I want to fix my credit...?

Ok here's the deal. I applied for 4 dif. store credit cards bc my mom said she would pay them to build my credit (yes I know not her responsibility, but she shouldn't have said that if she wasn't going to bc she knw I had no job). I was 19 at the time, now I'm almost 21. Anyway she never did pay them & now I have almost $2000 against my credit plus a student loan. A friend of mine told me that just paying them off wouldn't help my credit any bc it would still show on my report that I was delinquent. She said that I should call them & make a deal that I will pay them off under the condition that they delete the listing from my report (thus making it appear I've never had anything on my report). Anyway, would they do that? Or is there a better way I could do it?? Any suggestions are appreciated. BTW my credit is so bad that my credit score is 494. and I'm not even 21 yet. Sad I know. yeah. they're really gonna garnish my wages. I have no wages LOL!

Public Comments

1. there is no way on earth that a credit card company will do that...if you were late on the payments that is your fault...whoever told you such info is clueless...just pay them off and work your way up. you're going to have to prove to them that you can pay on time!
2. They may not want to pay but you should try to negotiate something. If no one bites, pay them anyway. It's better to have paid delinquencies rather than unpaid ones. The unpaid ones could become judgments once they sell the debts, which they likely will, and then you will have to pay them, even if they have to garnish your wages. Contrary to what Chris, above me, is saying, many credit companies will work with you. They may not be willing to remove their tradelines altogether but they may be willing to remove some of the late marks (30, 60, 90, 120 days, etc.) in exchange for full payment. This will instantly raise your FICO score because portions of the delinquencies will come off. However, before you pay anything on agreement, get it in writing or the deal doesn't exist. The reason it's important to get all agreements in writing, is that the tradelines will date from the last time there was payment towards the accounts. In other words, they exist for seven years from the last time payment is received, or from the time they're charged off or sold. You need to know exactly what is currently being reported. You also need to know if the debts have been sold yet or not. If they have been sold, there is nothing that can be done about the tradelines for the sold accounts and will stay for seven years from the time that they were sold. In summary, get it in writing then pay them off. Once you know the payments have posted, contact them to ensure that they have updated the reporting to the bureaus and double check by getting copies of your credit reports. If after you have the agreement and they're paid, you credit hasn't been updated, contact the credit companies by phone and ask them to process the UDF (Universal Data Forms) that update your credit and check with the bureaus again. One more thing, if you settle with them (agree to pay off the debt for less than the full amount owed), they will report as "Settled, paid off for less than the full amount". This means that they will be paid off but for a settled amount.
3. YOU CAN ACTUALLY CALL THEM AND TALK TO THEM ABOUT PAYING IT OFF AND THEY WILL OR CAN TAKE LESS THAN WHAT THE BALANCE IS OWED BECAUSE THEY WANT TO GET IT OFF OF THE BOOKS AS BAD AS YOU WANT IT OFF OF YOUR CREDIT SCORE....TALK TO THEM ABOUT TAKING IT OFF OF YOUR CREDIT REPORT....THEY CAN BUT NOT SO SURE THEY WILL......BUT WOULD DEFF. BE BETTER TO PAY THEM THEN IT WOULD BE TO SAY..."IT WONT HELP ME SO WHY PAY THEM"...... ....THEN SAVE $1,000 GO TO A SMALL BANK..."HOMETOWN BANK"....TELL THEM YOU WANT TO BUILD SOME CREDIT....OPEN A SAVINGS ACCOUNT AND BORROW MONEY AGAINST YOUR ACCOUNT....PUT THE MONEY THEY LOAN YOU INTO A CHECKING ACCOUNT AND PAY THE LOAN BACK WITH IT EVERY MONTH......IT WILL ONLY COST YOU THE SERVICE FEES.......AND YOU WILL BUILD YOUR CREDIT IN NO TIME.............
4. It will still show on the report that you were late on payments, but making payments as soon as possible will help repair it faster and will probably increase your score slowly. I wouldn't recommend calling and saying that you are planning on paying and asking them to remove the delinquencies--I doubt they would do it. If I were you, I would pay them off and then try calling, explain the situation, and ask them if there's any way it could be removed now that it's paid. You will talk to managers and have to leave voice mails-- it won't be easy. If they do agree to list your account as up to date, make sure you ask them to send you a letter stating that all negatives are being removed from your account. You will then have to copy that letter and send it to all three credit bureaus who will then review the creditor's letter and adjust as necessary. Yep-- it's gonna take a while, but it's totally worth it.
5. Don't pay for anything. That credit card account has probably been charged off or has been sold or transferred. Paying them off will now change the tradeline to PAID CHARGED OFF, OR PAID AFTER ACCOUNT BEEN SOLD, both of which does not help your score out at all. the negative tradeline is still negative. what you need to do is try to get the account deleted. that is the key to increasing your score, deleting the negatives, and adding more positives. Hope this helps. I am in the credit business so let me know if you have any more questions. DL The Credit Solutions Institute
6. Well, you have some options. First off your Mom has some issues using your credit to buy stuff and then not pay if off. So maybe start by not taking her advice any more. Credit problems will stick with you for Seven years. Assuming that your card went unpaid immediately after it was opened (at age 19) only 2 years have passed since the balance were written off by the company. So your credit will be bad for another 5 years. If you pay them off today then that seven year period will reset. Although the account will be listed on your credit report as a "paid collection" it will still be listed on your credit for Seven years from the last time the account had any activity. If it were me, I would dispute the accounts with all three credit reporting agencies. If you keep on top of it and keep disputing the account eventually some at the company (where you got the credit) will screw something up and then the Credit Agencies will erase the negative marks on your credit..... Good Luck.
7. First, you need to distance yourself from your mom's while you are repairing your credit. She has caused a lot of the financial distress you are currently experiencing. Quite frankly, if she loved you like her very own, she would do whatever it takes to at least help you pay off the credit cards she encouraged you to open. You see, good parents honor their words and promises and put the welfare and financial security of their children above their own self-interests. Anyway, you need to do a pay-for-deletion letter. It must be sent certified to the creditor(s). The link for the form letter is below. When extending a pay-for-deletion offer to your creditors, please be sure that you have available funds to remit to the creditors should they accept your offer. Remember that their acceptance letter should be on company letterhead by a member of management with authority to act on behalf of the company. Keep good records of all correspondence and do not talk to the creditors over the phone. Good luck.
8. At this point they probably have sold your debt. once you pay them off your credit will go up. find a way to pay. call them today and arrange a payment plan. they probably wont remove the late marks but you goal should be to pay them back. If you telling us you cant make $100 a month then your kidding yourself. there are always jobs out there.
9. If you are still in school, the student loans don't matter until 6 months after graduation. Cut up the credit cards, pay them off, and close the account.