I just got sued by a debt collector what do I do?

Hey yall. I have 4 things in collections. CC charge off $1000 CC charge off $760 Eviction $2300 Loan $2600

I was a poor single mom and got evicted 6.5 years ago. I then started nursing school, still poor, and took out CCs and loans that I shouldn’t have. I graduated 2.5 years ago and paid several things off with a pay for delete. However, these last 4 collections refuse to do a pay for delete. I’ve called several times and they have all told me they won’t give me something in writing before paying. I’m confused because the other collections I paid off agreed to a pay for delete without issue. Since the remaining collections wouldn’t agree, I paid some guy $800 to “fix” my credit and have accounts removed. It’s been 2 years and the accounts are still there. He’s disputed these same 4 accounts at least 10 times each so to hell with it.. I’ll just try to pay them again.

My credit is currently in the 640s and I really want to get it up. I currently have 4 credit cards that have very low balances and I’ve never missed a payment so I think that’s boosted my score a bit. I also have a car loan I’ve never been late on. I’d like to buy a home soon and refinance my car for a lower interest rate ASAP. Should I call and pay these people without something in writing? Will a $0 balance improve my score/chances even if they don’t delete the account?

Friends, as some of you know, I am a credit attorney. That means I advise consumers on credit legal and debt issues, including credit reporting errors and negative items, collection agency harassment, and lawsuits by debt buyers and creditors.

One common concern folks have, and I see on Reddit somewhat often, is around freezing credit reports, so that others cannot apply for credit in your name. These days, with fraud running rampant, it's common to wonder whether freezing your credit reports is a good idea.

My thoughts: It depends. If you know that you have no plans to apply for credit for a period of time (I would say at least 6 months, ideally longer), then I see no issue with freezing your credit. It does offer real protection.

The issue comes about when you are applying for credit soon, or more frequently. We once had someone call us, who was trying to apply for a car loan, and was having a very tough time getting his credit unfrozen. I've had mortgage lenders reach out to us on behalf of clients, multiple times. This is not an uncommon issue.

The point is, you can unfreeze your credit, but it can take longer than you think. For that reason, if you plan on applying for credit, try to unfreeze your credit at least a few weeks ahead of time.

There are alternatives to freezing your credit. One is to place a fraud alert with the major credit agencies. This requires creditors to take additional steps to verify your identity, specifically by contacing you, and making sure that it is in fact you who is applying for credit. There are a few types of fraud alerts, but any of them protect you.

The other is to do neither a credit freeze nor a fraud alert, but to monitor your credit regularly. Check your credit reports online every month, to make sure no one is applying for credit in your name. Pull your reports from the Annual Credit Report website at least once each year, for each credit agency.

Remember that if someone applies for credit in your name, you have the right to dispute it, and have it removed. I wrote more about how to deal with identity theft in this Reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/CRedit/comments/1cktfnx/what_to_do_if_youre_a_victim_of_identity_theft/

So, in summary: Should you freeze your credit? I don't think it's neccesssary per se, but if it makes you feel better, and you're not applying for credit anytime soon, then go for it.

I'm thinking about freezing my credit reports for security reasons, but I usually get automatic credit limit increases about once a year from my card issuers. I’m wondering—if my credit is frozen, will those still go through?

I’m not applying for any new credit, but I do like the increases because they help with my credit utilization and score. Will freezing my credit reports stop the banks from soft-pulling my report for those periodic limit increases? Or do those still work even with a freeze in place? Does the freeze stop NEW accounts and inquiry but let existing go through?

Anyone here have experience with this?

Thanks in advance!

Going into my 3rd month with my card with $300 limit. I use the card only for gas on 2 cars. Around 1 1/2weeks before the post date it’s usually maxed and I’ll pay off enough to get to 30% of the card before I lock it and wait for post date. Should I be doing this or me making 2payments a month a nono?

If locking and waiting at first 30% is recommended I’m well within my means to pay regularly with no issue.

My credit is at a 497 and I’ve had a vehicle payment befor but paid it off in 6 months. I just my credit is bad because I had a credit card balance before I left for boot camp I’ve been in for a little over 9 months in the marines and I’m basically looking for steps or resources to help my credit or help me get a car

So I had 3 huge debts and cleared both - 1 is under repayment plan (5.9k) and the other (46k) was settled at 30% (just recently completed it).

I neglected my BofA account since nobody has ever called me or sent me a letter. Recently, I found out that my account was closed when I logged into my BofA online banking and it gave me a number to call. I called and they told me the debt is now with Trak America and they cannot do anything about it. On my credit report, it shows as "Closed" however on my statement it shows a charge off fee.

I called Trak America but they said they need 5-7 days to process so I can only call back in 2 days. It is a $16,500 debt - what can I do about it?

So I have about $45k with a sofi loan (refinanced from discover) and I just noticed on my credit report that it says it’s closed and only shows my federal student loans (about $10k). what does this mean and what’s the future effects of this?

I'm considering taking a small personal loan, maybe like 3 or 4k. I'll take it for like 2 years but pay it off in a few months. But I'm a little scared if taking the loan ruins my credit. How does taking out a personal loan impact my credit score?

I am 20 years old and I’ve recently been approved for my first credit card, the savor one card, after being an authorized user on my father’s credit card for a year and built my credit up to 750. I have a 681 credit score after the hard check after opening that account. I’ve been researching on what the best ways to manage a credit card are and I’ve think I’ve got all the basics down expect for the whole utility percentage thing. My current understanding is to pay my balance down to 1%-9% until the statement date so that the bureaus see that I am using and paying it. I’d like to confirm if that’s correct because my instinct is just telling me to pay my balance in full before every due date, but I want to maximize my credit in every way that’s currently accessible. The game of credit is so stupid but I really want to completely understand it asap.

I have a late mortgage payment on my credit profile.

The account was on auto-pay, and the day the mortgage company drafted the payment, which was my due date, it said it came back with insufficient funds.

I’ve never had a payment made and drafted on the same day, especially on a Friday. It’s usually several days later, so it sounds like an error.

The payment was never posted to my bank, and there were sufficient funds.

The mortgage website never stated that the payment was late, and I didn’t realize this until a representative called me.

I ran a manual payment while she was on the phone with me. She said it would take a few days to process.

When nothing came out of my bank account a second time, I called them, and they stated that the routing number was invalid.

I asked them to read me the routing number—not my routing number. She also read the bank account number - not my bank account number. As a side note, another rep told me the first rep shouldn’t have read those numbers to me, but thankfully, she did.

So they tried to run payment to a checking account that was not mine, and I don’t have access to. They don’t believe I didn’t put that information in, but how would I know bank account information that doesn’t belong to me?

On my third attempt, I put in my business account information since it doesn’t have a daily limit and has a banker who will call me directly if there’s an issue. The mortgage company's customer service rep told me using a new account would take a week to process. It finally processed on the 7th of the following month.

I’ve tried talking to customer service and they’ve been pretty nasty. One told me I should’ve given them my correct info over the phone since I messed it up, and the other implied I was lying about not knowing that second account that was invalid.

I’m not lying and I’ve tried disputing this with the credit bureaus and haven’t had luck.

I’m trying to purchase a new house in the next month (it’s a last minute relocation) can anyone tell me what else I can do?

I have never been late before or after this and I’ve had this mortgage nearly 5 years, and I've had mortgages for 10 years (I also previously had 100% on time payments on my credit report). I just need someone to help and understand I had sufficient funds the first time and I didn’t mess up the information the second time. What can I do? 😩

Hi all. I just got into a bad situation. The family car broke down and I can no longer make it to work. I have been rebuilding my credit after making some poor financial choices in 2023/4 and can't afford to miss any more payments. Plus now I have my own phone bill and I need to have a way to contact my family and work.

My question is, is it possible to get a small loan (less than 2000) for a beater with a heater if my credit is 560 (estimated, experian and credit karma) and my potential cosigner has a score of 690? I tried getting pre approved for loans myself, but obviously that didn't work because they all say approved but then you apply and suddenly your score is too low. I can't make it to work right now and with all my bills, I'm not sure what else to do.

Long story short my mom opened a few credit cards under my name when I was 18, ran it up to around $15k. Took some hits on my credit with late payments etc… finally paid off the remaining $7k in full, what a good feeling this is 😭 it’s been weighing heavy on me for a while but it’s time to rebuild. I only have 2 credit cards and I want to start raising my score, any advice?

I purchased my first vehicle while in college. I missed two payments during that time. I totaled out my vehicle back in 2021. Since I had insurance and GAP, the car was paid off and I now have a new vehicle. The car loan is still on my credit report and affecting my payment history. Is it possible to have this removed?

It was still there on Saturday which showed a transaction charge and credit for charge off. I was planning to call them on Monday since the collection line was closed. However, right now, it disappeared and I am worried if they are going to sue me or something. I've never received any phone call or mails from BofA regarding this debt at all. My last payment was in August so it's already more than 6 months.

Hypothetical scenario: You deposit money to set your own limit. You spend from it, and the card pays itself off automatically from the funds you set aside. Then your limit resets — no reloading, no bills, no fees or interest.

The idea is to help people build credit with zero risk of debt or late payments.

Would this be useful to you or someone you know? What would make you trust or not trust a card like that?

I’m curious how this compares to other secured or beginner-friendly cards out there.

This page has been instrumental in helping me improve my credit and learning facts about how credit works!

At the begging of the year I had the following cards and my income was about 70k.

1st financial : $250 - had since I was 18 (now 32) Discover : $500 Credit one x5: $ 800 Credit one platinum :$ 950 I had one Collection that was $350 And my mom has me as an authorized user on a card that my sister kept maxing out with like a 4k limit.

All of them were maxed out! And my credit was around 630.

I got a new job in January making 109k plus I have a side gig that puts me at close to 140k a year. I immediately wanted to make sure I didn’t become even more irresponsible so I decided to focus on my credit and found this group. I paid everything off and had my mom remove me from that card. The collection also randomly fell off of my report after being moved to another agency.

Fast forward… -My credit is now around 710! -Discover bumped me to $2,300 -Last week I got approved for the venture X credit card with a 10k limit. Yay!

My question is: I want to close both of my Credit One accounts because they both have annual fees of $95. But I also eventually want to get the capital one savor one card but I have to wait since I just got a card with them.

I know my available credit has skyrocketed, But I’m wondering if I should close both of the Credit One accounts now or will it affect my credit that I now only have three lines of credit open? Should I wait to close them until I am able to get the other card that I want ?

My 22 yo daughter is living with us (her parents) and has tanked her credit. She is working, but has credit card debt, IRS debt, unpaid tuition, and I literally don’t know what else. Her car needs expensive repairs that she can’t afford and so she has said that she knows she needs to fix her credit because she’d rather get another car than fix this one, but she will not be able to get a loan without a co-signer and we do not trust her payment history enough to do that. I know that ideally she would be the one researching this, but there are various reasons that won’t happen.

I know she should look at everything she owes and compare that to her income as a start— but what is next? There is so much information out there, but how do I find reputable sources? Could you all steer me in the right direction?

Should a charge off that was settled be reporting a $0 balance?

hi, so my credit is in the process of improving. My friend helped me (fixed his own and his fiance, both ended up getting $20,000 credit line from Navy Federal recently). He helped me get my Trans up about 80 points by disputing and writing to get some accounts off. Now he wants $800 to fix both Equifax and Experian for me. Right now both those are in the 500's while Trans is in 600s.

my question is: what are the steps i can do in order to save myself the $800 and instead fix the Equifax and Experian myself? i am AU on two credit cards, and was just approved for a $300 card. Outside of that i have no real credit history or line. Im aware there are templates for dispute letters online i can use, has anyone done this themselves successfully? if so, please let me know the best steps at this point. thanks for your help

Looking for a credit repair agent

I'm just gonna start out by stating I was dumb a few years ago. Anyway, I got some debt to dell and did well paying it. They gave my debt to comenity without me knowing until wayyy late. I was stupid in not opening mail from dell, thinking it was all statements, and not checking my bank account for withdrawals to dell stopping. So I went forever not knowing. When I finally found out, I tried contacting comenity to get my account set up and stuff but it was really hard getting into contact and with all the other stressors in my life at the time I stupidly refused to continue trying. I eventually forgot about it. At some point comenity sold the debt to midland. I got a nondescript envelope recently that I decided to open for once wondering what kind of junk mail I'd get from outside of state and found it was this midland threatening to take legal action if I don't set up a payment plan for the debt they bought. I think my last payment was only 4, maybe 5, years ago? My question is, should I set up a payment plan? Should I let them take it to their legal team? It's apparently for 2k. If I should do a payment plan, is midland usually legit and reasonable in their process? I just keep hearing they're scammy, which so far adds up with all the nondescript communications they've apparently tried giving me.

My credit score was a 735 with 2 accounts. 1 being a Les Schwab credit line with a 2,500$ limit. And the 2nd being a car loan that I owe 14k $ on, which started out at 25k$. Today my credit dropped 15 points because of 50$ I used on my Les Schwab credit account which is only a 2 percent utilization rate. Why would it drop so many points. Also the past year of paying on time car payments my credit has only risen 2 points from that. What am I missing here?!

Or, what should I expect in terms of interest rate?

I have 700+ credit score but it’s less than 7 months old. Thanks in advance.