Best answer from question by nealmobley:
Answer by bdancer222
If the debt has already been charged off and sent to collections, the damage is already done. Paying it off won’t help your score. It will remain on your credit report for the balance of the 7 year reporting period whether paid, settled, or unpaid. However, creditors look at your whole credit report, not just the score. Paid old debt always looks better.
Define “debt consolidation”. The term seems to be used for several completely different things. If you are talking about talking out a big loan to pay off all the debts, you probably will have problems qualifying with all the charge off/collection accounts.
If you are talking about a debt management program where you pay a company to pay your debts monthly, make sure the company you use is a NFCC member: http://www.nfcc.org/. There are a lot of scam companies that take your money and never pay any of your debts. However, if you are already in collections for most of your debt, a NFCC credit counseling service probably won’t be able to help.
You could try saving up and negotiating settlement offers with the accounts in collections. Work on them one at a time starting with the newest. Lump sum offers get the best deals. Payment plans have to be short term. Get any settlement agreement in writing and don’t give the collector direct access to your bank account.
I would visit http://debtreliefreviews.net/ They have a lot of good information on debt consolidation and can suggest a good company and alternatives.
Hi,
Yes, you still can..
I used “Credit Solution” to settle my debt and avoid bankruptcy.They managed to reduce my debt up to 58% and improve my credit score .It’s legitimate . I came across this company on NBC News Special Edition.Check it out here:
http://CreditSolution.ez-mart.biz
Note:It’s advisable to fill out the short form.Let them call you back.The line is always busy due to so many customers.
Debt consolidation loans transfer debt from one place to another. While this may sound good, since many times it can appear to lower your monthly payments, a debt consolidation loan will not reduce the amount you owe. You will still pay back 100% of the debt consolidation loan, plus interest. The interest rate is sometimes lower than before, but this is because debt consolidation loans are usually secured loans that cannot be lowered or negotiated. Once you sign up for a debt consolidation loan, you have just gone from an unsecured debt to a secured debt and have put your personal assets (e.g. your car or home) at risk. At that point if you can’t pay your bills your creditors can come and take your personal property – thus creating a bigger problem than you had to begin with.
Debt settlement is a program designed for consumers with serious debt problems who are unable to maintain payment obligations and are considering bankruptcy or credit counseling.