I got into a lot of debt when I got married and my husband got sick. Ive gotten my credit cards paid off (whoohoo) but when I went to get it all cleared off my credit report I discovered a debt from an old apartment, where instead of contacting me they just turned it over and put it on my credit report. I tried to contact the collection agency and get it solved ( I was hoping to buy a house and needed to clear it up fast) by setting up a payment plan with them. The collector said that it was not her job to help me and that I had to pay the balance in fulland she would not accept payments. One of my roommates told me to send a letter to the three credit bureaus explaining all that and that the collector had refused payment. My question is What happens now? I also needed an opinion on a credit card dilemma. I have applied for a credit card lately so I could put that collection on it and some leftover hospital bills and was turned down cause of my bad credit. I received a credit card offer in the mail from Providian Visa Gold offering me a $500 unsecured card for a processing fee of $49. That seemed like a pure luck until I read the fine print. It has a 23.99% apr and no grace period and an annual fee of $59. It did say that in three months I may qualify for an automatic line increase at no charge and after that I may also have the opportunity to accept special offers of credit, up to $1000 a year for a fee of $49-99. Is this a good deal for me? I was thinking I could get the card and establish good credit with it and in about six months or so try to switch to a better card. Thanks!!