i had someone in my life(then he broke his chains and got away-kidding) and unfortunately he was financially highly unethical. more unfortunately, i was too stupid to notice. now i am in deep poo poo. bad checks, collection agencies, you name i have got it. how do i start cleaning up? he is gone, and not traceable. anyway, its my name(sigh)and my stupidity. any suggestions beyond "buy a gun"?
2006-07-12 08:52:59 · 21 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Personal Finance
You should get credit counseling. Look for agencies that offer this in the yellow pages and call them immediately. You should also look for a job and save a lot. Learn how to budget your money.
2006-07-12 08:56:45 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If any of it is fraudulent and you are able to prove it, file charges with the police and show that to whomever the fraudulent activity was done with. However, if it is not fraudulent, absolutely do not do this. You will get in even worse shape.
If it's a debt you need to take care of, effective budgeting and communication is key. Figure out how much you can afford to pay back per pay period, talk to the people money is owed to, collectors or otherwise, and work with them to get it paid back. Collectors are usually glad to work with you, as any money back is much better than none at all. This will still be on your credit, but believe me, paid collections are much better in the long run than unpaid collections. Once your collections or bad checks are paid off, be sure to get a receipt stating so, just in case it ever comes up in the future.
2006-07-12 16:05:11 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have done the first sensible thing. You have admitted you have a problem. Start by writing down all your debts, all of them, credit cards, overdrafts the lot. Then write down all you earn. Work out how much you could pay your debtors and write and tell them your position. In the UK the Citizen's Advice Bureau and other organisations will help with this. Other countries must have similar organisations. put Debt help or Help with Debt into a search engine. Remember it is in your debtors interest to kept you paying so be honest with them. Don't offer to pay more than you can afford, you will only default and be in more trouble. Take one day at a time. It is possible to clear bad debts, don't give up.
2006-07-12 16:02:32 · answer #3 · answered by happyjumpyfrog 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sadly, things like that happens. I can actually relate to your circumstance with my uncle who left me with thousands in debt which is now paid off and my credit half-way restored but still not at the coveted 820 that was extremely rare for a 22 year old to begin with. How did I do it?
Bankruptcy was not an option, nor me want to consolidate debts. What I did was to use the debt-snowball method and work extremely harder by calling the creditors and negotiating. I recommend reading Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover and David Bach's The Automatic Millionaire, which the advice I took changed my life and now I'm debt-free from the $20,000 debts eleven months later. It may not sound like much, but the baby steps truly helped.
2006-07-12 16:00:21 · answer #4 · answered by Maria Gallercia 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First, contact the police, and tell them everything so if he tries it with someone else, there is something there that will put a flag up with the police. Then, all you can do is contact all the recieving parties of the bad checks etc. and let them know that you got scammed, but you want to try to fix your credit. Sometimes they will work out payment plans, and even if you only send them $5 a month, they can't send it to collections because you are attempting to pay it. Hope this helps!
2006-07-12 15:57:23 · answer #5 · answered by Stacy W 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Contact a credit counseling agency. They work on a not for profit basis and are excellent when it comes to contacting the people you owe money to and getting them to lower monthly payments and interest charges. They will set you up on a budget that fits your income, notify your creditors and work with you in straightening out the mess you're in. Working with this type of organization is nothing but a win-win situation and it will restore your credit rating and give you some peace of mind. My daughter went through this and going this route was a lifesaver for her. Good luck.
2006-07-12 15:57:53 · answer #6 · answered by curious 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm in the same boat you are. My credit is the lowest of the low but not because of my own doing, but because of my ex-husband's obsession with having money all the time. He stole from me, he sold everything of value I had, including my house which was previously owned by my late parents. He wrote bad checks all over town on our joint checking account, and took out loans everywhere he never repaid. His obsession was such that he would go around town looking for pennies and money people would drop. We never had anything, and what little I had, I lost.
For a long time, I was brainwashed to think that he was misunderstood and had rashes of bad luck, and I still think that he's basically a good person but one who has money weakness, as his obsession is such that he goes around town looking for pennies and money people drop.
And it would be easy to put the blame on him, but I have to blame myself, because I wasted 12 years of my life and lost a lot more than material possessions as I also lost family and friends in the process because I wouldn't leave him. Looking back, I realized that the reason I stayed with him is because I could relate to being an underdog, and I tended to pull for the underdog as a result. Now over the years, I realized that the underdog wasn't entirely an innocent victim and from that point on, I started to drift apart, but not without having lost a lot in the process, and as far as credit goes, I don't know if I'll ever be able to recover it, and if I do, I'm sure that it will take me longer than 10 years because I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay the debts that he incurred in my name.
2006-07-12 16:50:13 · answer #7 · answered by imagineworldwide 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go to an attorney and see what remedies there are. You might need to declare bankruptcy. But tell the attorney he stole your identity and see what options are available. I just went looking in answer to your question. there is a website called privacy rights.org that states that if you report possible theft to one of the credit monitoring agencies, the other 2 will be notified.
2006-07-12 15:57:30 · answer #8 · answered by stick man 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
get a girlfriend/boyfriend and use her credit, until yours does. That's what my boyfriend is doingbecause he has bad credit. LOL I know it sucks not to be able to get anything. or have anythign in your name! You just have to pay it off. little by little you know... I don;t think that they are asking you to pay in fuill but in payments. You have to pay for your mistakes. nothing is free. and you took advantage of it and now there's a price to pay. you know how that goes..hahaha try getting info from the collection people, bank or whatever. be honest and show them that you want to make things better and they'll work out a pyament plan for you. And maybe even lower the price. you can;t prove anything. but it's all in your hands now!
It will still be on your record though. Even after you pay it. I think it will clear off of your record in like 7 to 8 years. well anywyas good luck...
2006-07-12 16:02:56 · answer #9 · answered by blah blah 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go to a Consumer Credit Counseling agency today. They'll help you. I got out of debt quick that way and they did it all for me. I basically paid them $600/mo. and they divided the money to pay EVERYONE I owed money to, including their fee.
Go now. Don't wait and don't hesitate. Consumer Credit Counselers worked for me and it can work for you.. Geepers I sound like a commercial. I wouldn't recommend it if it weren't true.
Good luck and I hope you see the end of the tunnel after your consultation with CCC.
2006-07-12 15:59:53 · answer #10 · answered by whatzerface 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋