<prompt> Human: Hi all. Its taken many years for me to work up the nerve to address this, but Im finally ready to ask for help. :tl;dr Im 30, I make 13kmo net contractor, taxes not withheld, I have 11k - 15k of credit card and possibly medical debt. Im ready to pay it, but Ive been avoiding it for so many years I have no idea who to contact so I can start paying it.In late 2008 I had a bank fraud issue that froze my accounts, caused my credit cards automatic payments to bounce, and jacked the APR up to 30 and wouldnt reduce the rates. Then I got laid off and had to live on those cards for a couple months. I got a new job then enrolled in an debt consolidation service that ended up being shady lied about getting an agreement from one of my cards, and I found out theyd been underpaying in my name for months, then I got laid off again and gave up paying anything at all. At this time I also stopped making payments on a condo Id purchased two years before, and it was foreclosed upon. At that point I just gave up paying anything, started freelancing to survive, and have been building myself up slowly ever since, and ignoring debt collectors became practically a sport.Fast forward to now. After years of leaving my head firmly stuck in the sand, the calls have tapered off, and my day-to-day life seems surprisingly unaffected by all of this. I know the debts still out there, but after so many years have passed, I honestly have no idea who its been sold or resold to. The banks I used have consolidated, and even Bank of America couldnt tell me when I called who had the debt or how to pay it. I think I have something like 11k - 15k of total debt, but I have absolutely no idea where to start paying it. Im actually making 13kmo now, so I think I could pay this off quickly, but I had some questions and hoped the community could help me out.My questions:1 If I stopped paying these 6 - 7 years ago, is there any reason not to pay them off now?2 Should I pay in full or negotiate for a lower settlement amount?3 How do I find out who I even pay at this point?Financially I dont have any real goals that require credit. I dont own or need a car, I have no intention of buying a home ever again, I dont want or need credit cards, and Im comfortable in my apartment and dont need to move any time soon. The only two reasons I have for doing this are 1 I want to get married eventually and I dont want any financial baggage that would affect her, and 2 paying down debt seems like the sort of thing youre just supposed to do.Thanks in advance! I hope this is coherent. Im so out of my depth here its equal parts dizzying and frustrating.Assistant: Run a free credit report through the govt website, cant recall the URL, but its completely free and wont ding your score. See who still shows outstanding debts on there and contact them. Thats where Id start. Human: I just got finished trying that. I went through all the verification steps, but it brought up bogus mortgageauto loan information, and none of the three agencies would give me my report online. I have to do it all by mail, apparently, and now Im worried about possible identity theft because of all this recent mortgage crap. :  <response>: it brought up bogus mortgageauto loan informationThey do this on purpose; you are supposed to answer none of the above. 