I just wanted to take this opportunity to do a little victory dance and maybe inspire others to keep working on improving their credit.
4-5 years ago I was down to a 435 TU score. I had a number of student loans with major late pay issues, two charged off car loans, collections, judgments, late pays, and NO revolving accounts open. Basically it was the worst case scenario and I felt totally overwhelmed and hopeless.
Fast forward 4-5 years, I had my trimerge report pulled a couple weeks ago and I am at a 705 mid score (TU), and I was approved for a mortgage and am in the process of buying my first home. I know 705 isn't an amazing score, but coming from 435, I NEVER thought I'd touch the 700s. This is a major goal that I finally achieved. It took a massive amount of hard work, persistence, and patience. I paid off collections, I had collections age off, I wrote multiple letters to multiple creditors asking for late pays to be removed from my report, I opened up some revolving lines and managed them responsibly, I borrowed against the equity in my vehicles to pay off collections and balances on my revolving accounts, and most importantly I started a habit of paying my obligations ON TIME (brilliant idea, right?!). 24 months of positive pay history on all of my trade lines sure looks a lot better than having trade lines marked up with 30-60-90 day lates!
I set small goals, I took baby steps, and I stayed the course. I know it is cliche, but if I can do it, ANYBODY can do it! Just be patient, persistent, and be willing to sacrifice a little money in your pocket to pay those lingering obligations...because they will NOT go away on their own (well, some will go away, but it's going to take a least 5-7 years for them to age off your report).
Starting Score: TU:437 (2009)
WAY TO GO, CONGRATS..........You get one of these!!!!!
I appreciate you sharing! I was just starting to feel frustrated last night when I pulled all three reports and realized I have SEVEN derogatory items instead of four. It's an uphill battle and I'm SO impatient lol. All of these success stories are inspiring, though.
Starting Score: 515 (EX) 7/19/13
Thank you for the kind words.
It's definitely about patience and persistence, plain and simple! And you need to have a LOT of both!
