Getting out of CC debt

[Anonymous]

Hello, I have a  couple of questions about bringing my credit cards current.  I recently got married and am anxious to get myself out of trouble.  I currently have six credit cards.  Of those, 5 are past due and over the limit.  I recently added up the total debts, minimum payments, and everything else.  I have some financial room to bring these accounts current, but I have a few questions about them.

1) Is there any chance that these banks will close my cards if I bring them current?  Or is there a chance they will see the larger payments as a sign of good faith that I am trying to get back on track?  The banks are Barclay, Cap One, and HSBC

2) Is there any realisitic chance I can negotiate some form of good will with them?  For example, if I bring the account current and make regular payments for X number of months, could they remove the late payments from my credit report

3) My goal isn't to get a free pass, and I genuinally want to bring these accounts current and ideally use the cards again when they are on track.  I realize the mistakes I made and am looking for the best possible ways to fix the situation.  Any advice on what I can do, or how to talk to the customer service assocaites, is greatly appreciated. 

[Anonymous]

And assuming there is no good will, is it realistic to think that a year of good payments will somewhat remove the sting of the reported late payments?

[Anonymous]

Sorry one more thing I forgot to ask...

Of the cards mentioned, my goal is to pay them all off over time and not really use them.  The only card I really want to keep for now is Barclay.  Would they be more or less willing to close the account if I offered to pay the entire balance?

[DaveSignal]

Start paying them before they go to collections and they will probably keep your accounts open.  You have probably lost your rewards, are at penalty apr, and might get your limits lowered... so it might not be a bad idea just to close them anyway after you pay them off.

[DrJim]

I can only tell you what I would do:

1.  Get cards current and under limits.  This will save you a bundle in fees.

2.  Starting with the lowest limit throw everything I have at it while making minimum payments on other cards.  Some say pay off the one with the highest interest rate first, but I like seeing immediate progress.

3. Don't close any cards unless they have an AF.  And then wait until just before the AF hits to close it.  When you close cards you lose the CL that adds to your total utilization.

Good luck!

[Shogun]

+1