topic Re: Charge off's in Rebuilding Your Credit

Charge off's

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:00:53 GMT

Hi, about a year ago I let my credit cards default and now they are in a charge off status. What is my best plan of action to rebuild my credit / possibly settle to get the negative listings removed. Any advice is helpful!! Thanks!

Re: Charge off's

Tommy5746 — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:13:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi, about a year ago I let my credit cards default and now they are in a charge off status. What is my best plan of action to rebuild my credit / possibly settle to get the negative listings removed. Any advice is helpful!! Thanks!

first, I would attempt a hardship program with the creditors... Try and get the debt down to as little as possible... Pay off as much as you can every month until they are paid off in full... Also, you don’t want these charge offs sitting on your credit for the next 7 years... it will be discouraging to see them constantly killing your credit when you’re working so hard to build it back up... SO, when you ask for a hardship program make sure you get one that has an agreement that when paid in full, the charge offs will be removed from your credit report! IF you can get them to do this it will help you out tremendously! While in the process of doing this you’ll want to get a secured credit card.. Try Capital One.. Try and secure the card with as much as possible and ALWAYS pay the balance in full and stay in good standing! Use the card like you would your debit card, only pay the balance off every month! Do this for about 6 months and then apply for another secured credit card and repeat like you did with capital one… You’ll be paying down your owed debt on your charge off’s while building good credit with your secured cards.. It’s a win win… Do this and you’ll be on the path to a credit report with a healthy heartbeat J

Do NOT.. I repeat.. DO NOT attempt to go through a debt consolidation or debt recovery agency!!! They will charge you astronomical fee’s and in the end you may even be worse off than you were when you went in!

Re: Charge off's

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:22:45 GMT

I really appreciate the response, I am new trying to fix my credit so I am not really sure what a hardship program is? Also I have an outstanding credit card balance with Capital one so I dont think I would be a secured card with them. Are there any other companies that offer secured credit cards? I have tried to research the best company to go with but I dont want to send money into a scam company. Thank you so much for the help!!!

Re: Charge off's

Tommy5746 — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:33:53 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I really appreciate the response, I am new trying to fix my credit so I am not really sure what a hardship program is? Also I have an outstanding credit card balance with Capital one so I dont think I would be a secured card with them. Are there any other companies that offer secured credit cards? I have tried to research the best company to go with but I dont want to send money into a scam company. Thank you so much for the help!!!

No problem at all! You're very welcome.. you won't know until you ask

A hardship program is basically an agreement to pay the debt with the creditor at a reduced amount over a certain period of time.. For example.. you would call capital one.. and lets say you owe them 500 dollars... and you can only afford to pay them 50 a month.. that would take you 10 months to pay off.. So the hardship program would be an agreement between you and capital one that you will pay them 50 dollars a month for 10 months straight until the debt is paid in full.. like I said earlier, you should try and get them to come to terms where once that 500 is paid off in full they remove the charge off from your credit report.. they may not agree to this, sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t.. try for it though... Call them up.. Say this is what i owe to you... this is what i can afford a month... and then mention the credit report option.. see what they say!

I know that AMEX (American Express) has a secured credit card and believe it or not that card may even one day allow you to achieve a real non secured amex if you treat it right.. BUT with all the charge off's you still may be denied for it... What bank/credit union do you belong to? Sometimes they offer secured cards in which case that is your best bet!

Re: Charge off's

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:37:25 GMT

My current bank does not offer secured cards but I heard that Wells Fargo does. I was thinking of trying to get a secured card with them. Its a little overwhelming on where to start with all of my credit issue's but I want to fix them and make it right. I will also look into the AMEX card or call Capital One first to see if we can work out a deal. I really appreciate the help and advice.

Re: Charge off's

Tommy5746 — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:46:52 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
My current bank does not offer secured cards but I heard that Wells Fargo does. I was thinking of trying to get a secured card with them. Its a little overwhelming on where to start with all of my credit issue's but I want to fix them and make it right. I will also look into the AMEX card or call Capital One first to see if we can work out a deal. I really appreciate the help and advice.

I suggest you take whatever day that you have off.. dedicate that day in its entirety to resolving these debts with the creditors! You can do it.. Gather every charge off you have... get the numbers for them... make each call individually.. Balance out how much you can afford to pay them each month and then agree to pay that much... ALSO... ask if they can reduce the debt at all!!! Hey, even if they say they will knock off 100 bucks thats 100 dollars less out of your pocket! Get a calander.. on the calander mark off each and every due date so you'll never forget they are due! again.. you can do this.. It just takes dedication!

Re: Charge off's

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:50:20 GMT

This is true! It is a good idea to call them and then find out what I can settle for , ask for a PFD if possible , and then start paying off the debt. A calender is a great idea too, for some reason I actually didnt think of that but it would help me keep everything in track.

Re: Charge off's

Tommy5746 — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:58:55 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
This is true! It is a good idea to call them and then find out what I can settle for , ask for a PFD if possible , and then start paying off the debt. A calender is a great idea too, for some reason I actually didnt think of that but it would help me keep everything in track.

Best of luck!! If you need any more advice the board is always here.. you can also PM me if you have any more questions

Re: Charge off's

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 21:00:47 GMT

Thanks!!