i'm confused my two accounts went to Judgement and settling

I was in a similar situation...definitely go for consolidation. You can do that through the info on this site, but that should help your payments and straighten out any confusion.

Threatening bankruptcy is also one way to keep them at bay...it's like throwing water at a witch, for some reason...they back off!
Your best bet is to pay each a bit of money, instead of throwing all of your money at just one of them.
Definitely go for consolidation!

Hi ezende,

If you feel that after paying the account in full, someone is trying to impose the debt on you, then you can ask for debt validation. Send a letter to the agency to validate your debt. If they cannot show some solid proof to justify that you really owe the debt, you need not pay the amount.

As you have mentioned that you have no document in support of your payments that you made three years back, you can pull your credit report from three credit bureaus to check what the actual status of the said account is.

It will be better for you to enter a consolidation program, as guitar_slayer has said.

If you need some more information, please post your questions in the forums.

Regards,
Bryan

this is an update to Bryan as he helped me out as much as he could today. He referenced me to Richard but Richard was unable to help me. I am still learning what is out there and going to talk to my bank tomorrow. I will let you all know how this comes out

Spoke with Bryan Blackburn and Richard associated with a sister compant of this one. I have one credit that is already in judgement. Also the other part is I am not in debt above 2,000 dollars outside of the judgement. They can only help if i am above 7 grand. They also cannot touch the judgement account

I settled today with one account for 60 cents on the dollar so hopefully that will help.

My credit is 444 and i desperately need to increase that within the next year. I am tryng to get a card to put all the debt on and then pay that off within the year. I have the funds and money ability now with the new job...BUT can't get anyone to help me out..

Too bad loan-sharking is not still around HA HA

Hi ezende

Welcome to the forums. Here are a few tips that you can use to increase your credit scores.

Check for incorrect entries - It is mandatory to check your credit report for any mistakes from all the three credit reporting agencies. You can review your report for at least once in a year as well as several months before you apply for a loan.

Timely payments It will be considered a very good practice if you always pay your bills on time. Your prompt payments will put you in a much comfortable position before you apply for a loan. This point is emphasized because a late or missed payment just before applying for a loan lowers the credit score and has worse impact than a missed payment five years ago.

Bring credit balance to the minimum - It is always beneficial to reduce the credit card balances as much as possible. The FICO scores get affected due to how much money you owe on some cards relative to your total credit limit. Credit scores are seen improving if the balances are kept below 25% of the credit card limit.

Don't linger your payments It is suggested not to increase the ratio by closing an account and transferring the remaining balance to another account since the ratio of the credit card balance is linked to the credit limit. Doing this will lower the credit score which should not be generally done while you are on your way to increase your credit score.

Unused accounts to be kept active - While you are applying for a loan, it is suggested not to close any unused account. At the same time, it is suggested not to open a new account also during that time. It is said because if you are having a short credit history or less number of accounts, the credit score gets lowered when a new account is opened as there is no proven track record of it.

Please do let us know your feedback. We will appreciate your comments and suggestions for the community welfare.

Regards
Roxette

That is all great advice. Those are the things i am working on currently. My wife and I worked on paying all her debt and getting her secure. Now she has like a 650 or so score. After i was laid off we both got really down and had LOTS of trouble. We recently both got back to working full time so things are just going to take time. I wish i could just go out and get a loan and start over. I am in debt to less than 5 grand...I just can't get things going right. it is like and endless loop

You can also use a secured credit card with a lower limit in order to make your repayment process easier.

how do you get a secure card..using assets? I do not own anything.

Hi ezende

A secured card requires you to open and maintain a savings account as security for your line of credit. You don't need to have assets for this type of card.

Regards
Roxette

Who would be a good provider to research this with. WHich Big Card company would be the better of them to go through?

Ezende, before you approach any reputed bank for this type of service, make sure that you are well informed about this subject and know its risk factor. I just picked a link from the FTC website for you. Please read the Secured Credit Card Marketing Scams in the following link:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/secured.htm

Regards
Roxette

Roxette

That was some really helpful info there.

I just recently got a loan for a car. It was a high interest BUT i needed a vehicle AND i am hoping to use this to repair my credit. I am also using the money from the old vehicle to pay off any debt that i can. I am considering bankrupcy though. I am in a hole and no help can be offered. I am not in debt enough to get debt consolidator help....i am not in good standing to get a loan to pay off the debt. I do not owe enough to get other help.

I just need someone to round up my credit...inquire the ones i do not believe should be on there...an then set up a plan to pay back those i owe...

You know of any old loan sharks out there :o)

I could just stay on here for the next 48 hours answering posts. By then I could have 1,000,000 credit which would be about 100 bucks...HA HA enough to pay one bill off....:)

I feel your pain ezende. I am going to be consolidating because I do have plenty of debt. I did a little clean up of a few things last year. My credit score jumped from a 500 to 573 in less than a year. I still have a ways to go, but its not stopping me.

Man it must be nice. I wish i could consolidate. I have some things that are in judgement and some other medicals that are out there. All said and done it is only about 12-13 grand. BUT no one will help consolidate. I could take care of that in like a year no problem.

It is like that endless loop when you first start out. You need a car to get the job BUT you need a job to get the car..

Let me get on the marry-go-round of life again....WHeee!!

I know what you mean. I wish I would have never gotten credit cards. I also dont know what creditors were thinking when they gave me two car loans at the age of 24 with no co signers!!!! It is a trap! I just hope that others learn from our mistakes. ezende, have you tried settling with each of your creditors that you owe to? Thats how I cleaned up some of my stuff.

Not yet working on that right now. only thing is they think i have like thousands of dollars just laying around that i can send them...the push for all payment not small payments.

I know what you mean.I was able to negotiate paying less than half of what I owed on a few things. I also made agreements with the creditors that on my credit report it reflects PAID AS Agreed. I didnt think that they would go for it but when you tell them you will pay them right then and there, they usually agree to it.