I have debts w/ cellphone companies, hospitals & credit cards & I cant afford 2 pay them anymor w/ a baby. I was wondering wat would happen if I stopped paying my debts & let them fade on my credit report?

you get phone calls, bad credit, and possibly your wages could be garnished. your best bet would be to set up payment arrangements. you can pay 5 dollars a month to each company that you owe, and it will save them from putting you into collections, and it will also save your credit.

They will not "fade on the report" you will be turned into collections and then taken to court which will cost more than paying them in the first place. Contact each company and tell them what is going on...most will work with you since they still want to be paid. If that doesn't work, contact a credit consolidation company to assist you.

they take you to court and garnish your wages. good luck! I'm in the same mess! :(

messes up your credit for a while. the phone calls and letters in the mail.

never had anything garnished though...

no, small payments won't save your credit. It is listed on your report as late payments and slow payments and your rating goes down. i did what you are thinking about doing and other than the phone calls it hasn't been bad for me but I have no desire to buy on credit again. i am done going in debt. they tried to take me to court and so far they have not gotten far bc I don't have the money to pay. "ya can't squeeze blood out of a turnip". If the calls get crazy tell them to stop or you will report them to the Federal Trade Commission. we all have to do what we have to do in this economy. family first. bills have to wait. they will charge off after a few years and after 7 yrs it won't show on your credit report.

if you set up payment arrangements with them and pay for say 6months, most will offer you a settlement amount.

Check your state statutes too. If FL after 4 yrs they can't get anything from you in court bc the statute of limitations is up

oh, that statute of limitation date is from the date of your last payment so don't let them talk you into making even a small payment. once you decide to stop paying, don't try to fix it by making small payments. Those small payments don't go toward the principle, it goes to their fees so what's the point of it anyway?

in response to anon's idea of payment plans for six months, most credit cards and debts can't be paid off in 6 months as it is so agreeing to pay something even harder (large payments for 6 months) is unrealistic to agree to. DO NOT agree to something you can't pay. They gave me 3 settlement options and all three were crazy. If I could afford the settlement payments I would have paid the bill each month! The settlement options reduce the total price but the payments are still too high to be able to handle.

if you do this is will screw your credit, it is easier to ruin your credit then it is to bring it back up. Try settling and if that doesnt work file a bankruptcy, theres one where it will wipe your debts and you can still pay them back in your time and once you pay it all back it goes off your credit, my dad just did this and he says it saved him from having a hrorrible credit for the rest of his life