text: Thank you for the information on your situation...it's a bit easier to give good advice that will help.\n\nFirst, my "battle cry".  When you are about to repair your credit history, or do battle with collection agencies, knowledge of the law is your only weapon!  DO NOT fight these jerks unarmed!!!  Read the links I supplied below.\n\nAs I understand it, you got this credit card before you got married?  That's good, because they can't go after your husbands income.\n\nThe very first thing you need to do is write a letter to the collection agencies that are bothering you.  Use the sample letters in the links below.  By law, if you tell them to stop bothering you, they must stop all contact.  But be warned, you are basically telling them to either sue you or back off.  \n\nIf your debt isn't that big they will most likely leave you alone.  The credit report will remain on your records for 7 years from the time you defaulted on the last payment.  There are ways to get it removed from the records, or at least limit the impact.\n\nThey can sue you if the debt is not that old.  The "Statute of Limitations" varies from state to state.  Most are 6 years.  After that the can't sue you, but they can still mess up your credit history.\n\nYou are in a better situation because your debts are before you got married.  Live off your husbands credit for now.  \n\nWhen I got married, my wife came with a lot of debt baggage.  They were after her for trailer payments, and loans made with her past marriage.  She was getting 2-3 credit letters a month and was a nervous wreck.  The jerks even found my phone number and began calling us up.\n\nBut what they didn't know was.....\nI WAS ARMED!  I knew the law.  I knew how to handle these jerks!\n\nThe calls and letters stopped.  I cleaned up her credit history and now she has a credit card of her own and a good rating.  \n\nI'm not a credit counsoler, got no legal experience.  I just know where to look for information. Now you do too!\n\nWrite me if you need encouragement.  Your situation isn't bad at all.