Where do I go from here? SoL?

[tstein]

Here are the details:

State = Texas (SoL = 4 years?) - Dallas Area (McKinney)
Unsecured debt - $29,000 - All unpaid since no later than 2004.
Secured debt - $35,000 - Paid on time or deferred (EDU loans)
Income - $80k/yr - Job is steady

Most accounts have been charged off and sold to other companies. I'm confused about the SoL laws. For example, I have one account that was last reported in 01/2005, but the status details say "This account is scheduled to continue on record until Mar 2011).

I'm now 29 and I've been in a good steady job, but my credit makes travel difficult (I need about $10k limit badly). I ignored the problem and it doesn't seem to be going away even though I thought SoL would have kicked in, so I've got to do something now.

1) Do real face to face "credit counselors" exist? I can't find one...maybe I'm looking in the wrong place. I'm looking for someone who I can pay to advise me, help settle debts, generally handle my finances since I can't do it very well.

2) Why isn't SoL resulting in old accounts being removed from my reports? For example, an account that was charged off in 2003 should disappear no?

3) When these accounts get "re-sold" to an agency, the Status Details on my experian report seems to reset the SoL date? IE: Company purchased credit in 07/2006 and says "This account is scheduled to continue on record until Jul 2010". Is this going to continue?

I appreciate any help
Phil

[racer72]

1. You need a financial advisor, not a credit counselor. They are not free, it will cost you. The right one can do much more for you than consumer credit counseling can.

2. The statute of limitations has absolutely nothing to do with how long a debt can be reported to your credit report. Debts can be listed on your credit report for 7 years from the date of last activity. This can also include transfer of the debt from one debtor to another. The statute of limitations applies to how long a creditor can legally enforce a debtor agreement on the debtor, and this is generally from the date that an account is charged off. The statute of limitations is also only a positive defense to a legal claim, it does not stop a creditor from making collection attempts.

3. Answered in #2.

Avoid Credit Repair Agencies!!!

A financial advisor is good for the future, especially if you are diving back into the debt pool, as stated for your job.

However, you also need to start looking into ways of clearing up your credit report. There are tricks of the trade, sort of speak, letters you can write to dispute the entries to the CA, etc. I think NOLA publishes some books on this matter and there are websites, so do some searches.

You can begin repairing your credit even in a bankruptcy within 3 to 4 years. I would post some helpful web links, but not sure of the forum rules here. Search on Google.

[SAK2000]

You can post those websites and please do. I would like to research them.

Thanks!