Will Some Bad Credit Be A Big Red Flag?

[lxxlss]

I'm wondering how having a debt of $700 in collections already reported to my credit affect me in getting hired either by Florida HP or city police. I don't know what my credit will be after it's reported but before that I had between 700-750 credit score. (I know that no one can predict my credit score but if it will be a big red flag.) Aside from my credit, I fulfill all the necessary requirements.

If this will greatly affect my hiring opportunities I'll make the payment before its reported but otherwise I was going to pay it in the next 2 months just because my income is tight right now.

[GatorFutureSA]

if it's already been reported, your credit has been dinged. paying it off now vs two months from now won't change things much. You should have paid it before it hit collections ;-)

You'll be asked about the debt, just be honest with them and when you do get it paid off, request a paid-in-full statement from the creditor.... you can use that to get credit report record updated so it's less of a hit down the road.

[Zach Smith]

Edit......

[Evangellon]

Ditto the above. Also, you'll have a more sympathetic ear if you tell your recruiter about it BEFORE they pull your credit.

[lxxlss]

I had rented an apartment with another person and later added a third person to take over the lease. Our apartment complex did not allow sub leasing so based off the concept of this lease we were supposed to be written off the contract after the third party took over. When they made their first payment we were to be off the contract which they had told us in person we were no longer liable. Unfortunately, when we signed it over to the third person and the apartment complex manager told us there we were no longer on the lease I thought that contract was it. But apparently it wasn't over cause I got a call from collections about 6 months later. No warnings pier to that about unpaid rent, my former roommate and I were told we had to come up with $5600 in 30 days or it would be reported. Of course I freaked, because I would have never leased off to someone else if we were liable. Kind of sketchy, because since it wasn’t a sublease we weren’t supposed to be liable after the third party took over. So, I started an endless stream of phone calls between collections, the apartment complex and their headquarters to see why we were liable for this amount, why we were never contacted about past due payments or if they had made mistakes. Prior to us getting approval to have a third party take over the lease, the apartment ran a credit check on her and approved her (probably the most stringent requirements I've experienced plus required us leases’ to be making $40k+ plus to be accepted; she seemed like a responsible person) but cost us about $2100 in damages, $2700 three months past due rent and $750 three months past due utilities. Still can't believe someone can cost that much in damages of course I do believe that resurfacing a laundry machine scratch and charging $135 is ridiculous; they charged out the ying yung for pettily little things. The thing that ****es me off the most is collections told us they weren't even going after the third party. Hell, they don't even know where she is. Even if I could sue, I have no one to go after for damages. So, all in all my former roommate and I split the $5600 in half and paid off as much as we could on short notice leaving behind $700 to be reported as unpaid. Collections wouldn’t do any payment plans so pretty much I tried to bring the total amount due down as much as possible. A lot of BS that has now tarnished my financial record for 7 years. Wouldn’t have been so difficult to pay it off if we were warned a few months in advance. That bitch got 4 months of free rent and utilities and probably didn’t affect her credit much.

[lxxlss]

if it's already been reported, your credit has been dinged. paying it off now vs two months from now won't change things much. You should have paid it before it hit collections ;-)

You'll be asked about the debt, just be honest with them and when you do get it paid off, request a paid-in-full statement from the creditor.... you can use that to get credit report record updated so it's less of a hit down the road.

Yeah, I have no problem explaining. You just learn from your mistakes no matter how hard I still grit my teeth at that mistake, I have to still try to work around it. I'm hoping by using credit cards to pay for things like gas and groceries and my student loan repayments will build my credit back up.

[lxxlss]

If it was recently it will look worse than if time has elapsed and you have maintained positive credit since. As stated, the damage is done and paying it off immediately versus making minimum payments won't manage as far as your credit. You will have to explain why you failed to pay this debt on time and what circumstances led to that situation. You'll also need to explain how you plan to prevent such an occurence in the future and how it doesn't reflect that you are irresponsible.

Irresponsible. Awwh, I hope it doesn't look that bad.

Regardless of how you look at it, it is basically showing you are not responsible enough to maintain your financial obligations. You set yourself up for certain bills, debts, etc, therefore you are expected to pay them off accordingly. It sucks, but its how it is. I don't think its really even possible to have much debt "accidentally" go to collections because you forgot about it. They will make a LOT of effort to contact you first as its in no ones best interested to have it move to collections.

Only they made no effort to contact me. In fact they said it was our responsibility to call them to make sure the rent payments were being made. Would have been nice information when we were being told we were no longer liable after the third party took over.

Basically try to explain yourself in the process, continue working hard, if needed pickup a part-time job to pick up on bills, and keep moving forward. Time can help a situation like this if you resolve everything and show you are making strides to take more control of your financial status.

Yeah, I have to see what I can do in 2 months. I.e. the time between when the academies start.

- Thanks for the Info

[GatorFutureSA]

Yeah, I have no problem explaining. You just learn from your mistakes no matter how hard I still grit my teeth at that mistake, I have to still try to work around it. I'm hoping by using credit cards to pay for things like gas and groceries and my student loan repayments will build my credit back up.

For god sakes man, don't do that! You'll get yourself in a whole world of hurt if you start using credit cards just to get by. Take it from someone who had his share of credit card debt....that's way worse than a single $700 default on something....and from the sounds of it, you've paid off the major chunk of it..... split the last $700 with your former roommate....spread the pain a bit.

A side note, if you have any documentation or supporting information, take that 3rd party to civil court. If she signed a contract with the apartment complex, she should be liable for the rent, releasing you and your co-renter from any future liability. It's at least worth a conversation with a real estate attorney.

Good luck!