Goodwill for lates on secured cc

[Anonymous]

I had a 30/60/90 day late on my First Progress from May to July and a 30/60 day late on my Open Sky from Transunion, but only 30 day on Experian. How long should I wait to prove positive payment history so I can send a goodwill letter to have these removed? Does anyone have any success in sending gw to secured credit cards?

I didn't know how to pay my statements as I did not feel comfortable sending anything in the mail and I did not thoroughly research through the websites to find their bill pay.

[CH-7-Mission-Accomplished]

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sirenvii wrote:
I had a 30/60/90 day late on my First Progress from May to July and a 30/60 day late on my Open Sky from Transunion, but only 30 day on Experian. How long should I wait to prove positive payment history so I can send a goodwill letter to have these removed? Does anyone have any success in sending gw to secured credit cards?

I didn't know how to pay my statements as I did not feel comfortable sending anything in the mail and I did not thoroughly research through the websites to find their bill pay.

OP, this is simoly incredible. You are someone who should live on cash.  How do you pay your utilities, rent?  I suggest you not include this in your goodwill letter request.   You will get the award for the most lame goodwill request for the day (or maybe the year).

We all make mistakes, and nobody is past redemption, but you need to seriously rethink what you are doing.

And if this went to 90 days past due, why did you think your phone was ringing constantly from an 800 number tied to your lenders?

[Anonymous]

I do live on cash and I have been rebuilding. Don't tell me I should only live on cash you have no right. I pay my rent with cash i dont have utilities. I don't have experience that's why I'm asking for advice. My phone doesn't ring from any collectors but thanks for assuming. Thanks for nothing.

If anyone has any real advice I'd appreciate the help.

[Anonymous]

For the record I paid all my balances down to 0 and have been utilizing and making payments on time for 4 months. That's why I'd like to know if I should wait until 6 months or a year to write a letter or if I can do it now.

[CH-7-Mission-Accomplished]

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@Anonymous wrote:
For the record I paid all my balances down to 0 and have been utilizing and making payments on time for 4 months. That's why I'd like to know if I should wait until 6 months or a year to write a letter or if I can do it now.

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You can write your goodwill letters anytime you want.  People with very old late payments sometimes nearing the 7 year fall-off point, seem to report the most success.

Most credit card companies wil decline to do a goodwill unless there was some mixup on their part like an automatic payment not going through.

Oddly, I have seen the most reports of success from the subprime bottom feeders Credit One and First Premier.

All you have to lose is your time.  You can send weekly goodwill requests for the full seven years or until you get success.

You have a 100% chance of failure if you don't try.

[Anonymous]

Thank you

[TheConductor]

Sirenvii, 

CH-7-Rebuilding could have been a bit more FSR (Friendly, Supportive, Respectful) in responding to you, but the content still has a valuable message for you.

Having good credit is largely dictated by having good, consistent habits for paying on time.

If there are things you don't know or aren't comfortable with that are getting in the way of you having those good habits, I strongly recommend that you get the knowledge you need and become comfortable with whatever payment method(s) you choose as soon as possible.

We were all new to credit at some point, and I will say that I made a pretty mess of my own first credit card back when I was in college and auto-pay did not exist. So I can  sympathize with your concerns because I can remember what it was like to be new to the concept of borrowing on credit.  However, not knowing something or not feeling good about it will unfortunately not prevent your credit score from being damaged. Damage to your credit can be created quickly, but tends to only be erased slowly.

I think it is much too soon to expect any success with sending GW letters to your current creditors, but it certainly cannot hurt to try. In your situation I would worry less about trying to explain why the lates happened, and focus more on what you have done to ensure they will never happen again (link bank account, set up auto-pay if they have it, etc.).

Good luck with your credit journey!

[Anonymous]

Thank you. I was able to pay the cards off and learned how to use the online bill pay so that they're paid and processed at the right time. I don't have and can't get a bank account but I have a prepaid debit card which I use for that. I sign into everything financial daily which is my method for paying everything on time. Thank you again for the response.