Hi All,
First - I appreciate anyone taking the time to read my post here! I'm asking anyone with any advice on how to handle my credit card debt situation to please post. I'm under 30, educated, and enslaved to a credit card that I maxed out while unemployed for under a year... not by choice, either.
Here's the short and narrow:
I've got credit card debt owed to one card in the amount of $11,500. I've had this credit card since 2007 and only learned about it while studying my credit report very closely in April 2016. After I realized I had the card, I recognized I had 0% interest left on it for 18 months - and the card had an $11,500 credit limit - all I wanted to do was transfer a $400 balance from another credit card to that one and pay that card off.
Unfortunately life took a very unexpected turn. I decided to leave a unhealthy situation with a former spouse and that left me with no money and no employment when doing so. The idea was that I'd get a job right away. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find employment in the state of California after i was denied a job due to erroneous information found on my background report. This took a while to get dismissed - but I was sure to get it there.
In the time j took to get this error fixed, I was honestly in a dark place. I had no where to live, no money, a four year degree - yet denied a job working in a warehouse in Southern California for reasons out of my control. The card spending continued and in under a year, I had gotten myself into more debt with one card than I could possibly imagine between hotel stays, and the other fast solutions I kept thinking would pay off. The only problem is that they didn't.
Eventually I moved back to my where my roots are - Minnesota. I found a great job, and I've continued to pay $400 a month on this card that has a 15% interest rate and is maxed out at $11,500 regardless of my timely monthly payments and that I'm not using the card.
I'm 28.
I don't want to file for bankruptcy over this - it'll be years before I'll ever get back on my feet truly if I do that. I don't own a home even yet - and I'm driving a very modest car. Right now I'm out of a job, but I'll find a way to get back on my feet and ensure my monthly payments are made. But the interest is $175 a month! I see no end in sight.
Solutions?
Personal loan - won't work due to this card tanking my credit score down to well below 600, but over 500. Previously at a 700 before the card.
I don't know what to do? Can anybody offer any advice for the young person trying to find the best solution out of this?
The credit card company is Capital One. My interest rate is 15% APR (variable). The card was taken out pretty much by my dad when I was 18 and never used until I turned 27. This is why I didn't even really realize I had it until 27 years of age. I don't want him in trouble for credit card fraud either. I was aware that he was doing it - just not that it would end up doing this to my life.
I'm trying to qualify for a lot as I'm getting to that age where credit really matters, and I don't see any way out.
Recommendations on best company to set me up on a program that will basically freeze the card at a fixed interest rate (without closing the account which will negatively hinder my credit score even more) given the situation that I'm in?
Please educate me if there's anything else out there that could help with this situation!
Any wise advice, and information of any kind that could help me is much appreciated.
Thank you again for reading.
Submitted April 23, 2017 at 01:28AM by JossCBossC http://ift.tt/2ohbVi4
