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So when I was 18, I had a bank account with Wells Fargo for school, that my Grant went into. I was young and careless, and I spent beyond my means. Overdrafting several times. When I stopped going to school I never made another payment and now I'm stuck. I have this Wells fargo account in collections, it's been that way for 4 years, I have a Victoria's secret account that I've made a payment on in the past but can't find the information for seeing as I've moved since that's been there for 4 years as well, and as of 2013 I've got a 12k medical bill from being sent to the hospital and held there to see how I reacted. They didn't do anything at all for me or to me so I don't know why it was so much, but I didn't have insurance then, so it ended up being high. However, I just signed up for insurance, is there anyway to use that to cover the past expense? Helppp I really want to buy the house I'm currently renting but I need the credit to do so, and I'd like the opportunity to go back to school as well...I'm 21 years old now, what do I do?

I am so happy I found this board. Background - I am 27 years old, I live in the USA (midwest), and I have suffered from severe depression for most of my life which hit particularly hard in my early 20s. During my 20s I screwed my credit up royally. Suffering from depression and anxiety, I just never paid bills (credit cards, loans, etc) and have let my debt rack up to the point where I have creditors calling my cell phone and my parent's house daily and I receive mail that I just throw away because I already know it's a debt collection letter. I have about $40K in student loans and I never graduated. I am 4 classes away from finishing college but I stopped attending in 2011 because I couldn't afford it and without a college degree, I have not been able to find a job that pays more than $40K a year. I have been unemployed on and off due to my depression but I thankfully found a stable salaried Executive Assistant job in October that pays $38K with benefits so I can start getting help with my mental illness. Anyway, I didn't pay my federal student loans and now they have been in default since 2012. I have about $7K in credit card bills that have gone into collections, about $1K in medical debt that is also in collections, and a few other blemishes on my credit score. Last time I checked my credit score it was below 500 and I'm sure it's even lower now. I am thinking of filing for bankruptcy because I am drowning and I don't know where to start. I barely make enough money to survive on my own let alone pay down this massive debt but I need to try. I want to finish college and get my degree - first and foremost but I owe my school about $2500 before I can even re-enroll and then I probably don't qualify for student loans because I'm in default. I am trying to move out of my parents home but I can't get qualified for an apartment because of my credit score and poor financial history. I don't have any assets and I can't get any type of loan because of my credit. My car is probably one month away from breaking down and I desperately need to get another car (used of course) but can't qualify for anything but shady super high interest auto loans. Over the summer I tried to commit suicide because of my debt issues but was unsuccessful. The stress in my life is so enormous I just don't know how or where to start to even fix this. Any tips are much appreciated. I am currently reading through all the newbie threads but I also wanted to make this thread. I have never told anyone but my parents about my debt issues and it feels oddly cathartic to finally type out all of my problems. My friends and extended family all think I graduated (I did the ceremony because I only had 4 classes left and my college adviser assumed I would finish over the summer) and have a great job and live this great life but I am just living a life. I am 27 and will be 28 in August 2015 and I just want to end my 20's and enter my 30's without this terrible burden.

I am currently trying to improve my credit score. I have made some mistakes in the past and am paying for it now. My credit score is currently 550, up from 510 in July. I currently have 3 accounts in collections, none of which will do pay for delete. 2 of them are hospital bills, one for 1330.00 and one for 470.00. I am currently disputing them, hoping that they will not reply back to transunion. The 3rd is a bill to Sprint that is also in collections. I owe 1200.00 and have negotiated them to do a settled in full amount of 517.00.... Is this a good amount and idea. I have other negative marks on my credit, but all of them are closed. I currently have one active Credit Card with up to date payments. My horrible credit score is the result of being careless when I was younger and I really want to fix it. Any advise on how to handle this would be great.

Hi, I'm a Newbie and this site was reco'd by my BF bc I need to work on my credit. I wrote down my credit score goal as 750. I was told once, if it's written its real. That kept me on top of goals in life and has been a successful tool in my life thus far. It's pretty much a twist on a vision board. Anywho, with all that said, I would love opinions and recos on what, how, and when I should do certain things to reach this goal. I have read difft posts, but there is so much info that helps, but also pushes me one more step away from achieving my goal bc I just don't understand certain things mentioned. Here's what I'm working with: When I was younger, I did what most recent grads did to ruin their credit-- I applied and was approved for every cc and store card I could possibly get. I rem counting it to be approx 11 cards. I was under the impression that this gave me credit history and would help build my credit. I obviously maxed them all out, made late payments and eventually stopped paying on them. Probly brought my CS to high 400s, low 500s In 2009/2010, I was able to pay them all off giving myself $0 debt. Once again thinking, if I have zero debt my CS will be better. Mistakes doing that involved paying charged off accts, settling accts and speaking to CAs that bullied and talked me into handling things their way or no way, which now I know...wrong thing to do. I fig'd that by time I finish my advanced degree (2009-2013), my credit would get better esp if I stayed away fr CCs. The only time my CR was touched were inquiries for car loan leases in between that time. Finally my most recent car lease inquiry in 6/2013 revealed EQ beacon 611, EX FICO 641, TU FICO 681. This is where I am stuck on what to do. I pulled EX CR that says 8 potentially negative items. These include CCs and store cards that had late payments and closed per CGR, 2 late payments on car note ( which I think only one is valid), and late payments on 2 store cards that I still have open and am able to use ( which I do on one of them, currently at less than 10% UR bc they gave a CLI out of nowhere) I joined CK, score has been at 648 the whole time since i joined abt 6 moths ago, just joined Credit sesame, which my score is 641. I have my advanced degree student loans which are roughly abt $200,000+ (Yikes), the low balance store card, and car loan as my debt. I have 4 hard inquiries, which were made by the same car loan companies (2 in June 2013, then 2 again in Sept 2013), car actually purchased in Sept 2013. I NEED HELP at this point!! I searched CB for what my next steps should be to increase my credit score, but too many options, I just don't know which is best for my situation. I was thinking to get a secured card and/or sign up for a credit card, but I really just don't know what to do! HELP ME PLEASE! I've seen the wonderful advice given by the community and hope that I can receive the same. Thx in advance to all PS I thought I had one negative item falling off of my acct last year, but it seems to have showed up under a different company name, but same acct number. And I will have about 2-3 items falling off by the end of next year. Tx again

In need of purchasing a new car, quick question about revolving balances before I submit one of the ubiquitous "App for Marv". I have 3 revolving major credit cards ($2000, $1000 secured, $600 limits) and 2 revolving store cards (charge accounts, $5500 and $800 limits). I vary between 10-30% credit usage on my revolving lines. No other loans, a number of baddies. My question: if I pay off all my consumer credit / revolving credit balances off immediately, will the 0% credit usage have a positive effect on my auto loan application in ~1-2 months? Or do lenders care more about average credit usage over a long period, and so should I keep the cash for a bigger down payment? Thanks!

Here's how I use the LAW to fairly and legally dispute anything off your credit report: Many have asked, “ How is your credit repair method different from the rest”? Well here’s how, keep reading: Here’s the truth, over 70% of credit reports have errors in them . The vast majority of negative items on a typical credit report are in fact VALID. Therefore, simply disputing all the negatives on your report using a traditional disputing process, will be “verified” by the credit reporting agencies and remain on your credit file. Nothing will change. For this reason, many people falsely believe there is NO HOPE in removing “valid” derogatory information from their credit report and essentially give up. NOTHING could be further from the truth. Here’s how I can help you… With the method I use, it doesn't matter whether the negative account is VALID or NOT. It works because it disputes the CREDIT REPORTING AGENCIES’ RIGHT TO REPORT THE NEGATIVE as oppose to disputing the validity of the actual debt . Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) of the Federal Law the CRA’s Credit Reporting Agency (Experian, Equifax or TransUnion) must provide proper verification of the disputing items from the original creditor the contract was held with, and since majority of the time they cannot provide verification of a physical contract document ... the account is required to be classified as UNVERIFIED .Under Federal Law of the FCRA – ALL UNVERIFIED ACCOUNTS MUST BE PERMENTATLY DELETED. Whether the debt is valid or not – "it has to be deleted" .

Hello all! This has been a rough few years for me, but I'm finally in a position to start fixing some of the mistakes I've made. I've cleaned up a lot of things in my personal life, now it is time to really tackle my financial. As far as debt, I'm really not in a bad off position. I recently got married and with our combined efforts my debts could be paid off relatively quickly. However my credit is terrible. We were recently getting a new car, and were going to put it in both of our names to help my score. It is at a horrendous 516. We decided not to since with my husband's super high credit we'd be saving thousands by putting it in his name only. He wants to just pay everything off, but from the research I've done, I can see how that might not be exactly to our benefit. Our major concern is that we would like to buy a home in the next few years, and I want to make sure I'm able to contribute, espcially since once I graduate from school my income would be a great addition to add for mortgage consideration. So, here is everything. Laid bare. Thanks in advance for your help. Collections: Portfolio RC, Original Creditor GE Bank $922 CREDBURSRV, Original Creditor Carolina Healh $297 Credit Coll, Original Creditor LabCorp $103 Bay Area CS, Original Creditor Unkown $181 Charge Off: GE Bank $644 Car Payment: $225 month on a car that broke down and was scrapped because I couldn't keep it in the street. I have about $1000 left on the payment. It is not reporting. Also, a debt collector contacted me about another medical bill. I asked for details on the bill and told her that I would not be making a payment because I was unemployed and unsure about the bill. All I got in the mail was a contract to fill out saying I could pay a certain amount of money each month. I haven't done anything about it, because I want to find more information. It's not showing up on my report, so I think it's someone contracted by the hospital maybe? The cards with GE were my only accounts and I don't have any open cards right now. I have a utility bill in my name right now, and that's the only thing I have going for me. I have student loans, but I don't have to pay on them while in school, and once I graduate I (hopefully) will be able to work in a low income area which will get a great deal of that paid for me. We just relocated and I have a PT job to help out and keep me busy during deployment, so really money isn't an issue here. I just want to know what would be the most logical way to go about tackling this. I think that's everything. I can't wait to hear from you guys.

Who do I call or write an obsolete letter too? Also how do I write the letter?

My brother had a stroke in August. He is totally disabled (can't even sign his name). I have gone to court to get a conservatorship so I can direct his care, file for SSI etc. In applying for SSI today, I learned he needed a checking account in his name to receive the benefits. I also found out he has such bad credit that the credit union I normally bank with won't even open an account for him with me as conservator (I have excellent credit). Does anyone know of a bank/credit union that is legit that I can open an account with for him? Social Security is all electronic now so I must have this for him. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Hello everyone, I was told that I could get some good help from experts on this board, hence why I signed up. My Dilemma: I recently checked my annual credit score and I seen that it is a 495. I know that is terrible. Yes, I am aware that I made some bad decisions credit wise when I was younger and now it's catching up to me. I am trying to help rebuild my credit. I have 4 negative inquiries and a load of student loans. Can anyone help me as far as where to start? What to do? Is there someone I should contact? Thanks in advance and your help is greatly appreciated.

In February 2011 I went to the ER with what ended up being kidney stones and they had to be surgically removed. I went through with the procedure and my insurance covered a good portion of it but not all of it. Because I went to the ER, then a urologist, then had outpatient surgery at another facility I received at least 10 different bills for everything. I wasn't making much money at the time so I paid all the smaller bills I could afford and ignored the larger bills. They have been in collections as of October 2011. Currently in collections: 1. $1,185.00 - ER visit 2. $91.00 - Anesthesia 3. $1309.04 - surgery total : $2,585.04 I could pay the $91 anesthesia fee in full but I'm wondering if it's worth it at this point. It seems like a huge ordeal to figure out who to pay and actually get the collection removed. The other 2 I could not afford to pay in full and I know once you start paying them the statute of limitations starts over. I'm cautious to contact the collections agencies directly, I wouldn't mind trying to settle for significantly less but again I don't want to re-start the clock by showing interest. I'm not sure how it all works. My credit is in the high 500s and this is definitely not the only blemish however they are the only accounts in collections. 3 different bills, 3 different collection agencies, set to be wiped in 2017. Leave them be and don't pay or try to settle and go through the removal process?

Backstory, current situation, and question regarding my approach: I am 27 years old. When I was 21, I had a legal issue come up that caused me to lose my job. In the aftermath of this, I received a 20k judgement, had a brand new car repo'd (5 months after buying it), and my credit went to hell. I stopped paying on everything. Student loans, small 20 dollar store credits, etc. I ignored all of it. I started making pretty decent money as a web applications architect.. bought everything for cash (cars, motorcycles, boats). I sold them off. My terrible lifestyle finally came to a halt 12 months ago. I almost took my own life.. but thats another story. Life is great now! I'm very happy. Time to fix this mess I put myself in. I currently have 18-22 negative items on my report (depending on which you pull).. some are duplicates.. 9 of them are the same 2 student loans over and over again. I have a 10k tax lien as I haven't filed taxes for 6 years. I still have the 20k judgement from when I was 21, which was "officially" entered into the system in 2011. I'm not sure why it took 3-4 years for it to make it there. I have another 1500 judgement. I have one 7k collection for a repo'd vehicle. Everything else are smaller little things here/there. I hired a CPA last week, to the tune of 1000, to get my six years of tax returns handled. This will result in me entering into a monthly payment plan with the IRS. At least I'm going to avoid garnishment. I'm hoping I can have that lien removed.. but who knows. I have gone down the negatives on my credit reports, with the exception of student loans/judgements, and called every creditor. I have made lump sum payment arrangements starting 8/30/2013. I made small 20-30 dollar payments to each one to "get the ball rolling", but the remainders are occurring 8/30/2013 and 9/15/2013, respectively. This should take care of almost everything on my credit report, except IRS/Judgements/Student Loans/leftover repo gap. I started at a new job 3 months ago on a 90 day contractor to hire. I was hired officially two weeks ago at an annual salary of 110,000. I'm taking my ~6000 (after 3k in taxes, ugh) monthly salary and putting everything not already owed to utilities/rent towards this debt. I estimate, except for the IRS, my 7k leftover gap for the repo'd vehicle, and my larger judgement, to have this all paid off within the next 6 weeks. Is this a good approach? Some of these items are 6 years old. But they all seem to have "bounced" around between creditors.. and have been re-entered on my report as early as this year. The car was from 2007. I signed up for Lexington Law a month ago and have been letting them send off "remove this stuff" letters. I'm hoping this helps. I do have a few duplicates on my record. I know very little about these matters. I've always made great money, usually as a contractor, and spent until there was nothing left. I'm slowly learning how to budget.. I've taken full responsibility and am working towards paying these items off. I just don't know if I'm taking the best approach. Sorry for rambling. I started reading through all the newbie/starter questions and I just want a straight answer. Should I be using various tactics here? Payment in exchange for deletion? NDA etc? I drive an old beater vehicle I bought at auction for 5k.. and it is nearing the end of its life. My FICO (Experian) is 526. Am I crazy to think I could be "purchase a new car" material within the next few months? My girlfriend issued out an additional card on one of her 1k credit cards. For some reason this is reporting to my credit score as positive every month. I'm paying the bill for her as a result. So that is one good thing!

Hello, I have had some very unfortunate series of events happen to me in the last few years. I just moved to New York City a few years ago, and I immediately went into the shelter system, I was having domestic violence problems at the time and needed a place to stay fast. My daughter was in Connecticut at the moment working at Walmart living with a friend. I asked that she pay the insurance that month, but instead she spent it on clothes with her friend. Just my luck, the very next week, my car was stolen, along with most of my valuables including my cat. My credit took a very hard hit because of this, and has made my life very difficult for finding a home. Even with that being said, I was still able to find an apartment to rent, via shelter programs and what not. I found a job, with steady income, and I do currently have this job. All my rent payments were made on time, not a second late. I was so persistent on punctuality so that when I upgrade I could have a good reference from my landlord. Again, my luck has failed me, my landlord filed a holdover eviction, basically stating that he wanted me and my two kids out for whatever reason( it was a private house so this was possible). Mind you , I worked and my daughter worked, we provided enough income to pay him on time consistently, and he still filed for an eviction, even with knowledge of us wanting to move out. This took another punch to my credit, my credit is now horrible and I am considering bankruptcy at this point. I want to know if it is possible to some how repair my credit, and how. Thank you very much.

Hi everyone I hope someone can direct me and offer me some advice here. I am 26 years old. My transunion score currently is 581. Majority of the negative accounts on my credit report are medical bills. 15 of them are scheduled to fall off 2015. I believe i have about about 21. The most recent medical bill is 2 years old..... I have 3 unsecured credit cards on file with a 100% paid on time payment history. My father added me on that is the only reason it is being reported to the credit bureaus. i tried to apply for a capital one secured credit card and i was denied. why? and is there any hope for me? when the negative accounts fall off in a couple of years the liklihood of my score is increasing is very slim considering the damage has already been done. Everything appears accurate on my credit report....so i dont have anything to dispute. However on experian the fall off dates seem to be 3-4 months off compared to the transunion report...... i dont see it as a big deal but maybe someone can enlighten me on this......is this considered inaccurate? most likely they will not remove the entry only update it...... i dont have a bank account either i have a prepaid card....my chex systems is finally clear but i am still having issues for whatever reason so im gonna wait another year before getting a bank account but i am in no rush. Someone please address my concerns..i know i have more than 1 question. Thanks alot..

Hello! Long time creeper, first time poster! I'm starting to get really fed up, frustrated and embarrassed of my situation and have no idea how to fix it. Back when I first turned 18, I applied for a credit card ($500 limit) and was approved straight away. I lost my job about a year later and was unable to make even the minimum payment on my balance (it was completely maxed out because I was an salamander with spending) and it went into collections. This credit card that went to collections still pops up as an "active card" with every place I've applied to get a credit card (including my own bank, a different bank than my original credit card that was issued), even though it's been long cut up and gone about 3 years ago by order of my old branch. Naturally, this looks terrible on all my applications. I no longer have this credit card and it's currently in collections, so why is it still showing up on my applications? I feel like I'm missing something here. I have a couple of other debts as well which are both with Telus. One is for a cable TV bill that went unpaid due to some falling outs with my old roommates (I was the only one making payments on it, everyone else lied about paying their share) so eventually it got racked up with late fees and additional charges. I was so upset about this situation that I moved out and made the mistake of leaving the bill open and without payment. Boom. Straight to collections, owing $750. The next was my cell phone bill, which I also couldn't afford to pay after losing my job. I called Telus to try and cancel my service and was told to pay $420 of money I did not have in order to cancel my contract. Naturally, it eventually went to collections as well. The kicker and stupidest move on my part was taking out payday loans to get by after all this happened and I lost my job. Long story short, I owe a total of about $800 between 3 different loan companies dating about 2 years back from today. I went into a deep depression over personal and relationship issues so I was very apathetic about paying this money back at the time it was the most urgent and opportune. Now that I've picked myself up again, the thought of how much interest I've probably accrued from all of this scares me. I currently owe around $2600 as a rough estimate for my current debt (it is most likely more than this however). It could be far far far worse and is a fairly small amount, but the marks on the credit score are hurting me more than the actual money owing itself. I am now 22 years old with a good paying job and far better financial habits. I never overdraft from my accounts, am never late on rent, pay my current cell phone bill on time every month in full and bought a car without the use of a loan (so there's no debt there). I feel useless when it comes to helping my boyfriend with financials however (we live together) because of my poor credit and not being able to take out anything in my name once the word "credit check" pops up. He says that it doesn't bother him and he knows and understands my situation (he feels it is "his job" to take care of me) but I feel terrible that everything has to be in his name due to my teenage mistakes. I would like to help him out and take some responsibility as well, despite the fact he feels it's unnecessary. My credit and debt situation is just a big mess. I have no idea which agency has what balance so I don't even know where to begin getting in contact to fix this. Just recently my car has been having trouble and the amount to fix it is too great for me to afford. I can't get a car loan without a cosign, which I don't want anyone to have to do for me anyway. Even places that practically hand out credit cards won't approve me. All of the collections calls have mysteriously stopped for the past year or so, and this scares me too as I fear they may be starting to take further action. I really just need some advice on where to start fixing all of this before it gets worse and to get my life back. Can anyone help?

I am 26 years old. Recently married (May 2011) and a financial mess! Ok, so I might not be in as bad of a situation as some....but poor enough for my own liking. I have over $15,000 worth of debt and I have no clue how to tackle it. Oh and there is a plus, my newlywed husband is in the same situation. Most of the debt is from hospital bills, and miscellaneous things left unpaid as an irresponsible teen and young adult. The major (most expensive) things are a auto loan, ONE credit card that was put in my name when I was about 17 by a family member, and an unjust court judgement placed against me. We want to buy a house in the near future, we NEED to buy a car AND we have a baby on the way! I'm scared, lost, confused and not to mention full of pregnancy hormones that aren't making me worry any less. Needless to say, I need help. ~Jacquelyn