cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Goodwill advice needed

tag
radfam
Frequent Contributor

Goodwill advice needed

Hi all.  I am in a GW campaign on my many late payments.  I need some advice on how to approch a creditor that I currently have a relationship with.  I have multiple Cap1 TLs that have late payments.  Somehow, they still keep me around, and I am quite fortunate for that.  Irresponsible with debt management, yes.  Trying to reverse that pattern moving forward, yes.  Some stints below have valid reasoning for lates (ie spouse lost employment).  The majority are simply bc I did not pay on time.  I did not understand the gravity of late payments and credit reports.  So as it stands, here are the accounts.  I don't know how to approach Cap1 for GW.  I can only hope for the best and have no expectations of them to grant it.

 

- Open auto loan is with them, but with lates reporting from 02/16 - 02/17, autopay now set up

- Open Account *Restricted* Cap1Plat $300 SL that is reporting monthly at $0, but lates from 05/15-08/15, 11/15-03/16, & 06/16-09/16 when it was PIF.  

- Open Cap1Plat $1k SL, opened in the last couple of months, no lates, autopay set up, low UTL 

- Closed auto loan, closed in 2013, 10 lates

 

Has anyone else ever had to approach a creditor for GW, with multiple accounts?

Fico 8 as of 03/09/2023:



Message 1 of 6
5 REPLIES 5
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Goodwill advice needed

It makes no difference whatsoever -- just lay out what you've learned, show proof that you're now being a responsible borrower, and ask for assistance.

 

The fact that you had lates as recently as 2017 leads me to believe you will be in a stronger position for goodwill after you've given them a year of on-time payments ABOVE the minimum (for credit cards) or at least the minimum for auto loans.  I wouldn't waste the stamp before 12 months, personally.

Message 2 of 6
radfam
Frequent Contributor

Re: Goodwill advice needed

Thank you ABCD.  I have been hesitant to GW the 01/17 & 02/17 late account (my current vehicle).  I set up on auto pay on that account when I first joined MF, at your advice.  The minimum is made monthly on that account.  I will heed your advice and wait until at least 02/18 to send a GW letter for that.

 

For the CC $1k SL, I set up on auto pay but also pay above.  I want to say my minimum is $25.  I've been stalking my CC acct and paying on it, trying to balance my Utl % so I am optimizing reporting while also paying my debt.  

Fico 8 as of 03/09/2023:



Message 3 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Goodwill advice needed

One thing to note is the goodwill target -- in some cases, the person you write to in auto finance may not even know about your lates elsewhere.  I have no idea how Capital One does it, if their departments get to glance at a portfolio or not.

 

But honestly, I'd wait the 12 months out so you can show positive proof.  Be honest, let them know you never checked your credit before and when you did "a year ago" you realized that being late actually hurt you and that once you learned that, you were never late again and will never be late again and that you're managing your spending so it doesn't exceed your ability to pay it off in 2-3 months, etc.

Message 4 of 6
radfam
Frequent Contributor

Re: Goodwill advice needed

Thanks!  I do try to write GW letters that are honest and specific to my situation.  I have reviewed many GW letters on here and on other credit boards, for a general idea of formatting.  My previous payment history is nothing short of irresponsible and laziness in paying creditors.  Truthfully, I was raised in a household that didn't speak of credit or debt managment....ever.  It was taboo to talk of finances, even with family members that probably should have been guiding me.  My father is an excellent example of credit.  My mother is the opposite.  I was taught that auto-pay was a bad idea because you never knew how much was in your bank account at the time of the auto-pay withdrawal, thus setting yourself up to overdraw your bank account.  Looking back, I realize that was my mother's fear because she would spend down to the last dollar in her account (still does) and truly auto-pay would have been impossible for her.  My spouse grew up in a similar circumstance, so neither of us had background of what happens when you don't pay a creditor on time.  At least, not until finding these boards and recognizing "Oh crap, we are doing this all wrong."  All of that background is neither here nor there I guess, just some reference on where I acquired bad habits and how desperately I've been clawing back to break that cycle.  DH and I have both come a long way in the months since I've found these boards.  Like I've said before on other posts, it was never about not having money.  It was truly just non-education. 

Fico 8 as of 03/09/2023:



Message 5 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Goodwill advice needed

My parents have the same financial split, probably why they're no longer married to each other, haha.

 

In my case, having rebuilt my credit three times in 25 years, it wasn't a lack of financial knowledge that caused my issues.  For me it was always consistently the exact same problem that occured 3 times: my high income stopped for 3-4 months and I lost my ability to pay so I blew my FICO scores all 3 times because of identical income droughts.

 

Now I don't buy anything if I don't have the ability to pay it off instantly.  I use credit like debit and that's that.  It's the only thing that will work for me and I just have to stick to it.  Even my boat loan this year ($30,000) was only done because I had $30,000 in the bank to buy it cash and I worked out a zero interest deal which lets me test installment loans versus FICO, but I always have enough in high interest savings to pay it to $0.

 

Everyone's financial profile is different, but irresponsibility tends to be all of our greatest sins.  In my case, I always assumed money would come in on time, and sometimes it didn't for 3-4 months (earning me 18% interest on late payments but causing me to go 120D or 150D late everywhere at 30%+ interest, lol).

Message 6 of 6
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.