When one has bad credit, is it beneficial to accept the offers of the cards claiming to help rebuild credit?

Or if trying to rebuild your credit, would it be better to just start paying on the bills that are delinquent and trying to make a settlement with the company? I had a hard time in the past and was not even able to make the minimum balance at all times. Now, I'm trying to start back doing right, and I've been getting the offers in the mail about cards with only a $300 balance which claim to help rebuild credit by using them. It doesn't make sense to me though since I would actually be requesting more credit, etc? Any suggestions or advice is appreciated. thank you
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Pam..what is the reasoning for not paying by check? And would paying online via your checking be the same thing?

Stay away from those card offers you are getting or read the fine print one time and your eyeballs will indeed be opened. Many have outrageous annual fees, monthly fees, and a processing fee so that whn you get the card you might have 50 dollars of a 300 limit left to use.

How old is the debt? You may be able to negotiate lump sums on each and pay them off one at at time at 50% of the balances.

Get the agreements in writing before making one payment under the agreement and DO NOT pay by check.

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You should not give them your checking info because if you are dealing with one of the true scum collectors you will find your authorized 10 dollar payment will end up in them taking the entire due out of your account then you end up in a nightmare to explain to the bank you only authorized 10 dollars. If you send them a check they can turn that into an electronic check and the same applies.

There are many agencies who are willing to work with people to repay at least a fraction of their debt.

Check the card carefully. Ask around about he card if it is really helpful for you. Do remember that it is only you that help rebuild your credit. Self discipline is the answer. Pay your bill on time.

The only time I would open a new credit card in your situation is if you can find one that has 0% interest for 12 months on all transfer balances. Other than that, I would avoid them.

The advantage to the 0% interest is that you can consolidate (and then close) the higher interest cards.

Depending on how many creditors and how much debt we are talking about, your best bet may be to engage in a debt consolidation where the company works out a payment plan with your creditors and you end up making one payment that is dispersed accordingly.

do the research on those places before jumping in go here and see for yourself www.ripoffreport.com and i would shop around if they end them then you can find a better one so you don't get screwed

Fix your past credit mistakes before trying to open new credit. Credit Builder Credit Cards are scams!!! They charge you almost 1/2 the amount of the limit they give you and there is an annual fee not to include the interest rates! You will end up spending more for those cards then its worth. Pull your credit and start working on it now!

http://friends.truecredit.com/r/26367c62266e102b991c

Unfortunetly your past has to be adjusted so you can move forward to building a better credit TOMORROW.

Contact Urban Credit at 1-888-633-3317, we would be glad to answer any questions you may have and to help you get started to a better tomorrow!

I would say pay down your current debt and dont apply for any credit, the credit cards that help build credit actually have a very high interest rate (sometimes up to 30%) and they report to your credit bureau every month and inquire on your credit more often. They even charge $6-$45 per cycle as a maintenance fee because sine they are monitoring your account since you are at risk. Some of the cards include: HSBC, Orchard Bank etc. ONLY apply for these type of cards when you dont have an option. They should be your last resort to build bad credit, its not cheap.

Your instincts are right on this one. It makes no sense to go deeper into debt to help rebuild your credit. It doesn't work. You can accept, use and pay off these new cards until the cows come home and it won't change your credit because you have delinquencies. So cut up the offer and throw them away.

Be very careful of credit cards who offer a 0 percent interest or a very low interest. These cards can and will use any reason to up that interest rate which would put you back into the same problems you have now. Instead of getting a secured credit card, use the money you'd have to deposit with them to pay off debt.

My suggestion is to contact these companies one at a time. Offer them a settlement of somewhere between 10 and 25 cents on the dollar. Get the offer in writing, then pay them off. Do not allow them electronic access to you bank accounts. Do not send them post dated checks.

It all depends on the situation. I just went through bankruptcy. E-mail me and I'll tell you what I've learned and experienced since.

Actually, you should do both, but there's a right and a wrong way to do it. First, you should know what makes up your score:

1. Payment history- 35%
2. Total debt owed to available credit ratio-30%
3. Length of time establishing credit-15%
4. Types of credit established-10%
5. Inquiries and New accounts-10%

With that said, there's 2 things when it comes to bad debts and collection items that you should be aware of, the FCRA and statute of limitations. These are 2 diffferent things. The FCRA(Fair Credit Reporting Act) is the timeframe that negative items can remain on your report which is 7Â½ years from the date it first went deliquent. For example if a debt first became delinquent July 10, 2000 the legal limit that the debt can be reported would be January 10, 2008. Also, there is a seperate statute of limitations that varies by state on how long a debt can be legally enforced. This is different from the FCRA, because depending on which state you live in the statute may or may not expire before the FCRA.

here's a link for that

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/statuteLimitations.shtml

Another important thing to know is that negative items that are less than 2 years old are hurting your score the most. It's possible that you can settle much older debts for far less in exchange for getting them removed from your report altogether. This is called a "pay to delete". I posted several links explaining this in detail

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/settle_debts.shtml

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/neg_rating_after_settle.shtml

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/CanCreditorSue4SettlementDifferences.shtml

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/ActualDebtSuccesses.shtml

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/debt-negotiation.php

At the same time, you need to open new credit to replace the bad credit. It takes credit to build credit. Those credit cards that you're getting claiming to rebuild your credit aren't all what they're cracked up to be. Think about it, if a regular credit card company wouldn't touch you, why would any of these guys do it without a catch? Sure, they'll give you a credit card with a $300 limit, but the catch is that they'll charge you $150-200 in fees before you even get the card. My suggestion is this. If you're going to invest in a credit card, invest in a secured credit card. They're even easier to get, although you would have to place money upfront as collateral to secure a credit line, at least you get that back at some point in time, and you have more control over the credit limit. For example, if you deposit $500, your credit line would be $500, which could be higher depending on how much you deposit. And like I just mentioned as long as you pay on time, and keep the balance low or paid off, you get the deposit back after a year, usually. I posted links to some secured card companies, from personal experience Bank of America offers the best secured card overall.

good luck!

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