Where do I begin?

I would start with the original creditors,and see if they will give you a reduced amount to reage your accounts and make them current.You may need to get a job inorder to make future payments,if you plan on reopening the accounts.If the accounts have not been in default for a long period of time,the creditors may work with you.Sometimes creditors do take the accounts back from the collection agency.If you have a limited amount of money,and theres no job in the near future,you should pay off as many as you can,and work out something with the debts that are left.Thats my advice,anyone else want a stab at this?

Hi overmyhead. I am just like you, I am Joe Blow debtor who had several accounts go into 'charge offs'--I found this forum, started doing alot of reading, then asking alot of questions, STILL asking alot of questions LOL, but have learned alot. I am not a moderator here nor a professional, I'm just average joe blow. But I try to help people through my experiences. What I am doing, is working on my smaller debts first. Don't get me wrong, I am paying on all my debts at the same time, but I am putting more energy into the smaller ones. When I get one out of the way, I take that same amount of money and put it towards the next one up, along with the money that I usually send them, until its paid off and so on. This was an idea I had heard a while back from Dave Ramsey. Using this strategy, you get the small ones out of the way first, then when you're at the larger ones, you have more money to put into them cause you already got the smaller ones out of the way. They get paid faster that way too. I am totally committed to doing this. I am so enthusiastic about getting my bills paid and out of the way, I actually look forward to the next pay check so I can work on my plan. Because I believe it will work. Things might be tight now because of this game plan, but they will be better later on and I will have learned a whole hell of a lot from all of this...trust me! I am looking forward to having this monkey off my back! shirley

OverMyHead,

It's very important to keep track of all your accounts and I really appreciate that you did it. I will suggest giving more attention to those accounts that are not charged-off yet, because charged-off marks stay in your credit record for as long as 7 years. So do whatever you can to keep it current. You can adopt the strategy offered by Shirley.

As per as charged-off accounts are concerned, try to pay them in full and get it reported as paid charged-off. This will give your credit a better look.

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[quote=OverMyHead]if we have active accounts that are being paid on time, it will improve our credit standing.[/quote]

This is right. Credit score is highly influenced by timely payments.

IMHO, if you can pay the account in full with a lump sum amount, then you can think of using them. However, if you enter into a payment plan, I would suggest not to use them right now, wait for some time. Once your balance becomes down to zero, start using it again.

Credit scores are calculated on the basis of repair you do to your bad credit. If your scores are low, the lenders will offer you high rates of interest and if your scores are good enough, you are open to the best deals in the credit market.

You can improve your credit file by looking into some of the avenues that require immediate repair. I was going through the topic given below and found very useful for this discussion. Please do have a look

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/forums/credit-check.html

Thank you John, I will take a look.

John, I just want to say that I for one, really appreciate your willingness to jump right in and offer your advice and opinions. You're very knowledgeable and we appreciate your inputs and having your here. :D Shirley

Thanks Shirley :D It's a pleasure to share something that I know and perhaps help people who are in need of the advice. This feeling is common in this forum. Every one is a helping hand here and it really matters!!

Today i got the copy of my credit report - i saw all wrong entries - what to do and whom to blame for it.

Thanks

Martin, you might have pulled the credit report from the three national bureaus. Compare each of them very thoroughly and highlight the items that are shown incorrectly. You need to place a dispute on these items with the CRA that is reporting it. They will run an investigation and verify the details with your information providers. If your dispute is found correct, the incorrect ones will be removed from your file and you will be sent a free copy.

Hi, I am really lost as to where to start. I have a little debt ($3500) I need to pay off. I got my credit report, but i don't know what most of the debt is. I don't have records, I was a dumb kid! LOL The credit report doesn't give the name of the places. I got enough money to pay it all off now, but I don't know how? Very frustrating, any help would be great.

Glittersteph, the credit report must publish the names of your creditors along with the account details. You can check the credit report of someone known to you and get confirmed.

Dispute with the CRA about the missing details on your file. They will give you the necessary details about your creditors with whom you can make the payment arrangements.