Getting Started with OC's & many lates

[justme]

Hi, just wanted to say HI & Im glad I found you all. My husband had a stroke 4 months ago & I did nothing when he was in the hospital but sit by his side. Stupid that I did not pay our all bills, but I didnt. Now im trying to recover from the damage I have done. I have read & read. Thought maybe I could get some advice from all the smart people here. Any help would be much appreciated! We have an AMEX that has been charged off. I wrote them a letter explaing to them what happened with Derek asking if I pay it off if we could get our card back. Also a Shell gas card(chg off) that I also wrote a letter too. The others are Cap1 V(400-) & Cap1MC(900-)(I know I know) and Orchard bank Visa(400-) Those three are 60-90 days late. So after reading for 4 days Im just wondering what to do? Should I just call them and see if they will work with me? Remove the negatives & work on payments? Im sorry if this is a dumb question & I know that everyone says there situation is different. But I really just didnt know what to do thus far.

Thanks for all your words of wisdom, and I just wanted to say, when Im here I dont feel alone.

My husband is pretty upset with me, hes been a cop for 25 years and his credit means a lot to him because of all the clearances he needs. I think it means more to him, maybe even more than his health.

Thanks again for listening,

Jess

[gypsie]

Hi and Welcome

I hope your husband has recovered, and I hope he understands your devotion to him during his bad health. Sometimes when we're worried about a loved one's health, it can be easy to "let the bills go", but don't worry, credit can be repaired.

I think you're on the right track with contacting the creditors. Just be upfront about your situation. AmEx has been known to give second chances as long as you're willing to pay.

For the COs, if they haven't been turned over to collections, you may find it easy to work out a payment plan with them and then you can avoid a nasty CA on your CR.

Go ahead and contact your other CCs to work out a payment plan. Chances are they are not going to be willing to remove any lates, but you can always send a "goodwill" letter a few months afterwards for the lates.

Good luck!