- A real debt consolidation loan is where you get a loan from a bank or credit union to pay off all debts to have one lower payment per month. With $10,000 worth of defaults on your credit report, no lender is going to approve you for any sort of loan.
- You never want to get get on payment plans for debts that have already defaulted. Doing so will not help your credit at all as the damage is already done. Making monthly payments will not reactivate your accounts, Also, payment plans with debt collectors have a way of not turning out well.
- Chapter 7 is something that should be done in a true financial emergency. Filing for Chapter 7 is not free and it will cost $2,000 on average. This money would probably be better spent settling or paying down these debts.
- Non profit credit counseling such as NFCC is not going to help your situation. These services only provide help with credit card debts and nothing else. If you have credit cards that have already defaulted, you are much better off settling the debts for less.
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To summarize: You are much better off settling these debts for less, with all terms in writing before you pay. If you don't have the funds, then save your money and then try to settle. Settling these debts won't fix your credit, but paid does look better.
How to pay collection accounts:
https://sites.google.com/site/creditdebtadviceonline/how-to-pay-collection-accounts
- You need to understand that it takes time to heal seriously damaged credit. It could take one to two years to get back to average credit. No such thing as instant credit repair.
Consider getting a secured credit card to reestablish your credit history.
http://credit.about.com/od/creditcardbasics/a/proconsecured.htm