How can I legally repair my credit?

Question

I have very bad credit. At least 3000 dollars worth of credit card and doctors bills. I am wanting to pay this off, and try to rebuild my credit. After everything is paid off, how long before the creditors(actually collection agencies in my case) take the points of of your credit, and do they even do this? Will it really help if I pay it off, or am I doomed? I want to buy a new house, new car, and get a credit card, but I cant ( even though I make good money) before I get married- which should be soon. I see creit repair agencies and debt consolidators, but have heard they make matters worse. I would like to pay off my debts, but if it doesnt help my credit score-I feel like I could spend the money on other things.( I am a single mother, while I make good money-I dont have it to throw around). Does anyone know what I should do?

I would like to add, that I do not have a large amount of credit card debt-it is very small.Most of my debt is medical.I also am not in any way saying that I make a great deal of money- but it is a very good amount for my age and experience. I can afford to make PAYMENTS on these items posted to my credit, but as of this moment ( holidays and all) I cannot pay them off- all at once. Would my credit report list who I should pay in specific ? I doubt very seriously that I have marks against my credit that are false, but if so it is worth a try to send them the correct info. Thanks for all of your help !Keep the great answers coming! I am taking notes!

Answer 1

Get the bills paid down and make payments on time and things will get better; but it'll be 7 years before the "bad" credit pops off the credit report

Answer 2

Generally, about 7 years until your credit rating with the CRA has been cleared. Being a single parent with a sole income won't work in your favour either. People often never think of things like this until AFTER the fact and they have proven to be a bad creditor. You have really made a rod for your own back in this instance. Make sure you pay all your utility bills on time and any other expenses that are pending as quickly as possible. Your only real hope is that your future husband has a good credit rating, if he doesn't, you are basically screwed for at least 10 years. Apart from that, you could always take the option of going bankrupt, but that should be a last resort.

Answer 3

Thats really not much debt. You have to pay it off in order to repair your credit. So start. Perhaps they will take smaller lump sums so you wont have to pay so much. But if you make as much as you say you do, 3000 shouldnt be a problem to pay off. Do not use credit repair when you can just pay it off yourself. and yes it does make credit worse, plus you'll be paying them a fee and paying more money that you could use to pay off the debt. after you settle your debt, get the companies to send u a letter saying you are settled. then write to the credit reporting agencies and ask them to remove it from your report. And the seven year this is false. It will not be removed until you pay it off. You cant owe money then wait 7 yrs and it'll come off. It doesnt work that way. Its a myth.

Answer 4

First of all obtain your free credit report from all three credit bureaus: Experian, Transunion and Equifax. Then review them for inaccuracies. ANy inaccuracies you dispute by writing the bureau it is listed on (more than likely all 3) and explaining why it is wrong and proving what and why it is wrong. ANy thing that is truly wrong, must be removed...creditors look at overall payment history, etc.
Once you pay things ff, get duplicates removed, inaccuracies removed, which cantake up to 90+ days, your score will rise. Keep in mind, everytime you give out SS# and creit is pulled on you your score goes down. Theredfore, do very infrequently.

After reviewing, contact you debtors and work out a payment plan yourself.

ANd do NOT ever, ever use a credit counseling company, they put you further behind, and make your credit worse.

Answer 5

I would suggest that you focus on one bill at a time and try paying at least $25.00-$50.00 a month to pay it off and then move to the next bill. It's always good to pay any bill off, because eventually it will come off your credit report and it looks better that you did pay it off instead of not paying. Once the bills are paid you can ask the creditor if they will remove it.

Then the next time you get a credit card don't charge more than you can pay off in that billing cycle unless it's an absolute emergency and that's the only means you have to pay for that emergency.

Answer 6

Negative credit data stays on your report for 7 years except for bankruptcies and judgments which remain for 10 years. As you pay off your debt, establish and maintain an on-time payment record and age the derogatory information your score will gradually improve. This will take several years.

The only negative information you can have removed from your record is anything that is incorrect. The majority of credit files do have invalid information in them -- my score is in the upper 700s and I catch one every year or so that clobbers my score until I get it removed -- so it is worthwhile to check your record periodically and challenge any bogus data.

Anyone who tells you that there is a quick fix for a valid poor credit record is lying. And anyone who charges you money to "fix" your record (other than requesting the removal of incorrect information, which you can do yourself for the price of a postage stamp) is a scam artist. Likewise, stay away from "debt consolidators" as all that they really are are ripoff loan mills that will put you in worse shape than you are right now.

Credit counseling agencies CAN help you get your budget on track and can sometimes intercede with creditors on your behalf to get interest rates reduced and late fees removed. They generally charge a small fee for their services though this should be less than the reduction in your monthly payments after any interest rate reductions. Stick with the ones who are certified for bankruptcy counseling and you'll be fairly safe.

Answer 7

I'm really sorry you're in this position. Just know you're not alone, there are thousands of people out there with the same problem (I don't know if that's encouraging or not).

The best bet is to pay everything off and don't get behind again.

NEVER take one of those loans for people with bad credit, they are too risky. The only time you should take something like that is if you are out of food.

It will take time for all the bad credit to go away, if it does, but you can rebuild by paying everything on time every time.

Answer 8

Attorneys and Credit Repair Clinics have 3 secrets. It’s these 3 secrets that keep them in business. First, when it comes to ANY negative marks on your credit, the big secret they don’t want you to know is this...
THE ONLY NEGATIVE INFORMATION that CAN REMAIN
on your credit report
is NOT what is accurate, but what the Credit Bureaus
CAN PROVE TO BE ACCURATE under the F.C.R.A.

Answer 9

By Paying a lawyer $1500 and you wont owe anything. But you wont be able to buy a house, get any credit again, etc.!