Our rating is in the 540s and want to get up to about 700. With a credit counselor our bills are timely and we want to get rid of the bad comments or at least look better on our report.
2007-08-28 08:24:42 · 4 answers · asked by exnavyman1964 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
DONT USE A CREDIT COUNSELOR... THEY DO NOTHING YOU CANT DO YOURSELF. Sometimes, using a counselor will actually LOWER your score.
You can get it up, but it will take at least a few years. Just pay EVERYTHING on time. Call past-due creditors and make them an offer of 50% as a full settlement (get any agreement in writing before you pay, and dont call them until you have the cash in hand to settle... and only pay by CHECK)
How rapidly depends on how much of a priority you make straightening it out. If you get a part time job at night delivering pizza or working for UPS and make every penny count.... you can get out of debt and improve your score pretty quickly...
Like I said,dont use a counselor. They cant do anything you cant do yourself, and often they have fee's that are MUCH better spent on the debt itself.
2007-08-28 08:30:51 · answer #1 · answered by Mike 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Credit counseling will immediately trash your credit score -- same as if you file bankruptcy. Also, so many of these counseling/repair/consolidation companies are scams. They take their fees up front and leave you in worse shape.
You would be better off doing it yourself. Make a strict budget. Eliminate all the extras -- cell phone, eating out, new clothes, etc. Take every penny you can squeeze out of that budget and put it on the highest interest rate debt, while payin minimum on the rest. When the highest interest rate debt is paid, move to the next till they are all paid in full.
It will take about 2 or 3 years to pay everything off. But you will also be creating an on time payment history.
2007-08-28 15:37:36 · answer #2 · answered by bdancer222 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is illegal to try to obtain new credit for a year after finishing counseling with certain types of counsellors, you may want to ask about this. It will probably take you a few years to get into the middle 600s if you continue to pay your bills on time and listen to other advice from your counsellor. It may take five years or longer to get to a 700 + score.
2007-08-28 15:31:04 · answer #3 · answered by orangeflameninja 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You better read the fine print, I will never use a Credit Counselor again, unless they are in my hometown and I know where their office is. www.creditinfocenter.com
2007-08-28 15:29:54 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋