I am gonna cry....

[Anonymous]

...actually, I am crying a little.  I am losing my hope here. The good news I am taking control of my financial life (read: growing up) I have read over 1,000 posts here on the forums and can't believe how much I have learned in such a short amount of time. And sometimes I don't feel like things are that bad...I have no debts with collection agencies or on my credit cards. My finances are under control....and yet...

I want desperatly to raise my FICO this year. I am getting married this year and a first home will be on the horizon. So much for a dowry - all I have to bring to our happy union is a crappy FICO score and crappy credit history  

The current situation:

4 installment accounts (all school loans) with a total balance of $43,230

5 revolving accounts with a total balance $53 and total limit of $5020

7 negative accounts reported, 1 settlement on an Old Navy card, 1 "bad debt with paid charge off" from Pier 1 Imports and....what for it.....

45 late payments listed. OMG. Insane.

Will I get kicked out of the forums for this agreegious embarassment? Or stoned to death? 

I have started with the DW letters and won't stop till I drop. But what else can I do? I think that is all...and just wait and be good. Its so frustrating! I can't believe they don't teach personal finance in schools! I can't believe my parents didn't educate me better! I can't believe I was young, dumb and ignorant in my early twenties. 

Its just all SUPER of depressing

[Schoolbuskid]

So you dont have any other baddies except for the lates with previous CCC's, right? If that is the case then yea basically all you can do is GW your life away!

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@Anonymous wrote:

The current situation:

4 installment accounts (all school loans) with a total balance of $43,230

5 revolving accounts with a total balance $53 and total limit of $5020

7 negative accounts reported, 1 settlement on an Old Navy card, 1 "bad debt with paid charge off" from Pier 1 Imports and....what for it.....

You need to elaborate more on those 7 accounts, like DOFD, DOLA etc....have any of these account been sold to CA's? You've obviously been late on some of them!

45 late payments listed. OMG. Insane.

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[Anonymous]

Yes, a little late for sure The details on the 7 negative accounts:

1. BoA CC - open account, balance of $53

DOLA, 3/2009

DOFD, 1/2005 

I have only been late once with this account, because I was away being a ludite at a yoga ashram  (no joke)

2. School Loan - open, in repayment

DOLA, 3/2009

DOFD, 10/2006

1 late payment

3.  Nordstrom CC - was closed, just reopened it this week

DOLA, 3/2009

DOFD,  10/2003

12 late payments listed

4. PIER 1 - closed account, listed as "paid charge off" and also"paid charge off/bad debt/collection

DOLA, listed N/A

DOFD, 1/2005

3 lates

5. US Dept of Ed - Federal school loan, closed after consolidation

DOLA, 09/2005

DOFD, 2/2005

4 lates, 60, 90, 2 120s 

6. VISA/DSNB (through MACY's) - closed CC account

DOLA, 2/2007

DOFD, 4/2004

13 lates, some 30s all the way to a 120

7. Wells Fargo - closed CC acount

DOLA, 8/2005 (although the account was closed in 3/2005)

DOFD, 3/2005

7 late payments, some 30s, some 60s

And its actually 8 when I look at my MyFICO CR:

8. GEMB/Old Navy

DOLA, 4/2005

no lates reported, but reported as "settlement accepted on this account" 

Phew! Are you sure you wanted to know all?

So yep. All that cruminess is way I am drowning in a pool of sorrow tonight.

[Schoolbuskid]

Yes i wanted to know, because the information may be beneficial in helping you...Hey dont feel so bad, this is something that you can rebound from...trust me, i hear of it all the time. Do you know what key to GWing is?

PERSISTENCE, PERSISTENCE, PERSISTENCE!

With a little work on your behalf you can be baddie free, you must continue to read on the boards and constantly ask for help...trust me there are plenty of people here willing to give. As you know already, you must GW these accounts, make them personal and believable.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Surely this has got to be a record amount late payments...

But I have an abundance of persistence (some even call it stubborness) 

So I think as long as I am doing everything I can be right now, which is:

1. GW lettering my heart out

2. no high balances on any ccs

3. Paying above minimum on school loans

...then maybe there is a little hope at the end of the long dark tunnel  - if there is anything else I could be doing, lay it on me!!!  I will just be the little engine that could.

The good news: my future husband apparently is waaaay smarter than me, with his shiny happy 789 FICO score - I will admit I am more than just a little jealous

[tullz85]

My score sucks way worse than yours (believe me) due to being nieve and careless.

One thing I've learned, take one step at a time. Currently, I paid down my CC to 90%, down from 180% (don't ask )

My very first GW the CA wrote me a letter saying they would delete, because I didn't know what PFD was.

Have hope, GW your heart out and remember it takes many small steps to climb up, one slip to fall down fast in the credit world.

Tackle what you can and be pleased with that! Having the awareness that you need to correct your habits will help, since you now know not to be late on payments

[Anonymous]

New to the FICO forum.....can you explain what GW is and PD whatever it was you didn't understand?

[Anonymous]

Oops....I mean PFD.  What is that and how did the GW help?

[Scamp]

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boromom wrote:
New to the FICO forum.....can you explain what GW is and PD whatever it was you didn't understand?

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Welcome to the forums, boromom.

GW = Good Will, meaning to send letters to a creditor requesting removal of negative items on your credit reports purely as a good-will gesture on their part.

PFD = Pay For Delete, meaning to offer to pay what's owed in return for deletion of a negative item from your reports.

Please read Guide to Common Abbreviations to familiarize yourself with the acronyms we all throw around so much on here.

[Anonymous]

aww sweetie please don't cry. With some hard work, some GW letter and time and patience and the support of your friends here at myfico.com you will be well on the road to excellent credit again.