Previously, I mentioned that old collections may or may not be touched depending upon their age and what you are trying to do with your credit right now.

If you have time, then paying off the collection would be good by negotiating and then getting the collection removed. Your credit scores will gyrate wildly with:

• Your collection “last activity date” being updated.
• The balance being reduced.
• The account settled or satisfied being reported.
• The collection being removed from your credit file.

Up and down, then up again.

Eventually this all turns good, but know that getting this done takes time and money and you still may not get the collection removed because it is a public record and the collection company may be tenacious in keeping it on the credit file. You could need a professional credit repair company to get it removed.

I will give some guidelines for a good credit repair company further in this reading.

Foreclosures are becoming more and more a reality for a lot of people who were scammed by unethical mortgage companies. People were promised a home even though they couldn’t afford the payments and bought more than they should have.

The trouble is not only with mortgage scammers; it also stems from credit bureaus not being diligent with checking accuracy of negative information in credit files. Another common problem with credit bureaus is the practice of medical payments, not paid by insurance companies on a timely basis, that are allowed to be sent to collections.

Then, of course, there is the bankruptcy laws that were recently changed ; these laws give no relief to credit cards while causing tens of thousands to lose not only their credit cards but also their homes. Next are the credit card companies that are lowering credit limits when credit scores go below a certain point; this loses debt to credit ratios causing scores to drop yet again and putting people into a credit tail spin with no hope of recovery any time soon. There are many more factors involved that are causing this Perfect Storm of a Credit Hurricane to hurl peoples lives and fortunes into the hands of big business and the banking system.

(A side note: do you know the definition of “Mortgage”? It’s Latin for death contract, a thirty-year death contract. Heck, we have heard of 45, 50 and 100-year death contracts. You can leave a legacy of debt for your children to keep paying.)

Fun stuff.

A home foreclosure on your credit report is a very costly thing as there are probably additional lates, multiple lates, consecutive lates, collections, etc, that are all causing your scores to not only drop like a rock but, additionally, secure a very low score for a very long time. There does comes a break to your credit score after 2 years, but the negatives stay for 7 to 10 years unless you work with a legitimate credit repair company, one that uses attorneys, to remove the negative items.  This can get you back on track with life with the ability to start moving forward once more.

The credit bureaus, under oath after a subpoena have openly stated that negatives on a credit report have no significant financial consequence other than financial gain for them.

The question then to ask is: “Why, then are they imposing 7 and 10 years for negatives that only cause pain and suffering, combined with added financial burden, to American consumers?”

What a scam they are to the American people. Congress should shut them down or, at the very least, require a revamping of the whole system to clean up the mess that credit bureaus have created with their total negligence of responsibility for accurate reporting and verifying that accuracy.

Ok, time to get off the soapbox and calm myself before moving on.

I think you get the picture. You, the little, average, normal American, are being punished way before you are found guilty without a trial or admittance of guilt. You are required to pay, over and over again for the credit bureau sin of not report accurately.

Well, I am doing something about this. I am here to tell the world about how to manage credit PLUS overcome the challenges faced by the credit industry and their injustices to the American people all for the sake of greed.

Please educate yourself on this issue; take precautions to learn all your can about credit and credit management. In the long run, it will save you tens of thousands of dollars, or more, because you educated yourself.

Heck, it could save your home, your car, your life, because you learned the secrets of credit.

There are issues that are created when you come to a point in life that is beyond your control that gets you to the point when you can’t even afford to pay the minimums on all your debts. It sucks, but there you are and in danger of losing everything. So, your decision is to use bankruptcy to get the debts off your back and find relief.

There is a way to stop the madness and get you into a position of financial strength again quickly. Consider this… when you make a list of all your debts to put into bankruptcy, pick the best 1 or 2 credit cards you have plus your home and car and decide what you can afford to pay for. Keep these out of the bankruptcy and put all your other debts into the bankruptcy.

The plan is to keep these accounts active and working, paying on time and pay them down so that you have good accounts in good standing even though you have a bankruptcy on your credit file. You will find that you will bounce back from a bankruptcy as quickly as 6 months rather than 2 or 7 years.

Of coarse, using a reputable credit repair company will assist in getting the negatives off your credit reports quickly. Oh, by the way, there are only a very few credit repair companies that can remove bankruptcies, foreclosures, repossessions, and even collections quickly and efficiently.  We endorse only one.

Getting behind in alimony or child support can be an extremely negative thing for your credit.

Currently, the states are enacting laws that allow them to put a lien, collection or judgment on your credit report in order to get you caught up on this debt.  It will be very hard to get a loan, buy or even rent if you are not current with these bills.  Plus this will stay on your report for 7 years or longer if not caught up quickly.

The solution is perhaps not as related to credit repair or credit management but to seek a better paying job and/or reduce debt so you can get caught up.

Remember that child support is for your children and this is the most important thing in your world.

My advice?

Do whatever it takes to get child support paid, and paid on time, as it will be a thorn in your credit report side until you do.  Once it is paid off, you can hire a reputable attorney service that deals in credit repair and get the judgment off your credit reports, thus giving you a clean slate to work forward on.  I only recommend one attorney firm that actually does this.  See my special blog on credit repair companies and who is reputable.