Unemployed and Divorce

[Anonymous]

I got laid off from a job in 2010 (took me 3 years to find another!).  In the meantime, my husband and I separated (late 2011) and filed for divorce (final in January 2014).  Long story short, I had no job, no spouse, moved in with family and no way to pay my bills (unemployment ran out in January 2012. I even resorted to applying and getting SNAP benefits for a short time). I ended up enrolling with a debt settlement company and they have done a great job getting me out of debt.  It is now late 2014.  I have gotten back on my feet, but now my credit stinks (it was great before my life took a nosedive).  I just checked my credit reports and my debt is listed as charge-offs.  I currently have one secured credit card to help me rebuild my credit.  Is there any other way to rebuild my credit back to a good standing? Can I write to the different credit bureaus and explain my situation? Would it make a difference?  I really had no choice and didn't want to go the bankruptcy route.  I would like to purchase a new(er) car in the next few months.  It's not really fair that my ex-husband got to keep his good credit rating (mostly because of me during our marriage) because he has a good paying job.  I got no help from him during our separation (it took me 9 months to get any child support, let alone him helping me out).  These credit cards were just in my name (we had individual and joint accounts).  I also made sure that any joint credit accounts were closed after we separated.  I'm sure that hurt too.

[myjourney]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I got laid off from a job in 2010 (took me 3 years to find another!).  In the meantime, my husband and I separated (late 2011) and filed for divorce (final in January 2014).  Long story short, I had no job, no spouse, moved in with family and no way to pay my bills (unemployment ran out in January 2012. I even resorted to applying and getting SNAP benefits for a short time). I ended up enrolling with a debt settlement company and they have done a great job getting me out of debt.  It is now late 2014.  I have gotten back on my feet, but now my credit stinks (it was great before my life took a nosedive).  I just checked my credit reports and my debt is listed as charge-offs.  I currently have one secured credit card to help me rebuild my credit.  Is there any other way to rebuild my credit back to a good standing? Can I write to the different credit bureaus and explain my situation? Would it make a difference?  I really had no choice and didn't want to go the bankruptcy route.  I would like to purchase a new(er) car in the next few months.  It's not really fair that my ex-husband got to keep his good credit rating (mostly because of me during our marriage) because he has a good paying job.  I got no help from him during our separation (it took me 9 months to get any child support, let alone him helping me out).  These credit cards were just in my name (we had individual and joint accounts).  I also made sure that any joint credit accounts were closed after we separated.  I'm sure that hurt too.

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