I made a lot of mistakes in my early 20s, got involved with drugs and messed my life up completely. I have been completely clean for 5 years now. During the bad era I accumulated 20,000 dollars of debt from car to credit to apt rental. I know they're all delinquent by now because these are all around 5 years ago.
I want to restart my life now and do the right things, what should I do? Who should I contact for help? I've since moved out of state, I didn't keep in touch with the previous creditors, so they havn't been able to contact me. I'm not even sure if they've tried to sue me or anything. I've been too scared to look at my credit report. I probably have the lowest possible score, whatever that amount is.
Thank you in advance.
2007-09-14 14:43:31 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
Thank you so much for all your responses so far. I didn't know that I would be able to get help from credit counseling because I thought they only help with people who are current with their payments.
What should I do if I see that a judgment has been made against me? How could that happen if I was never served and never went to court?
Also..I'll be finishing nursing school and looking for a job as an RN in two years..if a potential employer checks my credit report, but sees that I've been working with a credit counseling organization, would that help or hurt? I'm asking because I'm assuming that in 2 years all those delinquent accounts should be taken off of my credit? Am I right?
I have no problems with paying my dues and making payments..I just don't know how I can even begin to do that when I have no earnings while I'm in school. I don't know if I should wait till I get a job after I graduate before I start tackling this drama.
2007-09-14 15:56:22 · update #1
Well, your question has an answer in it. Start with your credit report. You should not be scared. You seem to be strong enough to face what you frankly already know. So, go to www.annualcreditreport.com and get started. This is a free site, that allows you to get copies of credit reports from all three credit bureaus once a year. There will be numbers of any creditors and possibly records of judgments if anyone sued you.
This will be a good place to start. Take it from there. You will be fine. You admitted your mistakes, that is the hardest part, everything else is just routine.
Good luck.
2007-09-14 14:53:06 · answer #1 · answered by Alexander K 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First you need to get a copy of your credit report from all three credit bureaus. You can contest any information that is not accurate. I would also recommend you see a credit counseling service, you are the perfect candidate. It seems your debt is old so the good news is much of it may have been charged off at this point and will probally be removed from your credit report in two years. I would try to stop worrying so much about the past. Try to start rebuilding your life.
2007-09-14 21:54:26 · answer #2 · answered by Lily 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good for you---congratulations on cleaning up your life, I too was young and foolish didn't realize that not paying on time and allowing collections to take over would ruin my credit, I too was scared but applied to RCMP and they pull a credit report so thought I should beat them to it, I have lots of collections for big amounts, and my beacon score is 626 which is not that bad...don't be scared, it has been 5 years and they will all fall off your record in 6 -- only 1 year to wait..I would pull a report on yourself, and see what it looks like, if you can pay it off on your own than start that process, or talk to someone about letting them fall off your bureau, because once you start to pay that is acknowledgement of debt and then you have to wait another 6 years I would talk to someone you can trust, I think and I am not a lawyer you may be better off letting that stuff fall off your credit bureau....dont sign up for credit counselling unless you have to....this lowers your score to an R6 or lower for 7 years....Goood luck and congratulations on a new start!!!
2007-09-21 04:19:39 · answer #3 · answered by jodylavallee 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try going through a credit counsling organization. They will help you on your road back to good credit and can arrange reasonable payments to the creditors you owe.
It's good you want to take responsibility and straighten out your life.
Try:
http://www.nfcc.org/ or http://www.consumercredit.com/
for starters.
2007-09-14 21:56:00 · answer #4 · answered by Joe B. 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it is too late, in this country no matter what you do good or bad you are judged by 3 numbers called a credit score. you can die for this country, but they will not help you live, only if you have oil in your backyard. hang in there better days are around the corner
2007-09-14 22:57:59 · answer #5 · answered by Ray S 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Go to a reputable credit counseling service and see if they can help you.
2007-09-14 21:53:23 · answer #6 · answered by Bob D 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋