Posted on August 6, 2009 at 8:53 am I need to fix my debt asap, can anyone please give me some advice?? I am a soldier in the US Army. I have old charge-offs from 4 years ago (before I joined the army). 3 different collections accounts, all together, totaling around $30,000 (as per my credit report), 3 different debt collecting agencies. I have never been contacted by these agencies.I need to at least bring these accounts to a current payment status and be able to provide proof that I am making payments in order to obtain a secret clearance for a government job offer I recently received.Can anyone give me some detailed advice on how I can quickly bring this debt to a current payment status to acquire the secret clearance? I only have about $4000 saved up right now, but if I get this job I would be able to pay the debt off very quickly. I need advice, I need to pay off this debt so I can feel better about my life, I don't want to hide anymore. I know about the 7yr statute of limitations and I can't afford to wait another 3 yrs until it disappears off my credit report.

Posted on August 6, 2009 at 9:06 am Ok- do you have a copy of your credit report? If not you can get one at www.annualcreditreport.com for free (once per year). The first thing you would want to do is find out who is handling the debts for collection. Once you have done that, you can contact the collection agencies and ask them what the necessary minimum payment would be to bring the accounts current. It is important that you let them know you need to bring the accounts current- a lot of collectors will tell you to send in X amount of dollars just so they can get paid- but that amount is not enough to bring the account current and they continue reporting you as past due.

Posted on August 6, 2009 at 10:32 am I have that information....but should I call them on the phone?

Posted on August 6, 2009 at 11:18 am Yes, you can try calling on the phone to get that information. Then, have them send you something in writing that states the amount that is required to bring the account current. Have them acknoweldge in writing that once that payment is received they will report to the bureaus that the account is current. If you speak to someone who is rather nasty, just hang up the phone and call back to try and speak to someone different.

Posted on August 6, 2009 at 2:14 pm Steven is correct.  Get everything in writing.  Also I would recommend getting a binder to keep all this information together and organized.  The more organized you are, the better you will be prepared to deal with your creditors.  Good luck and keep us posted!