IF YOU are like a lot of people who have old, unpaid debts, collection accounts and judgments from their past that they don’t even remember, you may feel that it is too late to get a fresh start and rebuild your credit. Over the years, I have met a lot of people in this situation. At one point in their lives, for whatever reason they failed to live up to their financial responsibilities and this has resulted in delinquency and legal actions being filed by creditors against them. A lot of them have simply gone through a difficult time in life such as a divorce, a failing business, sickness, disability, unemployment or foreclosure. This also happens to a lot of young people who know very little or nothing about managing debt and credit when they are just starting out in life.
Years later, things have changed for the better and these people have now come to some level of financial stability in their lives. They may now have a good-paying job and perhaps have started seriously thinking about their financial future. So they decide to look at their credit report and are shocked to see that their debts have grown much larger after years of being ignored with the added interest, late fees and perhaps even collection costs. That’s when they finally realize that if they had just taken care of these debts years ago when they had the chance, maybe their financial situation could have been much better by now. How about you? Do you have debts from your past that are still haunting you to this very day? Are these old debts robbing you of the opportunity to rebuild your finances and your credit? Some people can’t even open a checking account because they are afraid of creditors finding out where they bank. The feel like a criminal always hiding from their creditors and are hoping that no one ever finds out about their past debt problems. Their greatest fear is that creditors may come back with a lawsuit, a judgment or a wage garnishment. Listen to me: Life doesn’t have to be like this for you. Don’t lose hope. If you are determined to turn your situation around for the better, there is always a solution to debt problems.
Unfortunately, the experience I described above may be the very “jolt” that most people need to finally wake up and do something about their situation. As I always tell people, debt problems only tend to get worse if they are ignored. The best time to take care of them is now, not later. If you ignore them, be ready for the consequences later. Your debt problems will not go away on their own. You need to do something about them.
Creditors, of course, have to file a lawsuit (and a lot of them do in order to preserve their collection rights) within what is called the Statute of Limitations period in order for them to enforce their state remedy in collecting on a debt that you owe. However, judgments in California are good for 10 years and they can also be renewed after that time period. So, not because you haven’t heard from a creditor for years does it necessarily mean that the debt has gone away for good.
Most of the time, I see people in my office who have old debts from the past that they could and SHOULD have taken care of years ago. Had these people done something about their problem sooner, they would have been in a much, much better position today. Frankly, I am puzzled about this and often wonder why these people waited so long to find a solution. If you are currently in debt and can’t pay, remember that sooner or later, you would have to face your creditors. Don’t wait until they sue you, garnish your wages and/or take your property. Take action before it’s too late
If you are in debt trouble and would like to find out what your options are, please call our office at Toll-Free 1-866-477-7772. We offer a free consultation and provide you an in-depth analysis of your situation and will recommend possible solutions. We have offices located in Glendale, Cerritos, West Covina and Valencia.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Midweek June 20 – 22,, 2012 MDWK Sec. B pg.3)
