The interest rate (the cost of borrowing money): Borrow 1,000 at 20% APR over a year and youll be charged 200 interest (20% of 1,000). Therefore the lower the interest rate, the less debt costs you. The length of borrowing: This is just as important as the interest rate. The …

Collection accounts can remain on your credit report for 7 years from the date of the initial missed payment that led to the collection (the original delinquency date). If you haven’t paid your collection account yet, negotiate with the collection agency. Let them know that you plan to pay them …

Use Debt Validation To Protect Yourself. Why is this imperative? Because ironically, the majority of the time the collection agency CAN’T properly validate the debt, especially if its old. They have a hard time producing the proper legal documents to legitimize that you actually owe a debt. Many times these …