[kiesha8185]

Hi Everyone!

I am new here (from Florida), and this is my first post. I am starting from scratch. I am a bit overwhelmed and don't know where to start, but I hope the info on this site can steer me in the right direction I starting taking a Money Management class and it sparked my interest in repairing my credit. I've hear good things about this site, I hope to gain a lot of info for myself and then move on to repair my family's credit one by one.... !!!!

Here's a brief credit background on myself, and any and every bit of advice would be graciously and very much appreciated!!

I am a college-grad (GO GATORS!!!) and have just over $11K in student loans. I made bad decisions while in college and got two credit cards that I never paid and eventually ended up in collections I just paid off one in January '08 and will be done paying the next one next week I would like to get both of these accounts off my credit report. Do you think I can negotiate something like that with the CA???

Lastly, I wanna know if I should get a separate credit report from each Equifax, Experian, and Transunion or if I should just get the Suze Orman Fico kit? Which would you recommend and what are the benefits of the Kit?

Thank so much for reading this and for any advice you offer!!!!

[Pale Rider]

Skip the kit and get the reports directly from the 3 CRA's. You can qualify for free reports several ways, and as a last resort if you need 1 free and can't qualify any other way, get it from www.annualcreditreport.com. I say to use that one as a last resort, because it gives them 45 days during the dispute process rather than the normal 30.

Welcome to the site.

[kiesha8185]

Thank you for your response! I do have one other question. For my first credit card that I paid off, I negotiated a lower settlement. Do you think if I pay the original full amount, would it increase my credit score (assuming the CA refuses to take it off my credit report all together)?

Thanks again

[Hedwig]

I agree with Pale Rider--get the individual reports. A lot of things don't show on the 3-in-1 reports the same way that they do on the individual reports.

You may also find some of Suze's advice contrary to what many here have found to work.

So ask your questions and weigh your options before you make decisions.

[Pale Rider]

Originally Posted by kiesha8185

Thank you for your response! I do have one other question. For my first credit card that I paid off, I negotiated a lower settlement. Do you think if I pay the original full amount, would it increase my credit score (assuming the CA refuses to take it off my credit report all together)?

Thanks again

See this thread for a similar question and answer. How will paying off Settlement affect my Credit Report? It is hard to predict a score change without knowing what is in your report. In most cases you would expect the score to go up when a negative is removed, but that is not always the case.

[kiesha8185]

Thank you both for your responses.