Never thought it would be me....
Date: Fri, 12/21/2007 - 10:44
I'm in the US Navy and have never had any major credit problems. Before I left for West Pac in April this year my credit score was in the low 700's, something I was extremely proud of. Because of where I was going to be and not able to have the internet access I would normally have, I had my wife take care of all the online payments. (which were auto, all she had to do was verify they went through). We worked out a plan as I was going to be getting tax free money to have credit cards payed off that was consolidated and to just have the car payment, insurance, cable, phone bill, and consolidation loan. And with the extra money when I got back could go into the consolidation load and have it payed off by the end of next summer. Well, I wouldn't be here if that had happened. In a nutshell, from boredom not being able to work, she shifted money around, stopped auto payments and just spent the money without care. I've talked to a counselor about that, and they told me to try and put myself in her shoes, here by herself, not being able to work, with a child, no friends, bla bla bla sure you get the rest.
So now I am stuck with about $9000 from 5 different card agencies. All my interest rates that were all under 12% are now ALL OVER 25%. And all delinquent in payments. Also, $9000 from the consolidated previously which is no problem as it was with my bank and still being payed auto. I checked my score with one agency and all I could do is cry i tell you. In the 400's now. I have tried to atleast make little $50 payments to some of them to try and work it off, but it's not helping. After being gone for 7 1/2 months and coming home to this......
I was using the approach to pay off small credit cards first, use the money when they were payed off to the next one and it was working wonders for me. I just need to be able to get the cards back current and them interest rates lowered, so I can get back on my plan. Last thing in the world I want to do is file Bankrupt.
Where do I go from here??????
I am so sorry this has happened to you. I can understand your w
I am so sorry this has happened to you. I can understand your wife being on her own with a child, not knowing anyone, bored, etc., I have been in a similar situation before when I moved to the UK. BUT, that is no excuse for doing what she did, none at all.
Anyway..... have you looked into enrolling in a dmp (debt management plan)? You make one payment instead of many, and the company that works with you will disburse monthly payments to each of your creditors. Once you have made so many consecutive payments (usually 5), the creditors will agree to lower interest rates and waive late/overlimit fees. Your account will be brought current, and the on-time and regular payments will be reported to the credit bureaus, which will help bring your score up slowly.
The other alternative is debt settlement, where you offer to settle the debt with the creditor for a lesser amount than you owe. You would have to pay this in a lump sum in most cases. They will then report the account to the bureaus as paid/settled for less than full balance. There are companies that offer to help you with this, but use caution as a lot of them are scammers, and being in their program does not protect you from being sued by the creditors. The debt settlement companies will advise you to stop paying your creditors and the accounts will then be reported as late to the credit bureaus. This totally hurts your score. They tell you that it will go back up once you settle the debt, as each settled debt improves your debt to income ratio. Whoopie....
If you consider either of the above options and work with a company, make sure to thoroughly check them out with the BBB and see what info you can find online. There are good and bad with both.
I always did the same as you paying off the small credit cards f
I always did the same as you paying off the small credit cards first and then working at the larger chunks. I dont have any credit cards now, and I hope that I never get anymore. Good luck to you, and I hope someone here can help you better!
Debt Settlement
If all of these cards are delinquent, you may want to look into debt settlement and settle for less to clear up this matter. With only $9000 in debt you may be able to get out with as little as 30-40% of what you owe.
