
joe friday’s grrl asked: I’m middle-aged now, and disabled. Back when I first became ill, I was abandoned by my ex and left to raise two children alone. I had excellent credit at that point, and several credit cards that we lived off of for a while. Eventually, they were sent to collection, I was harrassed, then bargained with, but there was nothing I could do. Couldn’t even care for myself and my children adequately. DIdn’t even have enough money to file bankruptcy, and I was in and out of hospitals. Now, after getting curious about what my credit report looks like, I see that all those bad credit card debts are about to come off my credit report this month. What does that mean for me? I have three recent medical bills in collection that I am now able to pay because I finally received my Social Security disability award and retro benefits. Up until that terrible seven-year period, I had always paid things satisfactorily, and I’ve done the same with my recent utility bills & rent. How do I look to a lender?
One of the reasons I’m asking is that someone in my family owned some land that they sold to me for next to nothing to help my family out. I’d like to build a very modest home on it, for a monthly payment that would be cheaper than my current rent, and at this point would probably be able to make a down payment of about 10% out of myy disability retro benefits (not to mention the land equity, which is about $20K at market value).
Benjamin