Internet's first get-out-of-debt community - 135,000 members

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:06 pm Subject: This site is a blessing

The destruction of my credit started early.
My parents never had good credit—at least my mom didn’t. We would buy groceries with pennies she had to dig out of the couch or car because she was too embarrassed to tell my dad that she didn’t have any money. My dad had a GREAT job and we never went without, but my mom kept the ringer on the telephone off because off all the collection calls she would get. She would sometimes go months without paying the house payment and have to borrow it from my grandparents. My dad never knew a thing.
When I turned 18, credit card companies began flooding my parents’ home with offers for me. I did not open even ONE account. Later, I found out that my mother had opened one in my name that she kept because she was trying to “build” my credit—I only found out because there was a $6000 charge-off on my credit report. That one went to LVNV and I had to file an identity theft report to get rid of it.
I also had trouble taking care of checking accounts. I didn’t have a checking account for about 5 years because I had closed one that was overdrawn for $52 and I didn’t know that I could take care of it by just paying it!
I never had any good credit cards, since that huge charge off prevented me from getting any. I had several of the usual cruddy, high fee ones: First Premier, Imagine, etc. I charged them off because I made a bad decision in opening them. Period. I could not afford them.
When I was 21, I bought a car with my ex. He then went out the next week and bought another car. (We had NO money. He just had pretty good credit.) The car that was in OUR name became my car. He then proceeded to get three DUIs in a 2 year period. We had broken up before he got his third—so I was shocked when I went to renew my registration and they told me it had been CANCELLED! In KY, they can cancel the registration on any car in your name if you get too many DUIs. I begged and pleaded with the state, I even got a lawyer, and they wouldn’t budge. So I had this hunk of metal in my driveway with no plates and no insurance. The lawyer suggested I go to the finance company and have his name removed from the loan—they wouldn’t. My ex even agreed to sign the car over to me, and they still wouldn’t, eve though he wasn’t making the payments. The decision I made was to let the company repossess the car. Even though I knew this would seriously impact my credit, I couldn’t afford to make payments on a car I couldn’t drive.
After that, I got into PDL trouble. I had some PDL in the past (all storefront) and I was able to pay them back. When I got caught up in internet PDLs is when all of my problems started.
My mother called me one day to tell me that she had not made their house payment in 4 months and the mortgage company was going to foreclose. She wanted to know if I could get a loan in my name that she would pay back. This was the BIGGEST mistake I ever made. I loaned her $1500, $900 of which came from a Check N Go installment loan. She gave me 4 payments by check and the 4th one bounced. I ended up having to get a loan to take care of the installment loan, which I ended up defaulting on anyway. I had to get more loans (storefront and internet) to cover the costs of the interest on other loans. It was this horrible cycle that I did not see an end to.
I eventually closed my account, and got a new one. That’s when the scary collection calls started coming. I wasn’t really flustered until I got a call from United Legal Collections over a defaulted loan. They told me that they had the AG on the line and I was going to be arrested and lose my job. I was almost in tears, calling the police department making sure I wasn’t going to be arrested. While searching the internet for this company, I came across this website, and it was like I could breathe again. I can’t tell you how many sleepless nights I have had before I found this site—you could never find a more intelligent, caring group of individuals who are willing to help a complete stranger.
After reading the many incredibly helpful posts, I am comfortable that I know my rights, I know what’s legal, and I’ll never worry about things that I CAN control—like my debt.

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:24 pm Subject:

Wonderful post.Thank you for sharing this with all of us.

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:29 pm Subject:

This site is like virtual prozac. Wink

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:51 pm Subject:

Thanks for the wonderful testomonial! It is stories like this that motivate us!

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:01 pm Subject:

I know where you are coming from cd, my parents the same situation....my mom did let the house go into foreclosure and my dad still is clueless...he has never taken an active role in paying the bills and spends money like it's water. My sister has had to bail them out on more than one occasion...just keep your chin up and know that you aren't the only one out there with parents who are clueless with money, even though we love them to death aren't they the ones that are suppose to teach us?

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:43 pm Subject:

WOW!!!!
It seems like these PDL on internet are all a bad choise hopefully I never knew that a thing like that was available thanks good.
This Site its really good.

Amazing story.

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:49 pm Subject:

ladybug, I totally hear you. Luckily, my mom finally told my dad what kind of situation they were in. It had gotten so bad that they had to cash in his retirement to catch up on EVERY bill. He had no idea. That's why I tell my husband EVERYTHING. The worst thing anybody can do is be clueless about where their money is going, ya know?

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:57 pm Subject:

I know but my father is so irrational, I am truly concerned with his behavior lately...I really think he might be suffering from dimentia,...I think my mom is kind of scared of him

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:42 pm Subject:

Aw, ladybug, that stinks. I know that has to be really hard to deal with.

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:35 am Subject:

Sounds like you are on well on your way to recovering from all of this, thank you for coming here and sharing your experience, you are an inspiration to us all.

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:43 am Subject:

Welcome to th eCommunity CD Very Happy

Love your avatar!!

I kinda had the same experience growing up, but continued to make the same mistakes as my parents concerning debt.

I found this site and with the help of memebers, habve become more educated in debt and how to get out and stay out!!

Hang in there, we are here to help and guide you!! Thanks for sharing your story, it will help others also!..karen

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 4:30 pm Subject:

Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 8:48 am Subject:

Welcome to the community. I feel the same way about this site. It is a breath of fresh air to know that I am getting information for free from people who specialize in this or have experience in the credit world.

*Name:
*Email:
*Phone:
*Zip:
*Debt

	* denotes required field

Internet's first get-out-of-debt community - 135,000 members

This site is a blessing

Members Area

Free Debt Counseling

Ask the community

Also See

Featured Discussions

Featured Articles

Recent Forum Discussions

Recent Blog Post