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Writer's pictureRobert Weed

Because he tried to settle his debts, Jose needs mom as a cosigner

Jose is a disabled vet. He has a good job as a Federal contractor. Plus he gets a little from the VA. But he needed his mom to cosign to get and car and rent an apartment.


What's the problem? He got into financial trouble while he was still in the service. And instead of filing bankruptcy, he's spent the last four years settling up.


Jose has cleared up five small "charge-offs." Does that help?


There are weasel-word posts on the internet that tell you your credit score doesn't go up "right away." That's right.


Lawyers who do credit report law tell me paying a charge off can actually make your score to go down! That's because paying a charge-off re-dates that account. Your credit report shows the date of last activity on each account. The older the date, the less it weighs on your credit score. Your charge off may be three or four years old, so it has very little weight against your score. When you pay, then there's a paid charge-off that's brand new. "Paid" of course helps, but "charge-off" hurts. So it's a close thing whether your score goes up or goes down.


What's hurting Jose's credit score even more is his account with Navy Federal. Jose worked out a payment agreement with Navy Fed and has been making payment for four years. Making those payments every month really hurting his score!


Every month Navy is telling the credit bureaus that Jose made a partial payment on a charged off debt. So that charge-off keeping hitting his credit every month, every month, every month.


If Jose had filed bankruptcy four years ago, he'd be a homeowner today. Because he's tried to settle up his debts, he needs his mom to co-sign on his apartment.



If Jose had filed bankruptcy four years ago, he'd be a homeowner today. Because he's tried to settle up his debts, he needs his mom to co-sign on his apartment.






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