“Dear Steve,
My goal is to go to law school within the next two years. However, I have really bad credit.
I have about 5 or 6 charged-off accounts on my credit report, and right now I’m working on paying off these accounts.
Now, the reason I’m asking this question is because I don’t have any money saved up for law school, so obviously I will have to take out loans. Federal loans won’t cover all my tuition, so I would have to apply for personal loans as well.
I have a couple of questions.
1) What advise can you give me in terms of applying for loans? should I wait a little longer (longer than two years, although I really don’t want to do this, but if it is the only way, I would consider it) to rebuild my credit?
2) Would you advise me to pay these charged-off accounts in full? Or should I just make an offer to pay a lump sum to them that is not the full amount? Can either scenario help my credit score?
Thanks so much!
Ella”
The Answer:
Dear Ella,
You can either settle the debts or pay them off in full. You could even tackle them with bankruptcy. Just do something to close the door on those old debts. Once you do that then follow my guide to rebuild your credit.
If you do this and you are going for government backed student loans I don’t see this issue holding you back. Have fun in law school.
Please update me on your progress by posting updates here in the comments section of your question. I’m very interested in how this works out for you.
If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free.