Can someone please help me clear up my credit on my own. I am 26 and I did a lot of damage when I was younger. There are so many charge-offs collection accounts. Also, when is the '7 year period' up? I understand the last sign of activity, but there are some accounts that I opened in '99 and relatively soon after opening them there was no activity or communication from me and now they have been sold to collections companies and three of them they are reporting as being opened in 2006. What to do, what to do. Bad credit is so embarrassing!

Question...so if you have been performing good for 7 years is it swiped off as well?

I'd hope not...I'm not of age so I won't know but that would surely suck...hopefully only the bad history is removed...cause jeez...I would be pretty disappointed.

It seems we have established that accounts will remain on a credit report for 7 years from last activity. A bankruptcy will remain posted for ten years.

As pointed out, it is better for your credit score to make no payment, than to make a $5 payment. Save up, work additional hours, "refi" your house, or whatever you can, then negotiate a settlement price. Be prepared to play hardball; you can be sure they will be tough negotiators and will use tactics designed to get your emotions involved. It may be best to get a third party to make the call (an attorney, loan officer, etc.) that is not personally or emotionally invested. Consider starting the negotiation at 25% of the original debt amount, before all the late charges and interest doubled the amount they are trying to collect now. No matter who owns the debt, if they get something, they will be happier than getting nothing. A settlement needs to include an agreement for the amount to pay, and what will or will not be posted to the credit bureaus. You should be able to get a statement on the credit entry to read, "paid as agreed". While this does not erase anything from the past, it does show you were willing to work something out as a responsible debtor.

ONCE YOU HAVE THE SIGNED AGREEMENT IN HAND, PAY OFF THE DEBT AS AGREED. Don't mess around at this point and default on another agreement. You will want to send certified funds, and get a receipt for delivery of the mail. Keep any documents and proof of payment for your file in case you are haunted by the account again in the future. Some accounts show up 10 or 20 years later even though it has past the statute of limitations. There are many junk debt collectors who pay pennies (or less) on a dollar of debt, hoping to collect anything they can. These companies typically use intimidation and are making huge profits off of individuals who thought their secret had been burried.

AS for rebuilding...time is your friend. Yes, good accounts will also drop off when they are past the 7 years of activity. Use credit wisely by paying off balances as they occur. Maxed out cards will lower your score, open cards/loans with low or zero balances will improve your score. Set up automatic payments if you can so that they are never late. Pay more than the minimums. Only keep cards that have higher limits and use them instead of having lots of individual store cards. DON'T BUY THINGS YOU CAN'T AFFORD! Save for the things you want. Puting something on a credit card because it is on sale...is like pumping gasoline onto the ground because you don't want to fill your gas tank for a month. It doesn't save you anything, and costs you plenty.

We all make mistakes at times, learn from them and you will be well on your way to a more peaceful life.

Back in 2002 or 2003, I fainted at work and accrued about 2,000 in medical bills. I thought I paid them all off, but apparently the company gave up contacting me. What's weird is that I remember an odd payment (one that was more than the usual 100 dollar payment) and a letter stating that they were done collecting.

HOWEVER - I got my free annual credit reports (the old fashioned way, by calling them and requesting by mail)....and lo and behold, there was a 500+ balance still on it.

However, they stopped calling, I called them but made no payment - I just asked them what was up with it.

Does this count as activity? Or do I have to PAY something for it to be considered active?

Because the credit reports stated that in 2011, that will drop off.

BTW, I actually have payment records from my bank that prove I paid off all but 200 something of the debt. I am sure I sent a money order but I had an apartment fire that destroyed some records. So I have no proof of that, but it's very fishy that they are saying I owe 500+ on this when I have statements that prove otherwise (direct withdrawals).

Oh well.

L

A phone call does not count as activity. If you can prove the balance you owe, it might be to your advantage to open a negotiation rather than waiting 4 more years for it to go away and still not know if they will come back after you sometime later. It is always best to know that the business is finished and you have a letter saying so.

7 years seems long enough to remind any of the ill memory.

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Yes, seven years does seem like a real long time. Especially if you are trying to clean up your credit. It just seems to sit there and never go anywhere.

Creditors sell the account (debt) for pennies on the dollar to collection agencies. That's why they are so aggressive. In actuality their bark is MUCH worse than their bite. If you ignore them by the point in time you are you will not hear from them again. They will end up just trying to sell it to another agency. Same place same thing. You can also send any collection agency a cease and desist letter to make them completely calling you.
After the time your state statute of limitation is up ( 6-7 years )you are free to clean up your credit clean and no one legally will be able to try anything any longer.

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