Charge-off vs. Paid Charge-off
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Posted by ADHD girl (67.174.211.255) on July 31, 2004 at 03:39:05:
I have recently been diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) I am a 38 year old woman. In researching this I have found that because of the lack of impulse control that goes along with this I (and many others with ADD/ADHD) have had issues controlling my impulses when it comes to spending. I am being medicated now and have this under control. This has led me to my second round of credit problems. In my early 20's I got behind ($3000-$4000) and had some CC accts charged off. I paid them a few years later and spent quite a few years rebuilding my credit with the help of secured credit cards and an auto loan with a high interest rate. Unfortunately I've done it again. This time after falling into a depression after the end of a relationship (where I got into this debt in the first place). I left the relationship taking ALL of the debt upon myself. Approximately $18,000 worth! For the first 6-8 months I made the minimum payments on time. However, realizing that I was getting nowhere I spoke with someone at a credit counseling agency (maybe not the right one). I was told that because I could make the payments that they could not help me...unless I was 4-5 months behind. So, on their advice I let my accounts lapse and then once I was behind I became afraid that this was the wrong thing to do. It has been 2 1/2 years now and I have about 7-9 CC's that have been charged off. Recently I paid one of them when they called my work and my boss handed me the phone. (YIKES!) I had recently made a little extra money and thought it best to just be done. I settled with them for $1400 on a $2800 debt. However, I read somewhere that now that I have paid them the clock has been restarted. Is that the case? I've gotten used to the phone calls (thanks to caller ID on my home phone and the fact that I use my cell phone as my main number) and I'm not bothered by them anymore. I really would like to pay these off if it were in my best interest. But, I'd like to buy a house
and I don't want to wait another 9-10 years. I was planning to save up some money and contact each creditor and offer to settle for 50%. Now I'm afraid that if I do that will just reset the clock and instead of being in the clear in 4 1/2 to 5 years it'll be 7 (+ however many years it takes me to actually pay them) more years. Have I been given the right information? If I pay these debts and the charge off becomes a paid charge off have I really helped myself out or hurt myself by extending the black marks on my credit report? Is there any reason I should pay these or should I just wait it out? The largest balance is about $6200 with the rest being under $2000-$3000 (about $23000 total between the cards). Or, should I file BK? What are my options here and what is the best route to go?
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