Repaying past debt.How should i handle it?

Question

i have had credit problems in the past, but I am not able to get caught up with my past debt. the problem is that these accounts have already went to collections. so if i repay them off or settle a price will it improve my credit score any? and when will i first see any improvement?

Answer 1

First of all how old are your debts? you need to find out how old are your debts. As the debts are already in collection, the debts would appear on your credit report till 7 years. If the debts are 7 years old and the creditors are not asking for debts no need to pay.

But if its lesser than 7 years than you should pay off the debts as if you pay it in timely manner....it can improve your credit score. If you are not able to manage it your self than you can also take help of debt consolidation company who would provide you with an affordable debt repayment plan after negotiating with your creditors.

Answer 2

Paying them off at this point will make no difference to your credit score since it's already gone to collection. You can try to negotiate with the collection agency to have it removed from your record as part of the settlement. If they will not do it, don't pay it and let it run its course (7 years).

In the meantime you can start fresh to rebuild your credit. Here are tips on how to do it. http://www.badcreditfixup.com/how-to-est...

Good luck

Answer 3

I'm in the process of trying to improve my credit as well.  I have learned a couple things today that you might find useful:

- I just did that "freecreditreport.com" thing and got my credit report, plus credit score. The catch is you have to cancel the service within a few days to avoid getting charged a monthly fee. You are able to get suggestions for what is pulling your credit score down.  For example, I no longer have any credit cards and it didn't occur to me that that was hurting my credit score. I'm going to get a secured card from Wells Fargo and see if that helps raise mine.

- Paying off collection accounts doesn't improve your credit score. You can offer a "pay for deletion" where they accept your payment  in exchange for removing the item from your credit report.  I haven't tried it yet, but see link for an example. Note that this isn't supposed to work very often with an original creditor. In other words Citibank probably won't go for it, but a collection account on an old medical bill might.

- You can request debt validation (see the 2nd link) and they have to provide you with the necessary information or remove the item from your credit report. Even people with bad credit can have mistakes on their credit reports - nothing wrong with trying.

Answer 4

creditrepairuniverse.net

repair and/or build your credit

If you pay it will do your score or report no good ask for pay for delete in writting. Try to send them a letter to settle for a percentage of the debt and ask for deletion apon recieving payment. This way you pay they delete. Make sure you communicate only by mail and do not admit to the debt being yours only that you wish to resolve the negative mark on your credit report.

Answer 5

I would like to recommend you possess as much information as you can before taking action,here is a good place for that purpose.http://debt-relief.expertips4u.info/debt...