4 Tips to Rebuild Your Credit After Settling Debt with Expert Melinda Carrera

If you need help improving your credit, visit Melinda’s website at StreetFinancial.net for more information.

Rebuilding your credit is possible, even after big mistakes

If your credit score is looking less than stellar after years of late payments or debt collection, don’t give up. With the right steps and consistent credit repair strategies, you can turn things around.

Rebuilding starts with understanding how your credit report works and being willing to take small, regular, persistent steps to improve it. If you're starting from scratch or just trying to recover after major financial setbacks, there are proven strategies to help you regain control.

Tip 1: Remove errors and clean up your personal information

One of the first things to do is check the personal information listed on your credit report. Outdated addresses, old phone numbers, and even misspelled names can cause confusion when credit bureaus attempt to verify account data. Cleaning up these entries makes it easier to dispute and remove negative items.

According to consumer advocacy research, as many as 79% of credit reports contain errors. Even the CFPB reports that incorrect or outdated information remains one of the top reasons people file credit disputes.These mistakes can result in duplicate accounts or missed updates that continue to hurt your score.

Start by reviewing your reports from all three major credit bureaus, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Remove inaccurate personal details and prepare to dispute any errors that are dragging down your score. Free credit dispute tools or professional credit services can help you get started.

Tip 2: Use pay-for-delete when settling accounts

If you're working to settle outstanding debts, try to negotiate more than just a reduced balance. A pay-for-delete agreement means the creditor or collector agrees to remove the account from your credit report once payment is made. This type of agreement isn't guaranteed, but it’s often possible, especially if you're paying in full or using a debt negotiation tool like SoloSettle.

The key is to get the agreement in writing before sending payment. Even partial payments may qualify for deletion if the terms are clearly documented. You may even be able to negotiate to pay off the debt at a much lower amount so it’s always worth a try when doing a pay-for-delete.

Bonus tip: Just because an account disappears from one credit report doesn’t mean it’s gone from all three. Always double-check Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion to confirm the item has been fully removed.

Tip 3: Start building new credit, even without a credit card

You don’t need a traditional credit card or large loan to rebuild your score. There are modern tools, like phone-based credit apps and credit-builder loans, that report positive payment history to the credit bureaus.

Some helpful strategies include:

• Becoming an authorized user on a responsible friend or family member’s credit card
• Keeping your credit utilization below 30% on all open accounts
• Paying all bills on time, or at the very least, no more than 30 days late.

These steps help improve your credit mix, payment history, and overall score, even if you're starting small.

Tip 4: Monitor your credit report while you rebuild

Keeping track of your credit progress is essential. Monitor your reports monthly to confirm that disputes are being processed, accounts are reporting accurately, and no new errors have appeared.

You can access free reports through annualcreditreport.com, or use paid monitoring tools for more frequent updates.

Watch out for issues like:

• Accounts that still show as open after being paid or settled
• Lawsuit entries that remain after a case has been dismissed
• Charge-offs that should have aged off after seven years

How is your credit score calculated?

If you want to rebuild your credit, you need to understand how your credit score is calculated. Credit scores aren't random, they're based on five specific categories, each weighted by its impact on your overall score. Knowing where to focus your energy can help you see results faster.

35% Payment history

This is the single biggest factor in your credit score. Credit scoring models look at whether you’ve paid your bills on time. Even one missed payment over 30 days late can cause a noticeable drop. It takes 24 on-time payments to reverse the damage of a single late payment, so keeping all accounts current, and never letting anything hit that 30-day late mark, should be your top priority.

30% Credit utilization

Utilization is the ratio of your credit card balances to your credit limits. Try to keep it below 30%, and ideally below 10%, on every card. High utilization tells lenders you may be overextended, while lower ratios signal responsible credit use.

15% Credit mix

Lenders want to see that you can handle different types of credit. That includes revolving accounts like credit cards and installment loans like auto or student loans. A healthy mix shows you're capable of managing varied financial responsibilities.

10 % New inquiries

Hard inquiries, like when you apply for a new credit card or loan, can temporarily reduce your score. Multiple inquiries in a short period may raise red flags, so space out your applications and avoid unnecessary credit checks.

10% Length of credit history

The longer your accounts have been open, the better. Credit scoring models reward age and consistency. That’s why it's often better to keep older accounts open, even if you don’t use them often. Ideally, your average credit age should be seven years or more.

Understanding these five categories gives you a clear roadmap for where to start and how to prioritize your efforts while rebuilding.

You don’t need perfect credit to make progress

You don’t need to be perfect to make progress. Rebuilding credit doesn’t require flawless finances, it just requires consistency, strategy, and a willingness to take action. Even if you’re still working to pay off debts or manage active accounts, you can start boosting your credit right away.

If you've recently been sued, your first step is to respond to the lawsuit. Once that’s handled, you can begin the process of cleaning up your credit report. Dispute old accounts, request pay-for-delete where possible, and start building new positive credit activity.

Most people who follow these steps begin to see improvement in 3–6 months. With the right plan, you can rebuild your financial life faster than you think.

Want more tips on rebuilding credit? Check out Melinda’s episode “How I Rebuilt My Credit After Debt with Expert Melinda Carrera” on The Debt Hotline Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.

Need one-on-one help? Melinda offers credit consults through Street Financial, and you can find her on Instagram and TikTok at @MelMoneyGal.

Want to settle debt and rebuild at the same time? Try SoloSettle today.

Hannah (00:36):

Hello everyone. Welcome to the Debt Hotline. My name is Hannah. I am with Team Solo and very excited about the topic that we're going to be discussing as well as our special guest. Wanted to take a moment to introduce her and also the topic. We're going to be talking about how I rebuilt my credit after debt. Our guest's name is Melinda Carrera and I wanted to take a moment to read a bio about her. Melinda is a credit expert and owner of Street Financial. She wants faced poor credit and overwhelming debt herself, and she decided to turn her own financial struggles into her greatest strength by working super diligently to raise her credit score into the high seven hundreds. She not only transformed her own life, but also discovered a passion for helping others do the same. So today she uses her firsthand experience and years of advising clients to guide individuals through credit repair, debt resolution, and building long-term financial health. Melinda's mission is simple. She wants to show people that no matter your starting point, you can rebuild your credit and reclaim your financial freedom, and that's what she does at Street Financial. So Melinda, can you go ahead and tell us if I missed anything? Tell us a little bit more about yourself and welcome to the Debt hotline.

Melinda Carrera (01:52):

Of course. My pleasure. So you pretty much hit everything on point. Like Hannah said, I once experienced terrible credit and I just wanted out of that situation. I've always had a passion for finances. I worked in the banking industry for over 10 years prior to even starting credit repair. But even with that extensive banking history, I still was not taught how to properly manage my credit, how to properly get good credit cards. So I personally didn't even know, even though I had such a long extensive history with banking. So to me I felt like it was something that I had to learn on my own. But also this was something that I realized people don't really teach in certain unless you have family that's going to teach you. They don't really teach this in school. And my mom, she didn't have the education and she didn't teach me, so I had to learn the hard way.

But once I was able to really utilize my credit and really get credit cards that make sense for me and really start to get the benefits of having good credit, I just got addicted. And it's really not that hard. It's not as hard as it sounds because we have so many rights and it's really just sometimes just a phone call. So I share that with people. I share that with thousands of people so far, and I just really want to help so many people because I once experienced bad credit and having good credit is just such a world of a difference.

Hannah (03:28):

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I want to dig a little deeper if you don't mind, and just say that we're grateful to have you on the show and to talk about your own experience, and I really admire that you are doing this for a living, trying to help people get out of the situation that you were once in yourself. So can you tell us a little bit more about exactly what you do at Street Financial? And I'm just going to go ahead and share also your website. It's www street financial.net for anyone who's interested in learning more. Can you tell us what you do with Street Financial? Exactly.

Melinda Carrera (04:07):

So a lot of times people don't really understand their credit. I kind of break it down, it's knowledge that is out there, but there's just so much information and trying to collect all of this different information. And I break things down so I can look at your credit report. Some people may have poor credit due to something really small and they may be getting declined because they may have too many addresses. Your scores may be 800 credit score, but you're still getting declined. But you may just have too many addresses, phone numbers, employers, that personal information, it draws a red flag to lenders and creditors because you don't look at stable as you don't look at stable. So it might be something small like that, or there might be situations where, hey, your credit is just not the best because you've been applying for too many things.

Don't apply for anything for six months and you'll start getting approvals. So it's just small things breaking down their credit report. I also have letters that like if you have collections on your credit report, sometimes those collections are well past seven years. Those by law don't necessarily need to be on your credit report. So just looking at your credit report telling you what you need to do to have better credit. A lot of people come to me because they're either getting denials or they know that they have bad credit because there are people who have good credit scores that are still getting denials, still not getting good rates. And that really your credit score. Having a high credit score means nothing if you're not going to get approvals are good rates. So also also educate people because having a high score is not the most important thing. Having a good quality credit report is what is most important. So it's the education piece, reading their credit report to them and then giving them tips on how they can get negative accounts off their credit report. Sometimes settling accounts and having them removed from your credit report, you can still pay a debt and it not be on your credit report and whatever's not on your credit report, you legally do not have to disclose when applying for credit cards or any type of lending. So just basically putting people in a better credit situation.

Hannah (06:27):

I love that. And can you tell us a little bit more about your own personal experience with rebuilding your credit? I know that there were some circumstances in your past where you had fallen into some debt struggles. Can you tell us a little bit about that debt that you had and what you did to resolve it and then rebuild from there?

Melinda Carrera (06:46):

Yeah, I did pay per deletes. Pay per deletes are amazing because basically you're paying for the debt, but you're making an agreement with them and you're telling them that you will pay for it. If they delete it from your credit report, a lot of times they will delete it from your credit report, but they're not going to do it if you don't ask. So that was something that helped me and it wasn't necessarily, I still had to pay the debts off. However, I was able to negotiate a lot of them for a way lower amount. One of the biggest debts that I had was a $4,000 debt that I was able to negotiate for $700. So it's doable. It's not that it's not an end all, you really have to just advocate for yourself. You have to know your rights. And that's really one of my things that I did was I just started negotiating all of my debts first.

That's the first thing I did. I also started rebuilding credit. There is 20, well back then it was 2019, but even then in 2019 you don't have to go the traditional banking route and get a secured card and use your own money. I didn't have the money at the time to put $300 down on a credit card. There's credit cards now where you can get kickoff, you can go on your smartphone, go to your app store and type in credit, and there's going to be a list of credit building apps that could build your credit. So going the traditional banking route is not always good for you in that time. If you don't have the funds to do that, you shouldn't have to wait and have your credit struggle for you to start building credit where you can literally start building credit from your phone.

Hannah (08:27):

Yeah. So it sounds like you had some several, maybe different lines of debt and you contacted the credit bureaus and then the collectors or whoever it was that you had to, and you negotiated with them to do a pay per delete. Can you tell us a little bit more about what kind of debts they were?

Melinda Carrera (08:44):

Yeah, I know I had a Capital One credit card and with that one I did a pay per delete. I can't remember if it was Experian or Equifax, it was one of those, but it came off a TransUnion and it came off another bureau, but it stayed on either Equifax or Experian. And so with that, once you do your paper delete, you pay them, they're not going to want to deal with you anymore. They're not going to be as helpful once you're done paying them. However, I have the proof that I paid it, so now I got to contact the bureaus for them to remove it because they agreed that they removed it and there's proof that they already removed it from TransUnion. So it was TransUnion and another bureau, I want to say it was Equifax and it remained on Experian. They didn't do exactly what they said that they were going to do, but I had proof you always, always get proof, never do a paper delete without getting proof or at least an email.

So that was part of where I, as far as contacting, I contacted them. I was constantly in contact with them at that point. I think they were tired of me, but you do have to stay on it. I was constantly contacting them just to let them know like, Hey, I refreshed my credit report, I still see it reporting on Experian and this is supposed to be off my Experian. It already came off of my Equifax and TransUnion. So just staying on top of it because they can say that they'll do it and sometimes they don't do it, so you have to call back.

Hannah (10:15):

Yeah, it makes me think of a personal situation. So my husband a couple of years ago had his identity stolen, someone found his ID and stole it and went on a shopping spree with his information. They opened up a bunch of credit card accounts, applied for a bunch of loans. I think they stole a car actually.

Melinda Carrera (10:36):

Wow.

Hannah (10:37):

They rented a car from Enterprise and then never returned it. So anyway, that was a fun, crazy journey and we learned a lot through it. But one of the things that we had to do is keep a spreadsheet of all of the different credit applications and loan applications and things that the person bought under his name, and then we had to contact the bureaus, get his credit frozen so that they couldn't run it anymore. And then we had to dispute all of those fraudulent applications and that was crazy. But we really, I think one thing about building credit is you do have to be fairly proactive, especially if you're trying to get a disputed debt off of your report or if you've done a pay for delete, you have to contact the bureaus and you have to be very proactive, very, maybe even a little bit annoying to make sure that they hold their side of the bargain, I guess, and get those things removed. But yeah, that's crazy. So do you remember what it was like Melinda, for you to negotiate with Capital One? It sounds like you had a Capital One credit card. What was it like having that conversation with them to say, Hey, if I can pay this off, will you remove it from my credit report? What was that conversation like?

Melinda Carrera (11:57):

I think Capital One was pretty easy. I want to say they were pretty easy. I had a one main loan account. They were pretty difficult, but Capital One was pretty, I want to say they split the debt in half. They were pretty easy to work with. One Main was one of the creditors where I know that they told me that they could not negotiate, and then I remember a couple of weeks later we were able to negotiate. So one main was one of those ones where they were only going down like a couple hundred dollars and then somehow ended up taking off a thousand dollars off of a $3,000 debt. So you just have to stay at it. You'll know once you hit your bottom line, if they're calling you back a couple days later, then they're still wanting to work with you like, oh, you know what, I got an approval. So they really want to just close out those debts because they buy these debts for pennies sometimes. So they just want the money.

Hannah (13:01):

And if you're a consumer and you're willing to pay something, don't give up and don't expect them to accept your first offer of whatever you can pay to settle the debt. It may take several rounds of negotiating, lots of phone calls, et cetera, to be able to find an agreement. At Solo, we have a tool called SoloSettle that can help you negotiate with creditors and debt collectors and attorneys depending on your debt situation, if you've been sued or even before you've been sued. SoloSettle can help you negotiate online digitally so you can kind of skip those phone calls and move everything to a digital platform, negotiate your debts down and settle for less. And then we also help you protect your legal rights while doing so. If for anyone interested in doing something similar to what Melinda did where you settle your debt for less, check us out@Solosuit.com. And then again, I just wanted to share for anyone who's interested in learning more about credit, breaking down your credit report or just needing some general information, educational resources, you can contact Melinda. Her website is ww dot street financial.net. So with that being said, we had several people submit questions beforehand and I wanted to share some of those questions with you, Melinda, and get your thoughts as a credit expert. So first things first, we actually had someone submit a video. This is from a woman named Juanita

Debt Hotline Guest: Juanita (14:28):

Hello, how are you? My name is Juanita Peral, and my question to you is, if you're being sued by a credit card company and you had to appear in court and they did not, is they not obligated to have to take this off of your credit report or does it say on your credit report

Melinda Carrera (14:48):

They are not obligated to do anything, It may or it may not come off, but they're not obligated to do anything.

Hannah (14:57):

And so for some negotiating, if you have been sued for credit card debt and you're trying to settle the debt, you could as part of negotiating, ask them to remove it from your credit. But like you said, Melinda, they're not obligated to do anything unless it's explicitly written in your agreement. I would say

Melinda Carrera (15:18):

You can always fight. You have a stronger case since they didn't show up. But as far as an obligation, they're not obligated. And like Hannah said, it has to be stated there, which I don't know if it would be stated or not, but they're not obligated unless it's stated.

Hannah (15:36):

Yeah, according to my understanding, if you're in a legal battle and you're trying to settle and get the lawsuit dismissed as part of the agreement that would be filed within the court case and you're trying to get it removed from your credit report, you would need to negotiate that as part of your agreement. Yeah. Oh, and I also wanted to just give a quick disclaimer and say that while Melinda is a credit expert and we help people navigate legal issues at Solo, neither of us are attorneys. So please don't take any of this as legal advice or our answers don't form an attorney-client relationship, but we do have a lot of experience navigating these issues. And so hopefully that answer helps you, Juanita. Okay, next question. Let's see,

Melinda Carrera (16:23):

Just real quick for Juanita, I definitely give it a try though. Definitely contact the bureaus and give it a try.

Hannah (16:30):

Yeah, I agree. What's the worst that could happen? They say no and nothing changes. Or maybe if you're lucky it could get removed, that'd be awesome. Alright, our next question is from Irene in South Carolina. Irene says, I'm trying to buy a house and my credit score is 486. How can I get my credit score up so I can get a mortgage?

Melinda Carrera (16:56):

So it all depends on your actual credit. There may be situations, there might be a situation where you can just become an authorized user and your score may jump up. It all depends on what it is that your credit is lacking. So credit is measured in five categories. It's measured in 35, 30, 15, 10, 10. So if you're missing with, if your credit is down due to payments, like late payments, then that will take two years of on-time payments to remove the damage of one late payment. So if that's the case, you don't want to dispute late payments. If it's utilization, that means you just need to pay your balances down preferably to 30%. If it's inquiries, too many inquiries, recent inquiries, so too much new credit, then you can go ahead and call the credit bureaus and whatever is not. If you have inquiries on your credit report that are not tied to anything, you can go ahead and dispute those off your credit report.

It really depends. It's kind of hard to say without looking at your actual credit report, Irene, but I would suggest that you have somebody look at your credit report to see exactly or myself to see exactly where it is that your credit is struggling. Because if it's something simple like an authorized user or if it's something simple where you can just remove inquiries or it could be something where you may just need to build credit where I mentioned it's 2025, you can go on your app store and build credit from your phone. There's the credit ai, there's kickoff. I recommend credit ai. If you need a credit card, that's an amazing credit card where it can basically boost your score anywhere. And I have a video on my TikTok has over a million views and I talk about credit AI and there's thousands of comments who have people who've got over a hundred point increase. It's a credit card that you can get right from your phone, but it does take three months to start reporting on your credit report.

Hannah (18:57):

And can you say that again? It's credit ai.

Melinda Carrera (19:00):

Yeah, credit ai. So what it is, it's a debit. It's basically a bank account, but it reports to the credit bureaus as a credit card. It's the only bank account that does that.

Hannah (19:14):

And how exactly does that work? So it reports how much money is in your bank account or what does

Melinda Carrera (19:20):

I honestly, it's an ai, think it's been around since 2019. I have a video. It's my most popular video on my TikTok basically, and it sounds too good to be true, but it's a bank account that reports to all three bureaus as a $1,500 trade line, like you got approved, it looks like you went and got approved for $1,500 as a credit card. I don't know how it does it. It just does it. It's an AI thing. I don't know if it tricks the credit bureaus to looking like you got $1,500, but it's a legit card. It's been around for a long time. I think it came out in 2019. It's one of the first credit cards that I got to start rebuilding my credit back and it's still positively reporting every single month. So that's something you can get. There's kickoff where it's like a small fee every single month. They have kickoff plus where you can pay $20 a month, but then you get the money that's accumulated on the backend. There's so many other credit cards, our creditors that you can get to rebuild your credit backup if she needs that. You have to see where your credit is struggling.

Hannah (20:27):

Yeah, and you mentioned the breakdown of the percentage that goes into the algorithm that the credit bureaus use to determine your credit score, right?

Melinda Carrera (20:39):

Yes.

Hannah (20:39):

Can you tell us again the breakdown, what percentage and then what the category is?

Melinda Carrera (20:47):

Yes. So it's 35, 30 15, 10 and 10.

35% is going to be payment history. That's the biggest bucket. So anytime you miss a payment, your score can drop anywhere from 10 to a hundred points, and it takes two years of on-time payments to reverse the damage of one single late payment. So you don't want to be late. I mean, you can honestly be late every single month. You don't want to be more than 30 days late. Let me rephrase that. After you're 30 days late, that's when it affects your credit. If you know you're going to be late, make arrangements because it's the most damaging thing to a credit report. If that's the case, if late payments are hurting, then you have to dispute those late payments. But I'm going to be honest with you, anything that's older than six months, they are more difficult to come off. The sooner you get on it to dispute 'em, the easier it is for them to be updated. They don't necessarily get deleted. That gets updated.

The next one is 30%. That's going to be utilization. So when you have a credit card and you're maxing it out, then that's going to hurt your utilization. So you want to stay below 30% on that, and really all you have to do is pay attention to your reporting date. So your credit card reports one time a month, as long as your utilization is down on that day that it reports, you can have it maxed out all month long unless that day you want to make sure it's down, that it reports, especially if you are trying to get a mortgage or something like that, car, anything like that, make sure you know your reporting date.

The next one is going to be 15% is going to be credit mix. So you have to show revolving and installment. Revolving is going to be anything that is like a credit card or a credit line or installment is going to be anything with an end date. So personal loan, student loan, auto loan, you have to be able to show that you're capable of handling both type of accounts. So credit mix.

10% is going to be inquiries, so you don't want to have too much new credit or you don't want to be applying for too many things. I'm sorry, not new credit. Applying for too many things. So inquiries is 10% and the other 10% is going to be history. So you want to make sure that you have at least seven years history, and the way to fix that is you can just become an authorized user on somebody that has good credit because you want to be selective as well. You don't want to just become an authorized user on anybody's account.

Hannah (23:11):

Super helpful breakdown. So again, that's 35% is your payment history, 30% is your utilization, 15% is your credit mix, and then 10% is your inquiries and another 10%. Lastly is how long you've had credit history. So super helpful breakdown, Irene. I think hopefully you got some great tips on ways that you can further bump your credit to get it a little higher and help you get that mortgage you're trying to seek. Our next question is from Marcus in Georgia. Marcus says, my credit score is stuck at six 20 even though I've paid down most of my debt. What else can I do to break into the seven hundreds

Melinda Carrera (23:52):

If it's six 20? So it's hard for me to say exactly without seeing a credit report. I don't know necessarily where your credit is struggling. I hope my previous answer can help. What I would suggest is go to experian.com. Experian has a wonderful free tool on there. It just does it for Experian, but it breaks down exactly where your credit is struggling or where your credit is good at. So it will tell you the 35, 30, 15, 10, 10, and it has it color coded. So it might say, if you're all the way green in payment history or it might be orange, that means it's not so good, or it might be red. That means it's bad. It color coordinates exactly where your credit is struggling. I would suggest Irene too and Marcus, go to experian.com and go to support and get your credit report and it does a wonderful breakdown of your Experian, and I'm sure your TransUnion and your Equifax are going to be pretty similar to those.

So definitely look at that. But if it's stuck at a six 20 and you pay down most of your debt, if you've just recently paid it down, give it about 30 days for it to update. If you pass the 30 days, then it could be maybe you need history, it could be maybe you need credit mix. Sometimes people only have credit cards or sometimes people only have loans installments, so student loan, personal loan, and they don't have any credit cards. So you have to see where it is, where your credit is struggling because there's no way to necessarily, it's something because if you pay down your debt and your utilization is down and you have history, then it's something else on there. It could be a late payment that maybe, I don't know if that's the case, but could be a late payment that's still within the two years because it takes 24 on-time payments to reverse the damage of one single late payment. So it could be that there's several things that it could be, but I would have to see your actual credit report to tell you and pinpoint it. But I hope my answer helps.

Hannah (25:55):

Super helpful. The next question comes from Scott and he says, Melinda, can you talk about your different specific offers in helping us repair our credit scores

Melinda Carrera (26:08):

Specific? Talk about your specific offers in helping. So to repair your credit card, are you saying what I offer so that you can repair yourself? I have letters on there, late payment letters, so late payment if they're out of the six months. You do have to use the law to get those off where you can dispute those directly with the actual creditor. I have credit reviews where I actually review your credit with you over the phone. I have Zoom calls that I can do with you. So we're looking and looking at your credit and I'm advising you based on your credit, what's best for you to do. What else do I have? I have free resources on there as well. I have the Experian. Okay, I talked about how to look at your credit report on experience. You go to my website. I have a direct link on there on Experian where you can go ahead and I want to say I have a resources page on there, so I have a lot of stuff. If you just go to my website and just browse through it, there are several things that can help you if you are one who is looking to rebuild your credit or learn more about your credit,

Hannah (27:21):

Love it. Again. Melinda's website is Street Financial and the URL is www.streetfinancial.net. Okay, next question. Niche travel says How hard is it to remove a charge off? Does sending a letter requesting a removal in exchange of payment help

Melinda Carrera (27:46):

Sending a letter? Doing something always helps if you are trying to, it sounds like the sending a letter requesting a removal in exchange of payment. So if you're trying to pay it, then you could just contact them directly. I don't know if I'm reading this correctly, but if you're in exchange of payment, you don't necessarily have to send a letter. If you're willing to pay, you can contact them directly and negotiate something with them. I would say negotiate the debt if you are planning to make a payment.

Hannah (28:18):

Perfect. Well, I think that's it for this episode of the Debt Hotline. Thank you so much, Melinda, for joining, and I just want to ask any last words on credit repair, debt issues, anything you'd like to say at all?

Melinda Carrera (28:35):

Yeah, I would just say if you are one who is struggling with bad credit, give it a solid three months of you working on your credit, and you can definitely make a huge difference If you stay at it for three months, it's not as difficult as you may think it is. There is so many great videos on YouTube. I have a free resource page on my website. Just stay at it. Because a lot of people hear credit repair and they think like, oh, well, I'm going to get scammed, or you may. So do it yourself. I always tell people, do it yourself. There's so many videos where they show you how to dispute. I have videos on my TikTok where I show you how to dispute. There are credit cards that you can get directly from your phone that can help you out that may knock off years of you trying to wait to start rebuilding your credit to start getting approved for credit cards. So it's not something that takes forever. I know it sounds crazy, but you literally can knock off years if you just stay at it for three months. Otherwise, you'll have to wait seven years for those items to fall off, and that's such a long time.

Hannah (29:45):

Well, that's encouraging to know that if you can work really hard at it for even just a few months, you can see a bump in your credit score and see an improvement. So yeah, it's not impossible to rebuild after having debt issues, filing bankruptcy, maybe getting sued for debt. It's possible people do it all the time, and so can you. And I do want to say for anyone who is struggling with debt, you can go over to Solosuit.com. We have lots of resources to help you. If you've been sued, we can help you respond and block a default judgment and buy yourself time to figure out your next steps. And we can also, with our tool SoloSettle help you negotiate with creditors and collectors to settle your debts outside of court. No matter what stage of the debt process you're in, even if it's before it's gone to collections, you can negotiate and settle for less and get back on track so that you can avoid hurting your credit further and continue to rebuild and prosper. So thanks so much everybody for tuning in, for submitting your questions to the debt hotline. For anyone listening that has debt questions, you can call us at (801) 613-8181. That's the debt hotline. You can submit your questions via voicemail, and we respond to these questions weekly on the debt hotline. So we're always looking for ways to further help people, and we really appreciate our guest, Melinda Carrera for joining. Thanks so much again, and thanks everybody for listening.

Melinda Carrera (31:12):

Thank you guys. Have a good one.

Disclaimer: The information presented in this podcast is intended strictly for general informational purposes and should not be construed as legal, financial, or investment advice. Solo and its hosts are not licensed attorneys, financial advisors, or other certified professionals. While select guests may hold active professional licenses, their contributions are purely for educational and thematic discussion. They're not delivering professional or personalized advice. Solo is not a law firm, does not offer legal representation and must not be relied upon as a substitute for professional legal counsel. It is also not engaged in debt, settlement, credit repair, or financial counseling services. Solo provides self-directed software tools designed to support users in navigating their own legal and financial situations. Participation in this podcast does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Listeners are encouraged to consult with attorneys or licensed professionals for guidance specific to their circumstances. The opinions expressed by podcast participants are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or official positions of SoloSuit Inc. Doing business as Solo or any affiliated organizations.

How to Answer a Summons for debt collection in all 50 states

Here's a list of guides on how to respond to a debt collection lawsuit in each state:

The Ultimate 50 State Guide

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont; Vermont (Small Claims court)
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Guides on how to resolve debt with every debt collector

Are you being sued by a debt collector? We’re making guides on how to resolve debt with each one.

• 11 Charter Communications
• AAA Collections
• Aargon Agency Inc
• Absolute Resolutions Investments LLC
• ACEI Collections
• Account Services
• Accredited Collection Services
• Accredited Collection Services
• Advanced Recovery Systems
• AES NCT
• AFNI Collections
• Alco Capital Group LLC
• Aldous and Associates
• Alliance Collections
• Alliance One
• Alliant Capital Management
• Alpha Recovery Corp
• Alltran Financial
• Alltran Health
• Alorica Inc.
• Amcol Clmbia in Court
• American Coradius International
• American Profit Recovery
• American Recovery Service
• Americollect
• AmSher Collection Services
• Apelles LLC
• AR Resources
• ARC Collections
• ARM Solutions
• Arrow Financial Services
• ARS National Services
• ARSC Debt Collectors
• ARS National Services
• ARstrat
• AscensionPoint Recovery Services
• Asset Acceptance LLC
• Asset Recovery Solutions
• Associated Credit Services
• Atlantic Credit and Finance
• Atradius Collections
• Automated Collection Services, Inc.
• Autovest LLC
• Avante USA
• Avantus
• AWA Collections
• Balekian Hayes
• Bay Area Receivables
• BCA Financial Services
• BC Services
• Benuck and Rainey
• Berlin-Wheeler
• Bluebonnet Financial LLC
• Bonneville Collections
• Bull City Financial
• Bureaus Investment Group
• Cach LLC
• Caine and Weiner
• Capio Partners
• Capital Accounts
• Capital Collections
• Capital Management Services
• CardWorks
• Carmel Financial/New Coast Direct
• Cavalry SPV I LLC
• CBCInnovis
• CBCS Collections
• CBE Group
• CBV Collections
• CCB Credit Services
• CCS Collections
• CCS Offices
• Central Mediation Services
• Central Portfolio Control
• Cerastes LLC
• Choice Recovery
• Choice Recovery Inc
• CKS Financial
• CKMS Financial
• Client Services
• CMRE Financial Services
• COAF
• Coast Professional
• Comenity Bank Debt Collection
• Commonwealth Financial
• ConServe Debt Collection
• Consumer Collection Management
• Contract Callers Inc
• Convergent Healthcare Recoveries
• Convergent Outsourcing
• Couch Conville & Blitt
• Covington Credit
• CRDT First
• Credco in Court
• Credence Resource Management
• Credit Bureau Systems
• Credit Control Corporation
• Credit Management Company
• Credit Management LP
• Credit Systems
• Credit Systems
• CSIEZPay
• CTC Debt Collector
• CVCS Debt Collection
• Cypress Financial Recoveries
• D&A Services
• Daniels, Norelli, Cecere & Tavel P.C.
• DCM Services
• Debt Recovery Solutions
• Delanor Kemper & Associates
• Department Stores National Bank
• Direct Recovery Associates
• Discover Collections
• Diversified Adjustment
• Diversified Consultants
• Diversified Recovery Bureau
• DNF Associates, LLC
• Dodeka LLC
• DRS Credit
• Dynamic Collectors
• Eagle Loan
• Eagle Accounts Group, Inc.
• Eastern Account System
• EduCap
• Ellington and Associates Collections
• Encore Capital Group
• Enerson Law
• Enerson Law LLC
• Enhanced Recovery Company
• EOS CCA
• ERC Collections
• ERSolutions
• Estate Information Services
• Equable Ascent Financial
• Everest Business Funding
• Executive Credit Management
• Faber and Brand
• Factual Data
• Falls Collection Service
• FBCS
• FCO Collections and Outsourcing
• FIA Card Services
• fin rec svc (Financial Recovery Services)
• First Federal Credit Credit Control
• First Financial Bank
• First Portfolio Ventures LLC
• First Progress
• FirstPoint Collection Resources
• Firstsource Advantage
• FMA Alliance
• FNB Omaha
• Forster & Garbus
• Franklin Collection Services
• Freedom Plus
• Freshview Solutions
• Frontline Asset
• Frost Arnett
• Fulton Friedman & Gullace LLP
• Galaxy International Purchasing, LLC
• GC Debt Collection
• GC Services
• General Revenue Corporation
• GLA Collections
• Glass Mountain Capital
• Glasser and Glasser
• Global Credit Collection Corp
• Global Trust Management
• GMAC Financing
• Golden 1 Credit Union
• Grant and Weber
• Grant Mercantile Agency
• Gulf Coast Collection Bureau
• Gurstel
• Halsted Financial Services
• Harris and Harris
• Harvard Collection
• Harvest Credit Management
• Helvey and Associates
• Hollis Cobb
• Holloway Moxley
• Hosto Buchan
• Howard Lee Schiff
• H&R Accounts
• HRRG
• Hudson & Keyse LLC?
• Hunter Warfield
• IC System
• Impact Receivables Management
• Innovative Recovery
• Integras Capital Recovery LLC
• Javitch Block
• JHPDE Finance 1 LLC
• JP Receivables Management Partners
• JPMCB card
• Kenneth Eisen and Associates
• KeyBank student loans
• Kinum
• Kirschenbaum, Phillips & Levy P.C.
• KLS Financial Services
• Kramer & Frank
• Lakeside Collection
• Lending Club
• Lincoln and Morgan Kabbage
• Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson LLP
• Lockhart Collection Agency
• LJ Ross Associates
• LTD Collections
• Malcolm S. Gerald and Associates
• Malen & Associates
• Mandarich Law Group
• Mannbracken
• Marcam Associates
• MARS Inc. Collections
• MBA Law
• MCA Management Company
• McCarthy, Burgess & Wolff
• Meade & Associates
• Medicredit
• Mercantile Adjustment Bureau
• Merchants Credit Association
• MGM Collections
• Michael J Adams PC
• Midland Funding LLC
• Mid-South Adjustment
• Monarch Recovery
• Monterey Financial
• Moss Law Firm
• Mountain Land Collections
• MRS Associates
• MRS BPO
• MSW Capital LLC
• Mullooly, Jeffrey, Rooney & Flynn
• Nathan and Nathan PC
• National Collegiate Trust
• National Credit Adjusters
• National Credit Care
• National Credit Systems
• National Enterprise Systems
• National Recovery Agency
• National Recovery Solutions
• Nationstar
• Nationwide Credit
• Nationwide Recovery Services
• Nationwide Recovery Systems
• NCEP LLC
• NCO Financial Systems Incorporated
• North American Recovery
• Northland Group
• Northstar Capital Acquisition
• Northstar Location Services
• NPAS
• NRC Collection Agency
• Oliver Adjustment Company
• Oliphant Financial, LLC
• Oportun
• P&B Capital Group
• PCB Collections Agency
• Palisades Collection LLC
• Pallida LLC
• Paragon Contracting Services
• Paragon Revenue Group
• Payday Loan Debt Collectors
• Pendrick Capital Partners
• Penn Credit
• Perdue Brandon
• Persolve LLC
• Phillips & Cohen Associates
• Phoenix Financial Services
• Pioneer Credit Recovery
• PMAB LLC
• PRA Group, Inc.
• Pressler, Felt & Warshaw LLP
• Prestige Services, Inc.
• Prince Parker and Associates
• ProCollect
• Professional Finance Company
• Progressive Management Systems
• Provest Law
• PYOD LLC
• Quaternary Collection Agency
• RAB Collection Agency
• Rash Curtis and Associates
• Radius Global SOL
• Radius Global Solutions
• Rawlings Company
• Razor Capital
• Real Time Resolutions
• Receivables Performance Management
• Regents and Associates
• Reliant Capital Solutions
• RentGrow
• Resurgent
• Resurgent Capital Services and LVNV Funding
• Revco Solutions
• Revenue Enterprises LLC
• Revenue Group
• RGS Financial, Inc.
• RMP LLC in Court
• RMP Services
• RS Clark and Associates
• RSIEH
• RSIEH
• RTR Financial Services
• Rubin & Rothman
• Salander Enterprises LLC
• Samara Portfolio Management
• SCA Collections
• Scott Parnell and Associates
• Second Round Collections
• Second Round Sub LLC
• Selip & Stylianou LLP
• Sequium Asset Solutions
• Sessoms and Rogers
• Sherman Acquisition
• Sherman Financial Group
• SIMM Associates
• Source Receivables Management
• Southern Management Systems
• Southwest Credit Group
• Spire Recovery Solutions
• SRS Company
• Stark Collection Agency
• State Collection Service
• Stenger and Stenger
• Stillman Law Office
• Summit Account Resolution
• Sunrise Credit Services
• Superlative RM Debt Collector
• Suttell and Hammer
• Synergetic Communication
• Synerprise Consulting
• The Law Office of Michael J Scott
• Trellis Company
• Troy Capital
• TRS Recovery Services
• TrueAccord
• Tulsa Teachers Credit Union
• UCB Collection
• UHG 1, LLC
• Unifin
• Unifin Debt Collector
• Unifund
• Universal Credit Services
• US Bank Collections
• USAA collections
• USCB America
• Valentine and Kebartas
• Valley Servicing
• Vance & Huffman LLC
• Van Ru Credit Corporation
• Velo Law Office
• Velocity Investments
• Viking Client Services
• Wakefield and Associates
• Waypoint Resource Group
• WCTCB
• Weinberg and Associates
• Weltman, Weinberg & Reis
• Westwood Funding
• Williams and Fudge
• Wilshire Consumer Credit
• Wolpoff & Abramson
• Worldwide Asset Purchasing
• www.AutomotiveCredit.com
• Zarzaur & Schwartz
• Zwicker & Associates

Resolve your debt with your creditor

Some creditors, banks, and lenders have an internal collections department. If they come after you for a debt, Solosuit can still help you respond and resolve the debt. Here’s a list of guides on how to resolve debt with different creditors.

• American Express; American Express – Debt Collection
• Bank of America
• Barclay
• Best Buy Credit Card
• Capital One
• Chase
• Credit One Bank
• Old Navy Credit Card
• PayPal Synchrony Card
• Regional Finance
• Retailers National Bank
• Reunion Student Loan Finance Corporation
• SYNCB/PPEXTR
• Synchrony Bank
• Synchrony Walmart Card
• Target National Bank
• Webbank
• Wells Fargo
• Can I Pay My Original Creditor Instead of a Debt Collection Agency?
• Can I Settle a Debt with the Original Creditor?

Settle your medical debt

Having a health challenge is stressful, but dealing medical debt on top of it is overwhelming. Here are some resources on how to manage medical debt.

• Am I Responsible for My Spouse's Medical Debt?
• Do I Need a Lawyer for Medical Bills?
• Do I Need a Lawyer to Fight Medical Bill Debt?
• Does Bankruptcy Clear Medical Debt?
• How Much Do Collection Agencies Pay for Medical Debt?
• How to Find Medical Debt Forgiveness Programs
• Is There a Statute of Limitations on Medical Bills?
• Medical Debt Statute of Limitations by State
• Summoned to Court for Medical Bills — What Do I Do?
• Summoned to Court for Medical Bills? What to Do Next

Guides on arbitration

If the thought of going to court stresses you out, you’re not alone. Many Americans who are sued for credit card debt utilize a Motion to Compel Arbitration to push their case out of court and into arbitration.

Below are some resources on how to use an arbitration clause to your advantage and win a debt lawsuit.

• How Arbitration Works
• How to Find an Arbitration Clause in Your Credit Agreement
• How to Make a Motion to Compel Arbitration
• How to Make a Motion to Compel Arbitration in Florida
• How to Make a Motion to Compel Arbitration Without an Attorney
• How Credit Card Arbitration Works
• Motion to Compel Arbitration in California
• Sample Motion to Compel Arbitration

Stop calls from debt collectors

Do you keep getting calls from an unknown number, only to realize that it’s a debt collector on the other line? If you’ve been called by any of the following numbers, chances are you have collectors coming after you, and we’ll tell you how to stop them.

• 1-800-390-7584
• 800-289-8004
• 800-955-6600
• 8009556600
• 877-366-0169
• 877-591-0747
• 800-278-2420
• 800-604-0064
• 800-846-6406
• 877-317-0948
• 888-899-4332
• 888-912-7925
• 202-367-9070
• 502-267-7522

Federal debt collection laws can protect you

Knowing your rights makes it easier to stand up for your rights. Below, we’ve compiled all our articles on federal debt collection laws that protect you from unfair practices.

• 15 USC 1692 Explained
• Does the Fair Credit Reporting Act Work in Florida?
• FDCPA Violations List
• How to File an FDCPA Complaint Against Your Debt Collector (Ultimate Guide)
• How to Make a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Demand Letter
• How to Submit a Transunion Dispute
• How to Submit an Equifax Dispute
• How to Submit an Experian Dispute
• What Debt Collectors Cannot Do — FDCPA Explained
• What Does Account Information Disputed by Consumer Meets FCRA Requirements Mean?
• What does “meets FCRA requirements” mean?
• What does FCRA stand for?
• What is the Consumer Credit Protection Act