How I repaired my own credit?

Becoming debt free while maintaining self respect. 

Who would of ever thought that someone with so many good things going on in his life would also have a hidden life that nobody really knew about. That life was called “debt.” How could I have been so stupid to get into this mess anyway? Excuses “No.” Was I dumb “Yes?” There really is no one else to blame for this mess but myself. Being in debt really does stink and there is nothing worse then being in that situation. So let me explain my story:

I was 19 years old and just starting to explore my life plan options. I really had no direction at that time, except for doing what I wanted to do and when I wanted to do it. Stubborn, “a little.” No; more like stubborn a lot! At that time, I had no aspiration for going to college and instead was looking at just going into the armed forces. Why, not? I talked to a recruiter and then off to basic training I went.

I guess your wondering what that was like? Hmmm, I plead the 5th. Kind of funny, but I begged to come home. I called my parents one Sunday morning and told them that I would be glad to come home and cut there grass and help them pay the bills in exchange for getting me out of this place. Almost as if I was a changed young man already with only 2 weeks of basic training under my belt. Was it a Wake up call, or was it a stubborn teen getting what he deserved. Anyhow, I made it through basic training and couldn’t wait to get out of Oklahoma and go somewhere else. Finally, I moved on to Airborne school in Ft. Benning Georgia and decided to jump out of airplanes for a living. I can’t believe I graduated from that place, especially since many soldiers were breaking legs after the 5 critical jumps that were needed to graduate. Alright, enough with my Forest Gump life and now I can tell you how I got into debt in the first place.

Are you really that stupid at the age of 19? Why would I go and get every credit card that was available. I was practically handed every credit card imaginable. Car loans, personal loans, store credit cards, you name it. Was I Responsible, “No.” And when I was broke I was placing food and beer on my credit cards. Any adult who understands credit would advise not to do such a thing. It only got worse and then it just became bad. Debt Collectors were calling and I was already in it to deep to pay it. So, I just forgot about it all together and started dodging the Debt Collectors.

After I came to my senses, I tried to work with all the Debt Collectors to pay off my debts. Can you believe that when I called the Debt Collectors and asked to setup a payment plan they just snubbed me and didn’t want the money, unless it was paid in full. I really didn’t have the money to pay it in full and I certainly could not have taken out a loan with my bad credit. So, then I did some research on the internet about credit repair. It was a good thing that I took the opportunity to educate myself first before I started paying off some very old debt. I could have really made a big mistake and could have been ruined for another 7 years if I didn’t read one important message.

From the time a debt goes delinquent, or the last payment on the debt a seven year clock starts ticking and if you make a payment that clock will start all over again. What does that really mean? After a negative mark is placed on your credit report, it takes 7 years for that mark to go away. But, that doesn’t sound right. So I started reading even more. I read about negotiating with Debt Collectors and that I would make an attempt to pay off the debt in exchange for a better credit mark or removal of the bad debt from my credit file. Guess what, It didn’t work! Let me remind you that the debt had already been delinquent for 6 years. So I decided to try one other option. The other option was to pull my credit file and see what was on it and dispute any other inaccuracies if there were some. Well, guess what? I found many things wrong with my credit file. The Debt Collectors were claiming that I owed ,000 on one credit card, even though the balance was ,300. So, I disputed the debt and had the Credit Bureaus validate each credit card and loan inaccuracy. It took exactly 30 days for the dispute process to complete. The results were in and I was amazed. The Credit Bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) couldn’t validate the debt, so then the debts were removed permanently. For items that still remained on my credit file that were inaccurate, I kept disputing until they were all gone. Keep in mind that you still owe the debts, and they don’t go away. My best advise, is to not go out and try paying off your old debt without seeking help or ensuring that the debt collectors will not place a payment on your credit report. Because once they do that the 7 years of negative credit starts all over again.

There is a right and wrong way to do this. My best advise is to pay the debts off now even if you are slow paying. Over time your credit will re-establish in a more positive direction. Anything that you have that is delinquent, then you may want to try and do what I did and dispute your credit file. I never recommend Bankruptcy. There are many options out there to fix your credit before making Bankruptcy your final option. Bankruptcy can stay on you credit report for up to 10 years and that’s just a very long time. I tried to make things better by working with the Debt Collectors but they were just to arrogant to even take the money. So, maybe you can try what I did if you are having problems trying to become debt free. There are good websites out there that provide free information on how to become debt free. debt-escapes has a lot of free useful information that can help you become debt free all on your own without having to pay a credit repair service..

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