Ok...I've finally started to work on getting this credit history cleaned up (cleaned up is what seems to be a relative term, since I get the impression that nothing ever goes away with some of the stories I've heard). Here's where I stand and please offer some advice what to do: 1. Owe about 15k in student loans, that are defaulted and in the process of being rehabilitated. I believe I have at most 4 mos left of paying on them concurrently to remove from default. I also have an application in to consolidate them (per the 3 mos concurrent paying stipulation). - I think I have a state loan from where I was living back then, but have no idea where to look. 2. Paying off our new baby, is currently my priority. Once that is done, then I hope to "snowball" pay whatever other debt there may be. 3. Car loan has been paid off after having late fees galore (I foolishly chose with my financing to have a big car payment to pay it off faster, only to have employment issues early on which made paying the car payment hard. After being repossessed twice and acquiring it back. I worry that the history will be a problem that will crop up in the future.) and learning about a "first time buyer" lease (thanks GMAC!). I no longer have a car payment to tie me down. 4. I have had late fees on cable bills, electric bills, etc due to paying on priority issues like car payment, rent, food, etc. Where do I start and what, if any, will my history have in the future when it comes time to buy a house? I know a lot of you will say, get your credit report, first thing. The problem I have and don't understand is 1) three credit bureaus. Do I need to get 3 different ones? Will the first bureau be free and the rest cost? 2) what about contacting collections agencies who are unwilling to work but would rather get your information and ask more than you can pay, who now have your information and will just continue to harass you, even if you do and are paying them? 3) How do I get information on my debt that exists (that I don't necessarily know about) to investigate if it's a valid debt or not, without triggering every disreputable credit agencies attention to start harassing me, my family or my place of employment? Thanks for any help you all could provide. I look forward to my experience here and with learning more about cleaning up my credit, while also hopefully helping others. B
You're right--getting your credit reports is the first place to start. You can get one from each bureau free every year. Go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp to get them. Don't go through some of the sites you see or hear advertised--they'll try to sell you monitoring service and lots of other stuff that you may not need right now. When you get them, check them item by item. Look for anything that is incorrect--status, balance, etc. Then come back and ask more specific questions and we'll try to help you. Don't contact any collection agencies yet. You want to see who is reporting what first. Some of them may not even be on your report.
