how can i recover from this?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 06/23/2008 - 23:57
Forums

hi all. My credit is terrible, mainly due to a car repossesion due to it being a lemon and i lost my job because i could not get to work. That coupled with about 25,000 in medical bills that was the result of me being the target of a random act of violence where i was shot point blank with a 12 gauge in a convience store robbery. Anyways, i make about $3000 a month take home and my wife makes about $1000 take home a month but we cannot buy a car, a house, or anything of substantial value. My credit score is like 500 and hers is around the same because she maxed her CC's out to support us while i was in rehab. I'm 36 with 3 kids and i'm on the verge of having a nervous breakdown because i pay thru the teeth to rent an apartment thats big enough for all of us. I payed off some of the debts but it lowered my score even more...i don't know what to do. Any help?

First of all, Thank God you survived! Now, I can't understand how paying some of your debts hurt you. Unless, you paid off and closed a cc account. My advice would be to make deals with your creditors. Look at your spending habits and figure out what you can reasonably pay them. When you make the agreements with them, Ask if they will change your listing status to "paying as agreed" this will help your credit. Also, lowering the balance on your cc will help alot. At this point the best thing you can do is make agreements to keep you out of court and get those paying as agreed accounts to hel your credit. Also, did they catch your assailent? Do you have any way to sue them for medical bills?

Tue, 06/24/2008 - 00:24 Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

they did catch him, and i did win my civil suit but he has no means to pay the bills are all in collection for several years now. I guess my score dropped because i payed off some old accounts so they now became "new" accounts per se......right now i've paid off about half of our total debt but still owe around 18,000 total between both of us. It would take me a year or so to pay it all off but my score is steadily dropping and we have no idea why. There are no open accounts on either of our reports

Tue, 06/24/2008 - 00:30 Permalink

Why dont you sell your suit to one of those companys that will give you 90% upfront? Atleast you wont have to wait 10 years to collect.

I can think of no reason why paying off bills is lowering your CS. I would suggest pulling your CR and seeing whats on it. I would be happy to give you more specific advise once you know exactly what your dealing with.

Tue, 06/24/2008 - 00:51 Permalink

Look up the SOL for debt collections in your state. Have you been making payments all along? When did most of these items hit your CR?

Tue, 06/24/2008 - 00:53 Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

this happened 10 years ago but the collection agency keeps updating it somehow to make it look like new debt. Also, the man is in prison and no one would buy my settlement since he probably will never get out and they have no chance of collecting any money from him. i was "awarded" 2.1 million dollars but will never see a dime. i never started making payments until about a year ago

Tue, 06/24/2008 - 00:59 Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

unfortunately , i live in Ohio. SOL for written (car loan) is 15 years. Good news is 4 years for open accounts (credit cards) but even though they can't sue us for the money, will it still be on her credit report?

Tue, 06/24/2008 - 01:12 Permalink

Hi bonesninja
I realize that you are in a very bad situation. Since you have a credit score of 500, it is also difficult for you to get even a debt consolidation loan. The only thing you can do is to contact your creditors and explain them your current situation. Try to come to a repayment agreement with your creditors. You said that the apartment in which you stay is big enough for you, so try and find an apartment which is best suited for you and where the rent is low enough. Since your total family income is $ 4000 a month, try to keep your expenditure as low as possible and with the remaining amount pay the debts back to the creditors.

Tue, 06/24/2008 - 06:03 Permalink

Hi bonesninja
I agree with Scott. But since your credit score is low, I don't think you will find a new rent contract at a lower rate. So my suggestion is that, you stay at the apartment you are residing presently and pay the rent on time to avoid eviction. At the same time keep your expenditures as low as possible and pay back the debt slowly but in time as agreed between you and the creditor.

Tue, 06/24/2008 - 06:21 Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

DO you have any proof that they are redating the information?

Tue, 06/24/2008 - 07:23 Permalink