I am trying to fix my credit report and have a lot of collection and charge offs....?

Question

I am calling them each and asking to negotiate a payoff... what should my goal be to have it 100% removed, paid as agreed, or a settlement? Which is going affect my score the most?

Answer 1

I worked in collections for a while and my credit was pretty bad for a few years too. They said that it looks better to pay off the entire debt than to settle, so each tax season, I would get my return and pay off each debt fully one-by-one. It took me a total of 3 yrs to do, but it's so worth it! I'm now debt free and I was able to buy my husband a new car for Christmas w/ the loan in my name only! Woo-hoo! Now for the next 2-3 yrs, we'll be doing to same thing for my husband's credit and also building it back up. I've allowed myself 2 credit cards only and I make sure I double the min. pmt due. That way, if there's a month that I can only make the min. pmt, it's not that big a deal. It's a pain in the butt and an extremely long process, but it's definitely worth it in the end. Good luck!

Answer 2

I too was in this situation not so long ago. The bad reports will not be removed from your report for 7-10 yrs. The good news is that by negotiating a settlement with each of your creditors, they should report the account settled and paid in full. Then you need to get 2-3 revolving accounts, like a credit card, or furniture payment and pay the payments on time. Above anything your credit accounts need to be paid on time. Even one day late will turn into the snowball of late fees and then over the limit fees which is probably what got you where you are today. Buy a tank of gas on your card each month and pay it off. Not using the cards does not show that you are trying to rebuild your payment history I did this with everyone I had a negative repoir with and paid all of the bad debt off (using my tax return)(now is the perfect time of yr). Have a goal. Mine was to purchase a new house. It took me 11 months to be able to qualify for my dream house. We moved in 1/5/2007. Learn to think about your purchases. If you want something, go home, give yourself a day or two to decide if you really want it, and you will see that your goal is more important. I am an impulse shopper so when I don't have the money for something, those cc are burnin' a hole in my wallet. So that brings me to my next point, don't even take them to a store with you. Soon by following these steps you too will be on your way to a higher credit score. I raised mine about 47 pts in 11 months...you can do it too...GOOD LUCK!!!

Answer 3

You can negociate it, or work out payments in some cases. The goal is to pay off as much of your creditors as you can. Every thing you pay off will help clean up your credit report. Even if you pay $10 or $20 a week to each one, just showing you are trying is good faith. Good luck!!

Answer 4

either way..as long as it is showed that you no longer owe them it will still be the same on your credit report. the best thing to do is get everything paid, and then get a credit card and pay it off completely each month. that will help raise your score the quickest. it takes 7 years for a negative report to clear off so they will stay on there for a while. just get anything delinquent paid off and then focus on building a good account. that's what worked for me and my credit is great now. it didn't take very long either.

Answer 5

if they are close to 7 years or older it is pointless to pay them. write or call the oldest to have them removed.
the ones you should pay can be negotiated. pay the most recents first.

Answer 6

first i thing you must speak with someone, i went thought the similar problem also on loan officer to me to pay off and close the account, and now that i have a different loan company she telling me once i pay off the account don't close it. also please don't let them know your intention e;g trying to buy a house, car or whether because there wouldn't make any arrangement with you their will try to get you to pay off all