GW and Gardening

[bbrentlinger]

I am relatively new to this but i have seen several posts regarding Good Will letters and gardening can someone explain these?  Thanks!

[skakid812]

If you use the search feature your questions will be answered... tons of topics on these two.  Search!

[madmann26]

Goodwill letters - 

This refers to writing a letter to the CA (collection agency) or OC (original creditor) asking them to make an adjustment to an open or closed file to remove late paymets or accounts altogether.

Gardening - 

This refers to entering into a period of time where you, the consumer, wards off any/all actions in seeking new credit. Some even take it as far as not requesting CLI's (credit limit increase) as well during this time.

Hope that helps.

[bbrentlinger]

thanks for the explanation!

[guiness56]

To add to what he said, gardening lets the accounts you do have age.

[SunriseEarth]

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@madmann26 wrote:

Gardening - 

This refers to entering into a period of time where you, the consumer, wards off any/all actions in seeking new credit. Some even take it as far as not requesting CLI's (credit limit increase) as well during this time.

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During Gardening, CLIs are encouraged if they're SP (soft pull) and not HP (hard pull).  One of the goals is also to allow INQs to fall off or have minimized effect over time.  No new TLs are obtained during gardening, so that current accounts can age.