How to pay off debts even if you don't know the amount and places?

Question

We want to pay off debts to get a better credit status, but we don't know all the debts or where to pay them off at. We are trying to get a credit report at least but even that is difficult.

Answer 1

Go to www.creditboards.com and they can help. It's free. You need to get copies of all 3 credit reports FIRST.

Answer 2

Your credit report is easy to obtain. Just call all three bureaus, and request them. As far as paying off your debt: the last page of your report should have contact information for each creditor.
The first thing you should do is create a budget for your current income and bills. Anything that can be scaled back comfortably, should be. (Downgrade to basic cable, minimize eating out, etc.)
Then figure out how much of your income is left over to start using to pay off old debts.
Every payday, paying close attention to your current bills first, pay off something from your credit report. Start with the most recent debts first. Some people may say to take care of the oldest ones first, but you'll be better off doing it this way. Some collectors will offer you a settlement- ask all of them. Some won't, but at least you asked. Take the offers.
If you can, it would help if you took on an extra part time job to help this go faster. Don't bother with the chargeoffs or anything more than six or seven years from the date of last activity. By the time you're done, they will drop off anyway.
Good luck. This will save you thousands of dollars in interest when you get your credit score up. And it feels good to be rid of it all.
One more thing, and this is important, If it's not yours, call the bureau that the report came from and challenge it. They are required to investigate it and it doesn't count against you while it's being investigated.

Answer 3

Everyone is entitled to a free copy of the three credit reports direct from the three credit reporting agencies. You do not need to go to the so called "free" websites, who are generally trying to sell you something. But besides that, when THEY check your credit report, it just puts one more inquiry on your report. So get the report from the annual credit report site. (link below)

Once you get that, look and see what debts are on there.

If it's not on those reports, then you don't owe it anymore. Anything over 7 years old is probably dropped off the report. The statute of limitations has run on it anyway. Check the statute of limitations for your state (link below) If you have some old debt, depending on your state, you may not owe it. The statute of limitations is different in every state. If you're not sure, email me and I'll see if I can explain the statute and what it means better to you. Basically, the statute starts from the date of the last activity on the account.

Go through your credit report and figure out who you owe money to. I just went through this with a relative so I got pretty savvy at figuring out just what she actually did owe and what she could tell the collection agencies to go shove it on.

Answer 4

It is possible to get a free credit report. According to a bill passed a couple of years ago, any individual is able to get a copy of his or her credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus once each year.

You might want to know, however, that paying off your bills directly may not immediately impact your credit scores. It does take some time to affect it. And, if you have a lot of credit outstanding, closing the credit accounts actually can have a negative effect on your credit score, since that would change the ratio of credit balances to credit amounts extended.

Answer 5

How do you not know the debts you owe?