My Credit History

Letter to “Ask Leon”

Hello, I have paid off all of my bills but 3 even though most of them I am settled for the settlement offer which is much cheaper then the bill. These 3 bills add up to about 5,000.00. My question is do u think bankruptcy is necessary. If I pay my bills off myself, how long will it take to build my credit back up? I want to buy a house but I know if I go looking now they will laugh in my face. I made to many mistakes when I was younger my husband and I both.

Leon Says…

Frankly, I am rather puzzled. If you are thinking about bankruptcy, why did you already pay out any money for settlements? It sounds like your just threw that money away.

If you are in the market to buy a home, I would guess that your present financial position is pretty good? If so, you don’t need a bankruptcy case to handle $5000 of debts. Maybe there’s more to this that you haven’t explained?