check your credit lately?

[mysticalone]

i did. i'm in the middle of paying off debts and cleaning my credit. i have this question even after i did a google search and saw various answers.

i have 2 old cc accounts outstanding which are under "other/closed" accounts totaling about 5k. the credit bereaus display a balance of 0$ on them since they are so old, although when pulled up, these accts do show the outstanding balance not payed.

my question is should i worry about these old accts and pay them off first to bring that balance to 0? should i let them fade away and try to put a dent in my "revolving/installment" accounts to lower their balances?

im just not sure of which way will benefit me more in the long run. :rtfm:

 

[Jereme]

I would keep revolving accounts up to date but if you have anything extra put it towards zeroing out those old accounts. Making an effort to cut those older balances down to zero will also help your credit some.

edit: If those old account are close they may have been given to a collection agency. If that has happened it might be a good idea of talking to the collection agency personally. Sometimes they will reduce the amount by 25-50% maybe even more if you pay it all at once. It would definitely be worth looking into.

 

[motley]

The balances on the odl accts shouldnt be listed as 0 unless you jsut werent paying them and they got listed as default....

I would sort that out, if youve been listed as default then I would think that not paying them would be OK except that youll ahve a red flag on your credit for 10 years.

A good strategy when paying off debts is to add up all your minimums, then decide what youre willing to pay extra per month... Take that total and never-ever lower it, that should be your new minimum.

So lets say your minimums come to $300 a month, and you decide to pay $100 over that...

Apply the $100 to your highest interest rate NOT your highest balance, the interest rate is how fast your losing money.

So now your monthly payment is $400 and after a few months your minimums come down. DONT change your paments, keep sendingthe same amount to each card...

If your card with the highest interest is $20 a month, then you would be paying $120 towards it, after its completed take that $120 and dont start putting it back in your pocket, apply it towards another acct so that youre still shelling out $400 a month...

I did this and as the balances come down and you keep paying the same amounts the amount of progress you make will increase exponentially

 

[skreb]

i did. i'm in the middle of paying off debts and cleaning my credit. i have this question even after i did a google search and saw various answers.

i have 2 old cc accounts outstanding which are under "other/closed" accounts totaling about 5k. the credit bereaus display a balance of 0$ on them since they are so old, although when pulled up, these accts do show the outstanding balance not payed.

my question is should i worry about these old accts and pay them off first to bring that balance to 0? should i let them fade away and try to put a dent in my "revolving/installment" accounts to lower their balances?

im just not sure of which way will benefit me more in the long run. :rtfm:

the answer is both, i am a debt collector been doing it in one form or another for 12 years. maintain your current credit 1st, try not to carry no more than 25% of your credit limit on any card ie: 1000 credit 250 balance, if you go over pay it down immediatly to 25% or lower.as for the closed accounts the reason it says 0 balance is that they were charged off and when charged off thay set the balance to 0. there is a statute of limitations varies from state to state anywhere from 3-15 years depending on state. be aware even after the statute the account which is now known as "paper" in the industry will be sold to a collection house.if you make one payment that statute is out the window and is considered new debt. collection on old debt is known as zombie collections. if it still within the statute of limitations my suggestion is to 1st contact who ever gave you the CC , be aggressive and try to work out arrangement with them they will probably will not want to but get to a supervisor.try not to settle for a less than owed settlement as it will reflect on your credit report as "settled"not bad but not good either.if a settlement is arranged and you go for it ask them to send you a letter that your credit will be fully amended <paid in full not settled> hard to get but possible. remember most settlements are due in one lump sum.now if the account was given to a collection house to collect, do not let them bullie you. again ask for a supervisor get name position ect.make sure thay give you the mini miranda for every contact
http://www.lawdog.com/debtcol/dc0a.htm some states have additional requirements. now the newer the paper the harder it is to negotiate a deal but be persistent. but be advised a lot of collection companies take people to court en mass they take 20-30 ppl to court and put judgments against them . the courts love this 20-30 ppl x 20-30 court fees x 5 days a week, the judge usually rules in favor of the creditor
meh my composition skills suck if you can get on ventrillio i can explain it better lol ill give you an ip address and port number or ill give you my cell number let me know