Nadia
“Dear Steve,
I am 24, I moved to Oklahoma in December of 08, it took me a while to find a good job. I have been working steadily now for about 4 months and trying to get back on track.
I planned on going to school and therefore being able to get in-school deferment on my student loans, but with my work schedule I am unable to go to school.
I have credit card payments, student loans, and some medical bills that I am trying to pay, along with rent, and other necessities. I do not go out, or spend money on anything else, I am trying to get a second job, and I think I will have an interview next week.
Until I get extra money rolling in, what can I tell the bill collecters that keep calling? I do not have money to pay all of them every month. I did get some economic hardship deferments on my student loans, but they only last for 3 months and not all of them accepted me for deferment. I just want to work and pay my bills. I am trying, but its just not good enough for the people that want money from me.
Is there anything I can do to get the bill collectors off my back for a few months?
Nadia”
Dear Nadia,
Yes, it is possible to hide from the bill collectors. In fact I wrote about how to do this before. Read “How to Hide From Debt Collection, the Debt Collector, and Creditors.”
Hiding from the debt collector, creditors, and collection company might seem like a great solution, but it’s not usually. The only time I think you should hide is when you are just mentally exhausted, can’t cope and need a brain break.
Otherwise, hiding does nothing to change the situation. It’s a bit like closing the windows with people screaming at you outside. You might not be able to hear them anymore but that doesn’t mean they are not still outside, wanting to yell at you.
If you need to hide, do it, but the better approach is to deal with the situation. It is what it is.
Hiding does not stop bad things from happening, like being sued. So the more productive approach is to find a way to deal with the creditors and debt collectors in a way that works better for you.
The best thing you can do is to be honest with your creditors about your situation, don’t make any payment promises you can’t meet, and if you are sued by a creditor, it is not the end of the world.
Keep working your plan to bring in additional income and once you do that then we can go back and deal with the creditors to put together a repayment plan to help you to get out of debt.
You are not alone. I'm here to help. There is no need to suffer in silence. We can get through this. Tomorrow can be better than today. Don't give up.
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I got two charged off US bank credit cards, totalling about $24,000. They got charged off in October of 2009 (from what I saw on my credit report). I had these accounts with a debt consolidator but I got removed from the program as I could not keep up with the payments. I used the debt consolidator’s company address as my home address (they gave me permission to do so). US Bank has the still debt consolidator’s address, and I never got it changed back to my own. I am sure US bank is still sending correspondence to the debt consolidator’s address but the debt consolidator never sent anything to me. What should I do..should I wait for US Bank to eventually find me or should I fess up to them now and handle this?
KB,
Hiding doesn’t really solve anything. In fact it can easily make it worse. For all you know you’ve been sued over these debts but the consolidator just threw it away and didn’t tell you since you are no longer a client.
I think you should get a copy of your consolidated credit report and find out what the status of these debts is. It is important to get a consolidated credit report to see how they are reported on all three credit bureaus. The credit report will have the address and contact information for the entity that now owns the debts.
The situation is a bit like this, turning your back to the house on fire doe not make it not be on fire. Get some more information and let’s tackle this together.
Big hug.
Steve
I checked Equifax and these debts did not even appear on there. Experian is the one that showed these debts charged off in October. I checked both Equifax and Experian just last week and it did not show any liens, judgements, public notices, etc. I did not check transunion yet. But then you would think if US Bank was so desperate to get in contact with me they would have used any other address they see on my credit report.
I currently have a freeze on my credit file (with all 3 bureaus) due to an identity theft about two years ago. I can only view my credit report via mail request.
So after I look at my Transunion report, let me know how I should handle this.