Do it myself help
Date: Mon, 01/12/2009 - 10:26
Hi guys, I've been lurking for a while, trying to learn how to help myself get out of debt. A little background - in college I opened up a few credit cards because I had a job and didn't look to the future to see how I would pay them when I didn't have a job and got no other support. So I ended up defaulting on them, and it is embarrassing but it is what it is. I'm trying to get out of debt now, I'm finishing up law school and want to be clear by the time I get out. I know this is long, but I'm just trying to determine if I owe money to these people or whether some are the same debts - basically I don't want to pay 2 people for the same thing.
There are problems though, I moved around a lot in college and lost track of the mail, so I only have what is on my credit report as a listing of creditors. Also, I did not know how credit collectors worked, and thought I payed off a few debts my senior year of college, but didn't save any of the documentation like a fool.
So now I look on my credit report, and I have 4 potentially negative closed accounts, and 1 unknown account.
Only one of the closed accounts seems to be current - as in it still is keeping track on the little calendar on the bottom. It is classified as "Unknown - Credit Extension, Review, Or Collection"
The next closed account has Jan-2007 as the last day on the calendar, is classified as "Credit Card - Revolving Terms" and is listed as "charged off" in payment status, with the note "Transferred to another lender or claim purchased"
The third closed account has the last month as Jan-2007, is listed as "Revolving Charge Account," and the payment status is "charged off."
The last closed account i know was a best buy card I had, but I settled with a collection agency recently on this account. The credit report doesn't have the balance listed, just that the payment was over 120 days late and it was "Transferred to another lender or claim purchased".
The unknown account is a wamu/providian cc I had. However, there is no balance or high balance listed, just that it was "Transferred to another lender or claim purchased." I'm pretty sure that one of the above accounts is this same account, but I don't really know.
I apologize for this being so long, and if I should just get in touch with a lawyer, just tell me that, but I really want to just take care of this myself. The total of all the balances is around 8,000 and I've got around 4,000 saved up right now. I would like to get some of this off my back, I just don't want to get screwed over again. I know my fdcpa rights and the TX law as well, but I'm unsure as to the accounting/financial terms they are using. Are all these debts current debts? It seems like more than I owed originally, and I payed some off before so I am worried that I'm getting hosed. Of course, had I been smarter and kept records, that wouldn't be such a problem.
I talked to a debt management person, but they wanted so much compared to the little amount of my debt, it didn't seem worth it to me, with all the posts saying how we can do it ourselves. So, if anyone can help me I'd really appreciate it. If not, thanks anyway for giving people the information they need to regain their self respect.
There are problems though, I moved around a lot in college and lost track of the mail, so I only have what is on my credit report as a listing of creditors. Also, I did not know how credit collectors worked, and thought I payed off a few debts my senior year of college, but didn't save any of the documentation like a fool.
So now I look on my credit report, and I have 4 potentially negative closed accounts, and 1 unknown account.
Only one of the closed accounts seems to be current - as in it still is keeping track on the little calendar on the bottom. It is classified as "Unknown - Credit Extension, Review, Or Collection"
The next closed account has Jan-2007 as the last day on the calendar, is classified as "Credit Card - Revolving Terms" and is listed as "charged off" in payment status, with the note "Transferred to another lender or claim purchased"
The third closed account has the last month as Jan-2007, is listed as "Revolving Charge Account," and the payment status is "charged off."
The last closed account i know was a best buy card I had, but I settled with a collection agency recently on this account. The credit report doesn't have the balance listed, just that the payment was over 120 days late and it was "Transferred to another lender or claim purchased".
The unknown account is a wamu/providian cc I had. However, there is no balance or high balance listed, just that it was "Transferred to another lender or claim purchased." I'm pretty sure that one of the above accounts is this same account, but I don't really know.
I apologize for this being so long, and if I should just get in touch with a lawyer, just tell me that, but I really want to just take care of this myself. The total of all the balances is around 8,000 and I've got around 4,000 saved up right now. I would like to get some of this off my back, I just don't want to get screwed over again. I know my fdcpa rights and the TX law as well, but I'm unsure as to the accounting/financial terms they are using. Are all these debts current debts? It seems like more than I owed originally, and I payed some off before so I am worried that I'm getting hosed. Of course, had I been smarter and kept records, that wouldn't be such a problem.
I talked to a debt management person, but they wanted so much compared to the little amount of my debt, it didn't seem worth it to me, with all the posts saying how we can do it ourselves. So, if anyone can help me I'd really appreciate it. If not, thanks anyway for giving people the information they need to regain their self respect.
Sometimes a plan or someplace to start to get a handle on the bi
Sometimes a plan or someplace to start to get a handle on the big picture helps. If you can negotiate lower interest rates or settlement offers, great. Get everything in writing as you go along. I would also recommend a FREE ebook at takecontrolbedebtfree-dot-com. It outlines a common sense step by step plan. It may help you out.