Credit score 45 days ago 675, now 512

[Anonymous]

We were looking to refi approx. 45 days ago.  All was good, credit score was fantastic.  Files bankruptcy 7 yrs ago in August- discharged.  Late pmts: 1 credit card in Dec, different card in Jan.  2 cards, 30 day late.  Bought new car 18 months ago, 0% financing.  Everything was looking great.  Considered putting house on mkt instead of refi.  Spoke to mortgage company- one said we would not qualify for FHA because we had late pmts, another said our credit score was 512 and we can't do anything until credit score of 620 minimum.  FICO is 590.  What did we do wrong?  I am so frustrated.  Seemed that we were doing so well...how long will it take to recover?  Should we wait to list.  House could sell in 6 months.

[pizzadude]

Multiple recent late payments are really bad for your FICO score, and generally you need to have on~time payments for at least a year or so in order to qualify for mortgage approval or refi.

[aussiesareforever]

Was there anything that changed between 45 days ago and now? Did you make a late payment or potentially have a negative account added to your credit. Have you pulled your credit report to review it? That would be my first recommendation if you haven't already done that.

I don't really have any experience with mortgages cause I have never bought a house but I filed BK about 4 years ago. When I had briefly considered buying about a year ago, I was told that lenders do NOT like negatives post BK. I think you need to work really hard at GW letters to get your negatives removed. From what I gathered, it might be hard to get a loan.

[Anonymous]

New to this...please explain GW letter...who do I send to and so forth...

[aussiesareforever]

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@Anonymous wrote:

New to this...please explain GW letter...who do I send to and so forth...

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Welcome to the forums Tandgham. Sorry I missed the fact that you are new around these parts. A GW letter (also known as goodwill letter) is a letter written to your creditors nicely asking them to delete the negative information on your credit report. This usually only works for current accounts that are up to date with a couple of negatives. If the account is not current (ie charged off or in collections) writing them a letter may actually make them more likely to sue you in an attempt to have you repay them.

Based on your posts, I'm assuming your accounts are current. You just have a couple of lates. You essentially start writing and writing. Many people report writing tons and tons of letters to get the creditors to delete the information. It has worked for a lot of people but some companies absolutely refuse to delete. It wouldn't hurt to try.

While I have no experience in writing GW (but I have had my share of credit problems), I found a good thread to start reading. The thread is located here.

Another important feature of the forums is the search button. It is located on the top right corner of the site and you can just type GW or goodwill letters and include the name of the particular creditor that is reporting the lates. You may be able to find specific information from other users that have had success (or failures) with that company.

Good luck!!

[AndySoCal]

See  if the lender can provide you a copy the credit report they pulled.