I have been working on my credit for over a year bringing up my score almost 200 points. In August I got scammed out of $1500. I couldn’t pay all my credit debts and Im still shoveling out of the damage and now in one month my score has dropped back those 200 points. I have tried now to get a debt consolidation loan or a Credit card refinance loan but now they wont approve me. What should I do so my score doesn’t take anymore hits?
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The best advice I could give that could potentially help is to get in contact directly with the companies you owe money to and see if there is any way to work something out that would make your payments more manageable and avoid getting reported for late payments to the credit bureaus.
I believe communication is key and a lot of times these companies are willing to work with people because it is better for them to get their money over a longer period of time than to not get their money at all due to worse circumstances caused to the person who owes the money.
I think you should focus on the credit card debt. Pay those down and get out of that costly debt first. Then you can focus on your score.
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Moore Income posted:
The best advice I could give that could potentially help is to get in contact directly with the companies you owe money to and see if there is any way to work something out that would make your payments more manageable and avoid getting reported for late payments to the credit bureaus.
I believe communication is key and a lot of times these companies are willing to work with people because it is better for them to get their money over a longer period of time than to not get their money at all due to worse circumstances caused to the person who owes the money.
I’ve found that these companies, for the most part, are ruthless and not interested in communicating good outcomes for the consumer. They do things like not remove the poor payment history once its paid off or label the account as Settled in Full which is not PAID in full. Refuse to remove the debt from your report after you pay it off or accept a settlement. Usually, once it is a write off paying the debt will not change your credit score if it has reached collections. It still remains a bad debt paid off or not.I suggest that people look for more specific answers related to their type of debt and its status before sending everyone a payment plan.
Get it in Writing! which I have yet to find a collector to do for me!
nicoll bartnik posted:
I have been working on my credit for over a year bringing up my score almost 200 points. In August I got scammed out of $1500. I couldn’t pay all my credit debts and Im still shoveling out of the damage and now in one month my score has dropped back those 200 points. I have tried now to get a debt consolidation loan or a Credit card refinance loan but now they wont approve me. What should I do so my score doesn’t take anymore hits?
I had rebuilt my credit for 5 years and then 6 months ago closed some accounts and had the bottom fall out of my credit score. Steady regular payments or other new credit paid on time will slowly work it up over time. Depending on how high your total debt is, have you explored Bankruptcy? How old is the debt? It drops off after 7 years. Have the credit card accounts been closed or wrote off or in collections?
Keeping balances low as a percent of available credit is one key to a good credit score.
Credit card debt is a terrible thing - usually high interest and difficult pay down. I’ve found that if I can’t pay for something today I have to ask myself if I truly need it.
I believe it’s important to have available credit to cover emergencies (for example - a broken hot-water tank). Other than that - ask yourself if the expense can wait.
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There have been a lot of good suggestions here. Have you tried to talk to a credit union about a debt consolidation loan? Usually they are a little more forgiving with your credit score. I would also freeze your cards or limit access to them at the very least. Lastly, I would look into putting together a budget. If you’ve never heard of Dave Ramsey, I would suggest taking a look. He talks about budgeting, working side gigs, and getting gazelle intense to knock out debt. Good luck, and know that we as a Pennyhoarder community are rooting for you.
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