Less than $5000 in debt... how to settle??

I live in Tennessee. I thought paying them off would help... now I have no clue what to do.

Tennessee has a 6 year SOL.,.,so those two debts may already be outside the SOL. They will fall off at 7 years.

Better option....,take your $1000 or part of it and open a secured credit card,,,start building your credit.

Hi Welovekane,

First pull your credit report from annualcreditreport.com, it's free with no strings attached. Pull all 3 credit reports.

Then check the reports for the 3 accounts that you're referring to. Specifically, you're looking for the DLP (date of last payment) on the 2 older accounts. Once those accounts have exceeded 7 years and 6 months from the date of last payment they will automatically be removed from your credit report. You could also dispute the debts once they are 6 years and 6 months old and the credit reporting agencies may remove them earlier.

In respect to your Verizon, pay it. That account is too fresh to just wait it out.

The fact that paying collection accounts won't increase your scores can be a little confusing. It is true that the act itself doesn't raise your score. But, most lenders won't lend to you if you have any existing delinquencies on your credit report.

So, if future credit is a concern of yours, your first step to rebuilding is to resolve your delinquencies. Once your delinquent accounts are resolved, you will generally acquire new unsecured credit within 2 years of doing so. This is when your score will really start to improve.

I hope this isn't considered spam, but I have written an article explaining this. http://www.avoidbk.com/credit-scores-when-paying-or-settling-collections-and-charge-offs/

Good luck and please feel free to follow up with any questions.

Paying the debts will not raise your credit score at all. What state do you live in?? Your two older accounts are probably past or nearing the SOL.

Hmmm.... What does "fall off" mean? and how would I go about getting a secured card?