Hi all. I have ruined(?) my credit in the last 2-3yrs. Is it repairable? Gosh, I really have no idea where to begin. I guess the most pressing matters are 3 cc's that I am between 4-6 mos late on. I have no idea if they are charge-offs yet or not. One has stopped sending letters. I received the letter from a ca. I haven't responded yet. I guess my question is...What do I do? I don't have the money to pay them off all at once and even if I did, my credit is already screwed, right? Should I just wait until they are sold to validate or should I send a validation letter to the actual creditors? I have not made a payment on the one that had gone to colletion since June 2001. The other 2, no payment for 4 mos, I think. The balances are $1540-up from a $700 credit limit w/ all the fin. ch. $838-up from a $500 cr. limit and $512-up from a $300 cr. limit. FYI-I have not gotten copies of my credit reports yet. But did do the eloan online score from Ex. It was 546. Someone please respond with ANY thought on the matter. Thanx in advance ä¿ä
It's gonna take some time to fix it, no doubt, but all is not lost and it will eventually get better. Sending a validation letter to the original creditors probably won't help you at this point--all of this is very recent. First, you need to get a good idea of what has charged off and what has not. Prioritize the accounts that have not charged off yet--call the creditors and try to work out a settlement that preserves your credit rating. Beg, plead, do what you gotta. Set up payment plans, agree to close the accounts, whatever, just do it before they charge off. Second, if you're getting a letter from a CA, most likely that account has been charged off. You can try validation with them if you like, but you might just do an end run around them and try to negotiate with the original creditor first, and see if they'll recall the debt from the CA on their own in exchange for a payment plan from you or a settlement--this has worked for me when the debt is still unpaid, sometimes though the original creditor won't even talk to you. If they won't, validate with the CA. Third, and most importantly, you are over your limit on all three acounts. If they have not yet charged off, late and over limit fees and interest are piling up--you need to take care of this immediately with any non-charged off accounts. Explain the situation, and ask them what you'd have to do (short of paying them a lot of money you do not have) to get them to suspend the over limit fees. -- cnswift
Thanks so much for replying to my post. I did forget to mention that the largest cc owed is to Nextcard. I will be getting a tax refund in the amount of $2000 within the next few days. Do you think that sum will be enough to settle all 3 of those accounts? I hate to even begin calling them seeing as I have been avoiding them for 6 mos. How do I even begin to ask for their help? I feel like a total loser =( It really starting gettin bad credit wise about 9 mos ago. I began having panic attacks and at the same time, my hubby and 1 year old got mono. He couldn't work for almost 2 mos and when he did get back to work, all the money was used to catch-up on our missed mortgage and car payments. I feel truly hopeless. Any more thoughts on the matter, please reply. Thanks...
Yeah, I know how hard it can be to call a creditor after months of not speaking with them, but just remember--they want your money. They love hearing from you, just call, explain that your husband and baby had serious medical troubles several months back and that now you're trying to get your finances back in order and take care of your obligations. And could you please, please, please <start crying here> please help me? As to whether $2000 is enough to settle all three acounts, it might very well be. I once settled a $1600 discover account for $600--they offered $800, I said $600, they said OK. Had stopped paying about 6 months earlier. Just try to get them to fix your credit in the settlement--sometimes they will, sometimes they won't. Just remember, settling for less than full balance does have Tax implications though--you will be expected to pay taxes next year on whatever debt is forgiven. Just make sure to plan for that. -- cnswift
CNSWIFT...You are a life saver!! *S* This has been occupying my thoughts for some time now, but I feel alot better. I have the confidence to call them now. I mean, they don't still have debtors prison, do they? HEHE I'm sure that it can be worked out. I will post again and let you know what happens. Thnx å¿å And...I will be back for more reading and advice because after I get these taken care of....I'm gonna start tackling all derogs on my credit report...I can't believe it....all this HOPE after finding this WONDERFUL site only yesterday. You guys are amazing...really. Wish me luck xx
Oh and do you think Nextcard will be more willing to work with me since they are going through a rough time themselves? I sure hope so ä¿ä
Hi again. Just wanted to let you all know some good news. I called all 3 cc co. today. Had pretty good luck w/ them all. The nextcard that was $1600..well the accepted a settlement of $628. Yea!! The lowes account that was $564...they settled for $282. And the other one was Sears (I have had this one since 1989) they decided that they wanted to keep me as a customer, so they agreed to change credit rating to never late if I paid my past due amount of $156. And started back making regular payments. All in all, I am very pleased. snswift...thanks so much for the great insight and for enough confidence to just bite the bullet and admit that I had screwed up. The turnout was nothing at all like I would've expected. *S* Thanks again and "happy credit repair."
