What to do about credit cards I got when I was 16, and how to pay them off to better my credit card score?
When I was 16, I was a foolish kid and got tons of credit cards that I never paid off. Now that I am 20, and have a real job and am trying to get a house, I see that severly affected me. I ran a credit report on myself today, and my credit score is 550, and I have only $3000 in total debt, but around 10 creditors. They all have sent my debt to collections, and I threw all the information away when I was a kid. Now that I am older and want to fix my credit, how should I go about doing it? Are any of the credit cards invalid since I got them before I was 18?
Credit Score
Yes… they’re all invalid. How you managed to get them before you were 18 I don’t know… but they’re all invalid. I’d just call up the credit agencies and start fighting them. That’s about the best you can do… unless you just want to pay them off. Either way it’s going to take you a couple of years at the least to take care of the problem.
They shold all be invalid lol. AT 16 they cant hold you liable to pay for that stuff. Call the creditor and tell them so. Besides check your states, statue of limations, in Texas after 4 years they cant collect on your debt or have it on your credit score.
2 answers.
Do you want to fix your credit? I suggest you contact all the collection agencies (perferably at the end of any month) and offer them low ball settlements. Make sure you get it in writing before you send the money. Often times collection agencies will take your money, then sell your account.(by mistake, because they sell them in portfolios) There is nothing you can do about it.
I suggest you use this tactic.
If youre a dead beat and want to cheat the bank and collection agency out of money, like most americans do, then you need to see if you can use the law to your advantage. I dont know how you opened accounts when you were 16, (minimun age is 18-per USC 1692 of public law 95-109) but usually the average legal stat in the US is 4 years…which means the legal owner of the debt can reduce it to a judgement, and sue you. If youre in a garnishable state, they can take paychecks, if they can lien your assets, they will. To find out if its still in legal stats, you have to calculate from the charge off date, or 180 days from your last payment. Reporting stats is different…they cant sue you, but they can keep it on your Credit Report.
this is all something you can do yourself. Dont hire an attorney, or goto a Credit Consolidation company. Its a waste of money.
If you set up a payment plan, remember you are reactivating the stats.
Good luck…and pay your bills next time.
One more thing…dont listen to anyone. Do the research yourself. Espically if you live in Texas…Texas debtors think theyre saved by all these laws…its not true, they can still get sued. Its just a little more strict in that state. Figures, our presidents home state is full of deadbeats who dont pay their bills.
Ok…here is what you do.
On your credit report, the creditor is listed with each debit, especially if they went to court and won a judgment.
Contact the court house the judgments were won in and get the creditors contact info. Then, contact each and ask what their policy is for giving credit to under 18 people. Your parents might be liable for these debits. If so, you may want to think about how to handle this differently as in, paying them off for “pennies on the dollar offers”.
You will need to check all three credit bureaus because they don’t all share the exact same info. Here are their addys.
http://www.experian.com/business_services/index.html
http://www.equifax.com/
http://www.transunion.com/index.jsp
You will need to contact them with each dispute as they develop. Check my website in about three days for a form that will help you with this dispute. It is a general format for filing corrections to your credit.
I wish you luck in this. Be strong, forceful and don’t back down. Stand your ground and keep pushing no matter what because they were the ones wrong in the first place. As a minor, you were not capable of making that decision (unless you were emancipated and that’s a mabey)
The debts could have been invalidated up to your 18th birthday. Once you turned 18, the debts became yours, legally.
If you try to repudiate the debts, you can be charged with fraud in certain jurisdictions. Also, if you lied about your age on the application, that constitutes a criminal offense.
I would suggest making an arrangement with your creditors and keeping yourself debt free. It may be faster to repair your credit this way rather than the legal route, which can take years and would require a lawyer. If they sell the debt to a collection agency, it can become a lot more expensive.
Check with the Credit bureau and they can tell you about the cards also you can set up payments that you can afford with the Credit bureau and pay everything off with them.
Perry