Bad Credit, need help. What's the best way to pay off my old debts?...?

Question

I have about $7000 in old debt from 9 different creditors that I want to make payments on...which company is the best, what are the fees...basically, how do I go about this?

Answer 1

I am a Mortgage broker and work with people in all possible situations with their credit.
I help people with fixing their credit, so I can get them into a loan.
In most cases you can and should do this on your own. It will save you allot of money and you can do it just as well if not better than someone else and in less time also.
All that is needed is for you to get a residential tri-merge credit report and look for the creditors that have collections or derogatory remarks against you. At the end of all tri-merge reports there is a place where the contact info for the particular creditor. call or write them for a settlement. in most cases they will settle with you for a reduced amount due, just be upfront and truthful with them and don't put up with any sh*t from them, Some can be real A$$holes (I've worked with many)
You can get a tri-merge credit report from any loan center for a small fee usually 10 to 15 bucks. it is a better report than those offered online and usually much cheaper than them as well
just make sure it has all three reporting agencies on it
Equifax, Transunion and Experian. You can e-mail me with questions if you need to. Info is always free.
Also I almost forgot. Most lenders will look at a consumer credit company the same way that they look at a Bankruptcy. I know it doesn't make much sence but they do also when you do establish credit you should never, NEVER pay off your credit card balances or loans all the way, keep them at about 20 to 30 percent of the maximum, for some reason when they compute the FICO score, if you pay off a line of credit, only the bad payment history stays, anything good disappears .
Everything we where taught in school about finance (as well as most everything else) is dead wrong.

Answer 2

Find a DEBT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM - AN ORGANIZATION LIKE CCCS (CONSUMER CREDIT COUNSELING SERVICE)

A non-profit corporation that looks at your financial situation, provides classes to educate you and puts you on a debt management program where you pay them and they pay your creditors. The fee is usually $5-$15/month
Does not hurt your FICO score


Avoid DEBT CONSOLIDATION COMPANIES

Tell you to stop paying your credit cards
Ruin your FICO score
You look horrible on paper, so they settle for a fraction of what you owe
Creditor usually agrees
You pay $700-$800 up front
You might even pay $100-$200/month in fees
You also have to give them a percentage of the discount they negotiated

Answer 3

When you say "old" - if any of those debts are 6 years since you made ANY attempt to pay - the statute of limitations has run out and you do not owe them - each state has a different statute, but it will be between 4-6 yrs...If this is the case DO NOT CALL them, you are not legally bound to pay....If you have made any contact/payment you just started the legal clock all over.

Stay away from Debt Consolidation companies

Answer 4

There are debt consolidation companies. These combine your bills and you make one payment. They reduce your interest rates too. You could get a loan from a bank, sometimes that's better because the interest rate is lower. Debt Relief of America is a company based out of Dallas. They negotiate settlements for you so you only pay sometimes even just half. You kind of have to pay a cat and mouse game to get it done, but it's worth it in the end. Whatever anyone tells you don't even consider bankrupsy 13 or 7, it's not worth it for the amt you owe.

Answer 5

Far too many debt consolidation companies are scams, saving you only a few dollars per month. And some have been accused of making payments late, getting their clients charged with late fees.

This is how my mom did it, WITHOUT HELP!

--Pay your monthly bills first(car,rent, etc.---non-negotiables)
--Make minimum payments on EVERYTHING--so you don't wind up in collections.
--Pay off the creditor with the highest interest rate first, then double up on the next, and so on.
--DON'T try to pay off everything all at once--it never works and always leaves you worse off than before.

Hope this helps! And GOOD LUCK!!!

Answer 6

It;s called the Debt Snowball. And is outlined in Dave Ramsey's book Financial Peace. And it goes like this

1.List all your Debts from Smallest to Largest.
2.Pay minimum on all but the Smallest and pay as much as you can on that one.
3. When you have paid off the Smallest one go to the next smallest one and pay as much as possible on it .

by doing that you will be able to pay off all in time if you need more info on the debt snowball go to the local library or book store and check out

Dave Ramsey " Finical Peace "

Answer 7

The Army has a $40,000 enlistment bonus and great pay, along with $65,000 StudenT Loan Repayment. Do you really want to be debt free in 3 years???