Expert: Chris Ebert - 9/29/2009

Question
QUESTION: My husband and I fell behind on credit card payments several years ago due to him being laid off and it has been haunting us ever since.  At the time I tried to work out payment plans with the creditors, but they did not give me any feasible options where I could keep a basic necessities such as shelter.  After 6 months, they wanted the whole debt paid in full.  We were just getting back on our feet with me working full time.  Needless to say, it has been hard and we eventually sold our home.  I pulled my credit report and there are a lot of items listed a charged off.  I know that we can still be sued for these items, but I'm not sure for how long.  Also, should we pay them off or wait for them to fall off?  I hesitate because I don't want harassing phone calls to begin again and we don't have a lot of expendable cash in which to pay the higher amounts that they say we now owe.  Or maybe we need to hire an attorney??  Any advice would be helpful.

ANSWER: What state do you live in?

Chris

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: state = Texas

Answer
Lori,

You can begin the cleanup process yourself. You can hire an attorney but I would stay away from credit repair companies. You are right to worry about whether or not you can be sued. In Texas, they have four years from the date of last payment to sue. After that the most they can do is blemish the credit and continue to contact you. They can not not post the item on your credit report until after 7.5 years.

If you are worried about being sued and you do not need credit right now, you could consider waiting to repair your credit until after the 4 years have passed.

If you decide that you want to begin the credit repair process our law firm has put together a video and forms for you to watch.  http://www.henleycreditlaw.com/diy-credit-repair/

If you have any further questions, just ask.

Chris