Ok first off, welcome to MyFICO. This place has the ability to be a saving grace for you - the accumulation of wisdom here is second to nowhere else on the web. No judgment (most of us have been there before), just help and support.
What state do you live in currently, and what state(s) were the debts incurred in? This matters for a couple of reasons.
What you’re dealing with is rough but not insurmountable. First step - pull your reports for free from www.annualcreditreport.com (free if you haven’t pulled them in the last 12 months). For each debt, please list current balance, limit, owner of the debt (original and collection agency), and the date of first delinquency. The DoFD is the first date that it went negative and didn’t subsequently recover, leading to default. That is the date from which the 7 year clock starts for reporting. Also include this info for your positive accounts.
Next up, please share income and living expenses, so we can figure out how much you have to put toward debts each month and if there are areas to trim that’ll free up more cash. Once we have this info, we can help you plan to tackle the debts strategically for the biggest impact now and later.
You can get past this. It looks like a high mountain for sure, but like they say (paraphrasing) the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. We can help you get back on your feet and put this behind you
What state do you live in currently, and what state(s) were the debts incurred in? This matters for a couple of reasons.
What you’re dealing with is rough but not insurmountable. First step - pull your reports for free from www.annualcreditreport.com (free if you haven’t pulled them in the last 12 months). For each debt, please list current balance, limit, owner of the debt (original and collection agency), and the date of first delinquency. The DoFD is the first date that it went negative and didn’t subsequently recover, leading to default. That is the date from which the 7 year clock starts for reporting. Also include this info for your positive accounts.
Next up, please share income and living expenses, so we can figure out how much you have to put toward debts each month and if there are areas to trim that’ll free up more cash. Once we have this info, we can help you plan to tackle the debts strategically for the biggest impact now and later.
You can get past this. It looks like a high mountain for sure, but like they say (paraphrasing) the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. We can help you get back on your feet and put this behind you
@Anonymous wrote:
Hi, thank you for welcoming me! My original home state is Florida. Born and raised. I moved to Texas in the end of 2014, and been here ever since.
I have pulled my annual credit score already in November of last year. Not much has changed on it, since then.
I work at Costco. Started working there towards the end of 2015(that’s when the things started to settle down for me)
I get paid 17.50 and hour and time and a half on sundays.
Gross pay before taxes is 1,300(give or take, it varies)
I contribute 7% in 401k
After taxes and everything, I’m only seeing $750(more or less) every two weeks
As for collections, given by the annual credit report. I will list the year that annual credit report says that it estimates it’ll fall off:
-sprint(Florida): nov2020 sold to ERC
-Exon(Florida): 2020 sold to Portfolio
-target(Florida): 2022 sold to Diversified
-rental property debt(Florida): 2022 sold to Hunter Warfield
-txu energy(Texas)-2022 still with TXU
-progressive(Texas): 2024 sold to Caine and Wainer
-just energy(Texas): 2022 sold to Credit Management CNTRL
-time Warner(Texas): 2022 sold to ERC
-time Warner(Texas): 2022 sold to Southwest Credit Systems
Literally all this stuff listed above, happened before I started working at Costco, when I was struggling to find a good job.
Should I pay them? Or should I leave it? Or should I file for bankruptcy? Help!
I dont like to jump on others attempts trying to help a person. But could you edit the above post and place amounts owed for @Anonymous
And what is the total debt all around. You wanna switch states and come back to Fl? I GOT DORIAN COMING RIGHT AT ME.!!!!!!!!! GO AWAY!
My first step would be to get a second job, working 20 hours a week to help you through this... then talking to the 5 smallest collection accounts and seeing who will agree to a PFD, maybe working on the most recent one.. make sure your current cards are paid on time and no more lates
Welcome & don't worry about anyone judging you. Most, if not all of us, have had our own rough road that we have traveled on. What's important is that you tell yourself today is the brokest you'll ever be!
Make yourself a written budget. This is VERY important. You cannot get out of debt doing this all in your head without a written gameplan. Write down EVERYTHING you spend money on, even if it's a soda at the mini-mart.
Having a written budget does several things:
1. It lets you see where your paycheck is going, and allows you to identify any bad spending habits or what can be eliminated as frivulous spending.
2. It lets you plan out how much and when you can pay down your debts.
3. It allows you to see visual progress of your journey as you pay down your debt, which is motivation to keep going.
Your budget should look something like this:
PFD is certainly NOT a thing of the past- but it only works with some collection agencies, not original creditors.
After you have your budget filled out, you will see how much you can afford to spend each paycheck towards paying down your debt.
Start with the smallest amount & keep working your way up. I would start with the newest debts/collections first. Leave the ones that are almost ready to hit 7 years. Between what you pay off & what falls off in the next 18 months will make a BIG difference in your scores.
Now for the elephant in the room- we don't get to choose our family, and sometimes some family members don't return the love and respect shown them. I hope you've learned that you can love your family member(s) without "taking it in the financial shorts" for them. Personally, if a family member had used my cards without my permission I would have filed fraud charges with the credit card companies and the police.
Good luck!
Oh kiddo, I am so sorry!
What concerns me most on your list of debts is the rental property as typically dirtbag lawfirms will buy those debts and get judgments against you, doubling or tripling that debt. In my state, they can then file the judgment with the courts and then renew them every 10 years so they never go away, and once they have a judgment they can garnish your wages. I don't know what is is like in the state the apartment you rented in.
Honestly, your credit is so bad, you may want to go see a BK lawyer. Consultations are usually free, so you should explore it as an option. You may not make the means test, but if you do, it is worth a shot, clean slate (except for your student loans of course), if not, you can probably at least get some free information.
Although a lot of your debts may be getting ready to fall off in the next year anyway.
Also, with regards to your student loans, when you pay late or defer, the interest compounds. For instance my husband owed 40k in 2000 when he graduated, because of late payments, deferrment, and eventually a default he owed $48,000 in 2016 - 16 YEARS LATER. When paid off he will have paid at least twice his original balance. Student loans are truly predatory, so start paying a soon as you can.
The good news, is that with 408, you have nowhere to go but UP.