Credit Repair - Self Help

One of the major charge-off accounts listed on my credit report was from American Express. I knew this was my debt, leftover from the divorce, I take full responsibility for it. The balance on the account was $5800, I had not been in a position to take care of this until recently and I did not want to try to have it removed or dispute it because until this month it was still within statute of limitations and did not want to risk a lawsuit. The only way I could turn this into a more favorable situation for me was to pay it at some point. I called Amex to clear this matter up. I must say the representative I spoke to was very polite and helpful, she explained that they no longer had the account in their office, but she would locate it and get it back in their office, then call me back. A few days later she called back, I paid the balance. To my astonishment the next words out of her mouth were that they would be sending me out a new Optima card with a $2500 credit limit, 1/2 of the original credit limit and the account will be aged to the original date. Now, what does this mean? First off a new credit line with no inquiry, the account age will show a long history, increased my available credit, and turned an unpaid charge-off into a paid charge-off which zeroed the balance, and got me back in with Amex. This is going to help my credit score, not sure how much yet but I’m sure it will improve it. From my conversation with this kind lady, I gather that this is something they offer to rehab your credit. There are conditions to it, balance must be paid in full, could not have filed for bankruptcy, not have any other accounts with Amex. She also told me that in about 6 months time I should apply for other Amex cards and would most likely be approved if this card is in good standing, no lates. Pretty cool. If you have an Amex account in default, I would highly suggest this program. If they don’t offer it to you, ask about it. I think they call it something like the Oasis program.