's more of a hobby than a dreaded task. Good luck to you. And don't give up!!!!! girliegirl
hey girlie, how do you dispute your items? do you say they are not yours or inaccurate? that is my problem. i mean the debts are mine of course, and in the past when i have disputed with the bureaus i would get a letter back from them stating that they need more information to preform the investigation. could you advise me of the format of letter you used to dispute your charge offs?
thanks for the motivation everyone...i'm about to start my credit clean up and it helps to know there is some hope..be blessed
Although 10/11K IS a lot of money maybe you can do this w/o BK. You might as well dispute, validate, etc. first to see what happens. You might be surprised at the results and not have to have "the mark" of BK on your report. There are a lot of threads here on the subject. Personally, I would dispute as not mine first but other people may suggest a better way. You might really have some luck w/ the small older debts but also I have found that at at first the results are really arbitrary. Don't give up hope if it seems to take you awhile. And so many people here will answer your specific questions.
wanabe800, I think that soup would be a great person to follow. Look up his threads and read em. Although, everyones case is different his scores are fairly close to yours, and you have NO place to go but UP. I would definitely NOT think about a BK. The rebuilding process may take a while, but I think with all the great minds on this board you will be in a lot better hands here than with an attorney. This board shows the changes in credit rehab on a daily basis while a lawyer learned his info years ago and what he has learned is probably obsolete. Example, 2 years ago you could dispute inquiries on all 3 CRA's with no problem. It takes an act of God to get one deleted with TU now. The same with EX until 2 months ago they were automatic deletions. The industry is changing literally on a daily basis, and this board (- a few boneheads) is the only way to go. I'll shut up. I usually don't talk that much. Just my opinion. Charlie
Oops. Sorry for taking so long to answer. Like you, I know the debts are mine. Not long ago, I was really feeling like crap because I felt like I was being deceptive (there is a post somewhere about it). Anyways, I always have just disputed as "inaccurate". Start with the CRA's. Everyone does it differently. I actually started with Experian - then I would just rotate. I would dispute a few accounts at a time, maybe 3-4. You can do this online with TU and Experian. It depends on Equifax as to whether your account is being serviced actually by Equifax pr if it's by CSC or whatever. You can get all three reports online from each of the CRA's and just dispute right then and there. They have 30 days to verify if the info they have is correct or not. I have had so many things deleted this way, mostly because the creditor failed to answer the dispute within 30 days and the CRA's have to delete. Go to the sample letters and you can just edit them to fit your situation. Here are the links to the 3 CRA's. www.equifax.com www.experian.com www.tuc.com Good luck to you.
Here is some information from previous posts that might help you.... Re: Hello I am New here... from DemPooches | 64 posts since Jun 2002 205.188.200.27 | 06.06.2002 @ 17:59 I would recommend Equifax Credit Watch and Experian's Credit Expert. I think they are each in the $60-70 range now for a one year subscription, but we're 6 months into our credit repair journey and they have been a huge help to us since we monitor almost daily and have done several online disputes as well. It's interesting with frequent monitoring to see which changes have what kind of impact to plan your strategy to maximize your scores when you really need to. Transunion doesn't have a similar service, so we tried a monitoring service for Transunion, but they were so slow at providing info about changes that it was of little or no value. Re: Hello I am New here... Maggie75 | 160 posts since Oct 2001 209.184.192.27 | 06.06.2002 @ 21:15 Some thoughts... My first advice: READ and re-READ the discussions under the library section (upper right on the screen next to the discussions tab) before you contact a CRA or Creditor about anything. Read it all. Then wait a while, and read it again. And, if you are like me, and need to read with a highlighter in your hand for it to sink in, you may even want to print out some of the verbiage. DO NOT start sending disputes or requests for validation until you read the library discussions on where to start, how to set up your methods to the madness, and when to do what. Get a file cabinet, set up a tracking system, folders, etc. You really need a printer. You can do incalculable harm to your attempt to straighten out the inaccuracies on your credit reports if you just start disputing without a plan. Second, my advice would be to go ahead and join the credit monitoring services offered by Equifax and Experian. You can join for a yearly fee and it will be well worth it to monitor the changes (or lack of changes) on your Credit Reports.Get the reports from those services, as your starting point (always print out and have a hard copy ) . Also, maybe start by ordering a credit report from TU < just so you have their actual report in hand. If you've been denied a loan, or had to pay high insurance or whatever due to the TU report, you can get a copy free by calling their 800 number. Third, FOLLOW THE POSTED ADVICE on how to do what & when. Some of us <<< me, me, me >>have been through the school of hard knocks and made some mistakes. You can learn from that. And others have been very very successful in their endeavors. Why reinvent the wheel? Just do what has been shown to be successful as a place to start. Fourth, continue to read the daily postings just to get a sense of the different issues. Even if something doesn't apply to you right now, it may apply later, and familiarity with the concepts may help steer you to a more positive result. And last, when you don't know something, or think that you do, but you're not sure...ASK BEFORE you send that letter, converse on the phone, mail a check, etc. etc. I've only been watching and reading for a short while, but I am totally blown away by the concern, the expertise, and the willingness to assist from the members that post on the board. You couldn't have come to a better resource, Good luck with your efforts. Maggie75 Re: Hello I am New here... Butch | 370 posts since May 2002 24.208.137.254 | 06.06.2002 @ 22:28 Thanx Maggie, Fabulous advice, I might also recommend reading every single word of the FCRA and FDCPA, with a highlighter. BEFORE one even starts. Butch, CFP (email is on) "Fire is the test of gold, adversity of strong men"
