What's easier to recover from, several 30/60 day lates or filing bankruptcy

[kebeneezer88]

I have worked for two years to finally get scores above 600 although Exp and EQ are now 585 due to high utilization. TU is 630. I moved to a new apartment also a first for me in years. But I maxed out my very small limit cards to buy furniture and get cable etc set up as well as had some unexpected medical stuff and other emergencies and now am realizing I will be 30 to 60 days late on several cards. I have one tax lien and one old judgement I hope come off with new rules. Should I try to work out the lates in May when I might can catch up or give up ghost and file Chap 7? How long after filing do you start to rebuild?

[medicgrrl]

Definitely the 30/60 day lates.  If you list your cards/balances/payments maybe some can give you ideas about how to get thru this.

[kebeneezer88]

J Crew less than $100

Ann Taylor $450

Overstock $250

Brylane $300

Gap $125

Amazon $750

Nordstrom $250

(2) First Premiere - $800 and $300

(2) Credit One - $300 and $500

Open Sky $200

[Anonymous]

The total of all this credit card debt seems to be roughly $4000. It can be a daunting figure for a lot of people but I believe you can recover from it without having to go through BK. 30-60 day lates will put a ding on your scores and stay for, I believe, 7 years, but BK will hurt a good deal more and will stay on your record for 10 years. The most important step that I'd suggest would be contacting a reputable credit-counseling agency right away to get assistance with this, and then work with them to contact the issuers and see what kinds of payment plans you can work out to get the balances down. You will probably have to close at least a few of those accounts, so I'd think about which ones you really want to keep and which ones you can do without. The good news from what I see here is that, individually, none of those debts are really large so I think if you organize things properly you can pay off some of the smallest ones (such as J. Crew and Gap) pretty quickly.

[medicgrrl]

How short are you on paying the minimum payments?  Research whether First Premier and Credit One will combine their cards.  This may allow for a smaller minimum payment.  Is there any way you can pick up a few extra hours at work?  Are you able to get a part time job for the short term?  

[kebeneezer88]

Unfortunately, this month I can't pay anything at all, which will get me to 60 days late probably by mid-May, which is next chance I would have to pay. 

I am salary so that won't help. I am looking for another job that pays more (part of the problem, live in DC and outrageous rent).  

[kebeneezer88]

I had read here that sometimes you can get goodwill removal of 30 day lates if you pay obviously. I think what I read was after one year, they don't hurt you as bad, then at 2 years don't hurt you at all. But with this many, I don't know if that goes out the window. 

I think the CCC sounds like a good idea in this case if I want to avoid BK. I tried to get a bank loan for even $2k but of course, no was the answer.