Advice on rebuilding credit please

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone

Used to be an active member years ago, but forgot all log-in info, so just signed back up. I have had a long couple of years including divorce, decline in business and many expenses and all of tht resulted in extremely high credit card debt. I have for about the past year or so just felt in way over my head and drowning in payments and not being able to get ahead.

I had 6 active credit cards a year ago. Currently I have managed to keep 2 cards ( Discover IT, and Capital One Quicklilver Sig) active. I am on rehabilitation for 4 more months with BofA (not sure if that means they will re-open acct after that or not). The 3 cards that I just let go are AMEX BCP ($13,000) and two Chase cards (CSP $7k and Marriott $5k). I have just recently recieved letters from Chase with offers to settle the debts for around 35% of the balance owed. I have not recieved a settle offer from AMEX yet, and do not know if I will.

All of my cards have very high utilization, even the currently qctive ones.

I have considered filing BK, but would rather not. If I will get on the road to credit recovery more easily or faster that way than maybe I should. I have a boat and car loan that I need to keep, so in my limited BK knowledge it sounds like BK CH. 13 may be for me?

Would love any feedback. This site has always been a wealth ofknowledge for me. It is how I once had a 780 credit score, and hopefully can one day achive that again.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

First thing first, lay off the credit cards if you already haven't.  Secure your spending to cash or your checking account.  As for repayment, have you looked into a debt consolidation loan?  This way you can have one payment per month without the sting of a BK on your file for the next 7-10 years.  Certainly communicate with the banks that you have over due and outstanding balances with. You do NOT want them to continue to report late payments.  This will make your road to recovery a lot more timely and frustrating.  Sometimes banks are willing to take smaller payments than required as well. If none of this works for you then I'd suggest speaking to a financial counselor before deciding on a BK. BKs certainly offer a fresh start, but its almost always better to repay your debts on your own if you have the means to do so. Good luck