Edit: TL;DR summary with my strategy at the end... sorry for the long winded message, didn't know it was this long as I was typing it out!
Hi everyone,
I'm writing this to give a quick overview of my credit repair story, and hopefully give some people out there who were in my position a mere 30 days ago a bit of hope and direction as I know exactly how it feels to be there. My intention isn't to brag what-so-ever (I still feel I have a LONG way to go) and I will preface this by saying my starting scores were ALL FAKO, so take those baselines with a grain of salt. I want to be able to give back to this community in particular and share how I was able to go from sub 600s scores on all 3 CBs to 700+ within 30 days.
I also want to point out that I'm using absolutely no hyperbole. It doesn't behoove me to lie on an anonyous internet forum to a bunch of strangers. I'm not doing this for recognition or to 'brag', but again, to help others who were in MY position as I know exactly how desperate it can feel.
To start, my FAKO scores as reported via FreeCreditReport.com on May 1st were as follows... EX: 580 / EQ: 599 / TU: 599. There is a high chance that my actual FICOs were substantially higher, but I used these as reference points becuase these were the only ones I had at the time. I was unaware of myFICO.com, and even the fact that the scores reflected there weren't my actual credit scores but rather their best 'guestimate' based on their proprietary 'PLUS' formula. In other words, worthless.
For years I had struggled with my credit, thinking that it was too daunting of a task to tackle, and would always procrastonate and put off dealing with it. Finally, with a bit of luck, I got motivated and decided enough was enough, and no matter how long it took I was going to deal with my issues. I'm in my mid 20s, and my oldest account was opened in 2002 by my parents who got me a Capital One CC.
My first break was applying on a whim in late April for a United Mileage Plus card from Chase which I was 'pre-approved for'. I hadn't gotten a credit card in years due to my poor credit, and figured I really didn't have anything to lose. I'm a frequent traveler and fly with United so decided that I would go for it. To my surprise, I was instantly approved for an $8k credit limit with a 580 Experian score. My second highest CL was the $2,000 CC my parents had opened for me when I was younger.
After being approved, I decided to start looking into credit lines, wondering how I was approved with such terrible credit. I'm still not exactly sure how this happened, but it lead my to my first credit revelation... utilization. As soon as my card posted to my reports in early May, my Util % dropped from nearly 100% to around 60% which gave my score a boost. This gave me initial encouragement. I decided since this was the absolute fastest way to improve my credit score since it made up roughly 30% of your overall score, so I'd work to pay down my existing CC balances IMMEDIATELY as I had the cash in the bank to cover them. After paying down my cards and waiting for the balances to update, I started looking into other ways to improve my score and in the process found this website and subsequent community.
The next thing I decided to tackle were some outstanding issues on my credit reports. I saw that I had three items on each report in collections, and an additional 3 derogatory marks for 30 day missed payments on TLs over the years. After reading the forums basically 24/7, I felt that I was confident enough to call the CAs which had long been paid and ask for them to simply remove the items from my reports. To my surprise, all 3 CAs agreed without any type of hasstle. Looking back, I probably should have gotten their agreements signed and mailed to me, but luckily all of the credit agencies kept their word and removed these issues from my report.
During this period of time, my Util % started dropping. I had gone from near 100% util, down to 61% util, down to 40%.
I also called my CC companies and asked for payment forgiveness. 2 out of the 3 simply agreed to remove and made good on their promise. I'm still working on the third.
By this time, my credit scores had improved nearly 100 points with the removal of the collection items and 30 day late payment marks along with every util % drop. My scores were sitting in the high 600s and I decided to leverage this and apply for one more TL, as not to negatively affect my AAoA which was sitting at around 5 years. I applied for a Discover IT and was approved for another $8k CL and asked for a CLI on an existing CC but was declined. I leveraged my recent Discover approval in a recon call to my CC company and was ultimately approved for the initial CLI I had requested. With my credit increases, I had increased my total revolving credit lines 10x since late April, and along with the payments I had made on my initial CCs, my util now sits at 12%.
Currently, I only have ONE missed 30 day payment on my report, an AAoA at an average of 4.5 years, over $22k in TLs with 12% utilization and FICO scores that are in the 700s across all 3 CBs. That's a movement of a maximum of 137 points (EX), and a minimum of 101 points (TU). This entire movement occured within 30 days.
At the end of it all looking back, I really cannot believe I hadn't taken action sooner. Understanding how the scores were calculated was really the first step in fixing the issues I had, so I really have to thank myFICO.com tremendously as all the information I gained was pretty much exclusively from here. I'm still a bit in shock that the scores are so easily 'manipulated', but in a good way.
I want my story to encourage anyone thinking about taking action on their credit that huge movements are possible in a short period of time. Although everyone's situation is different, I will say that I was lucky that all my collection amounts were under $100 and PIF when I got the collection notices immediately. This probably helped when asking for them to be removed. Additionally, the fact that I had some of my CCs for years and had only missed one payment on each probably also made them more likely to forgive me once. I know a lot of people out there are starting out a lot worse than I did, but change is absolutely possible, and if you're determined can happen extremely quick.
I'm now going to garden for a while and in a few months attempt to refinance my car which is sitting at a staggering 2 digit APR%.
If anyone has any questions feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer or help in any way that I can. I wish everyone the best, and success with their credit repair as I know exactly how it feels to be overwhelmed by the weight of it all. The best thing to know is that things CAN change, and it just takes that first step to make it happen. Take baby steps, tackle one item at a time, and make progress as you can. You never know until you actually try, and you may just surprise yourself with how fast the process moves.
Edit: After reading this, I didn't realize how long winded it was... here's a TL;DR with bullet points and the strategy I used...
- Reduce Util % immediately where you can, this is the fastest way to improve your score in a short period of time.
- CALL your creditors first and ask for payment forgiveness or CA removal. Sometimes they'll simply agree over the phone. If this doesn't work, star tthe GW process via certified mail. The process is outlined many times in on this site.
- As you build your score, apply for new credit lines to further reduce your util % without needing to outlay additional cash. Do not go crazy as this will reduce your AAoA (see item #4).
- Keep your number of applications low when applying for new credit (call and ask which reports are being pulled BEFORE you apply), attempt to spread inquiries over the 3 CBs if you can to not negatively affect your score.
- Use new TLs as you have success to leverage existing CCs into higher credit limits to further reduce Util % (you can sometimes get away with simply a soft inquiry this way and avoid a HP). Remember, they work for you and they want to keep your business. Use the backdoor numbers found in the Credit Card forum (stickied) if you need to. Don't take no for an answer, especially if you've been with them for a while.
- Remember that anywhere else besides myFICO.com is a FAKO score and really doesn't matter.
- Be obsessive in checking your score and report if you have the means. Keep an excel file that you update daily that includes your total CC util %, credit score, and action items that need to be resolved.
- Get in the right mind-set. Be aggressive, be resiliant, be resourceful and take this seriously. You're fighting a war for your financial future. This could affect you for the rest of your life, give the matter the appropriate priority and attention in deserves. Don't be like me and waste years before doing taking action that can be done today.
Starting Score:567Walmart TU 701, Credit Sesame 722, credit secure 701 credit karma 694Last Score: 689 TU/Walmart CK 645 Goal Score:800 CLUB
