Thanks so much Lynette, I appreciate your encouragement and help!
They are Fico, not Fako! EX was a total typo. And thanks for the info about having an account closed by a credit grantor, I'll leave that be.
What got me into the situation in the first place? I opened my own company in the spring of 2005 - a very small business with one employee. Can you guess who? 
It received a lot of critical success, which was awesome, but was a financial disaster (high production costs and cash flow issues, mainly). Long story.
In any event, not paying bills wasn't a function of being clueless or lazy but of not having the money to make rent, eat, etc. Running a failing company is very hard emotionally. Especially when it's your passion. Anyway, the company was a sole proprietorship, run through my social security; I acquired and used the personal loan and overdraft to help meet day-to-day needs like groceries, etc when revenue didn't cut it.
So, what's changed? I closed the business and landed a high five-figure job (yay!). It's allowed me to start eating away at COs and pay down good debt to start getting my utility to under 9% (currently it's 51%). I've taken a VERY hard look at my budget and made a financial plan of attack for the next 24 months. The emotional relief is hard to over state. I feel human again.
And I'm totally on board with this being a long process that takes a lot of time and patience. Reading everyone else's stories has been wonderful. My goal is acceptable credit in 12 months, and the 700 club in 24.
One last specific question regarding the COs I settled with CAs. The CA's are no longer reporting, only the OCs. If it were you, would you go straight for offering to pay the difference between the settled amount and the actual amount that was owed in return for deletion, or would you GW? I can't sort out the best approach here.
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much Lynette, I appreciate your encouragement and help!
They are Fico, not Fako! EX was a total typo. And thanks for the info about having an account closed by a credit grantor, I'll leave that be.
What got me into the situation in the first place? I opened my own company in the spring of 2005 - a very small business with one employee. Can you guess who?
In any event, not paying bills wasn't a function of being clueless or lazy but of not having the money to make rent, eat, etc. Running a failing company is very hard emotionally. Especially when it's your passion. Anyway, the company was a sole proprietorship, run through my social security; I acquired and used the personal loan and overdraft to help meet day-to-day needs like groceries, etc when revenue didn't cut it.
So, what's changed? I closed the business and landed a high five-figure job (yay!). It's allowed me to start eating away at COs and pay down good debt to start getting my utility to under 9% (currently it's 51%). I've taken a VERY hard look at my budget and made a financial plan of attack for the next 24 months. The emotional relief is hard to over state. I feel human again.
And I'm totally on board with this being a long process that takes a lot of time and patience. Reading everyone else's stories has been wonderful. My goal is acceptable credit in 12 months, and the 700 club in 24.
One last specific question regarding the COs I settled with CAs. The CA's are no longer reporting, only the OCs. If it were you, would you go straight for offering to pay the difference between the settled amount and the actual amount that was owed in return for deletion, or would you GW? I can't sort out the best approach here.
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm hoping someone else comes along with some advice here...but I know your approach depends upon how old this debt is. Is it past the statute of limitations for your state? Is it close to falling off your reports, or will it be there for some years yet?
Also, thanks for letting me be nosy about what got you here. For some people it's a revolving door, but it doesn't sound as if that's your situation at all. I have a sister who ran a small business decorating cakes. Her business was called "The Cakery." When I saw your name it made me wonder if you had the same skill.
Lynette,
You're so sweet - thanks. Yeah, same skill set. People are often shocked at how much labor goes into a cake. I'm sure your sister knows all about that struggle. 
As for the SOL and fall off, no and no. Most of these five settled-through-CA accounts won't fall off until 2016-ish. I'm DELIGHTED to throw money at them to go away, like I said I didn't know about PFD when I settled. I feel uber-confused about this point and how to proceed:
- If the CA is no longer reporting, but the OC is reporting (with a zero balance), doesn't that mean there is no further debt to offer money on with the OC? It's the million dollar question in my mind and will determine if I just cut my losses and start a GW campaign.
Thank you again for your help and, Lynette, and for being interested!
