Here I am, 54 with a $120,000 debt that I can't write off. I've been depressed about it for years since making the mistakes that led to this situation. I last stopped paying on it in 2013 and had 30/60 day lates. I decided to make it right again and have been good since. My credit suffered, but it was not an isolated incident. I had charge offs and tons of late payments/delinquencies prior to that. I wrote the CEO of BofA, the holder of the HELOC debt, a goodwill letter and received many responses. Nothing changed, but at least I got years of pain off my chest. I am in a position to make the payments with my $50K disability income for bipolar disorder/military issues, so I am in better shape than most. I entered gambling treatment, the main reason behind my debt along with massive impulsive spending and lending of money, last year and am coming up on 6 months clean again. My credit score is around 650, good enough to have recently obtained a nice Chase Sapphire Card that led to another spending spree, this time on musical instruments that I have actually used. I did this to get the bonus for a reduced-fare trip to Arizona, another gambling-type behavior. Thanks to this forum and my military service I was able to join Navy Federal Credit Union that offers generous lines of credit (10K for me at 15% int) and a 3% Balance transfer offered that allowed me to pay off my $4K CSP debt in a month. My CC balance is down to $500 again and now I have a $25K CL on 8 cards. History could definitely repeat itself, but I am in therapy for that and to be honest, I'm getting old and tired. I've frittered away years of foolish spending and gambling and can't get it back. I can't write off the debt because the cosignor won't communicate with me and owns the house that was used for collateral. It's a sad family situation but I have learned to accept reality.
Myfico is kind of a fantasy world, and I certainly fell into its spell. All this talk about credit cards, fico scores and such have filled my copious spare time during the past two months since receive the preapproval for the Chase Sapphire card. I live alone in a retirement home and don't have much of a social life. The numbers and all have been like gambling, except I have actually learned a lot here and have enjoyed the on-line conversations. Bottom line is I am trying to accept reality and be more responsible, be grateful for what I have and move forward. I have to take responsibility for what I have done and not look for escape, bailouts or excuses. I have done that for years and it finally stopped working. I hope I am charting a new path and hope others can do the same. Best wishes.
