My scores started in the 500-550 range in 3/14. I was lucky because most of my baddies were only on TU, and they were very easy to deal with. I had a total of 9 early exclusions from TU. Another factor for me was I hadn't used or applied for credit since 2008 when my health problems began. So by the time I started this process I was close to CRTP for most of the derogs anyway. I had a few accounts that were removed from various reports, which thanks to credit monitoring, gave me an opportunity to pay the OC, before I was contacted by a new CA. Timing is the key here. The best thing I did was rehab my federal student loans. I gained between 60-87 pts on each CR when my new TLs reported.
I currently have a Cap One judgement, and 3 CAs that remain. I'm working to save $ so I can try to settle this. The 3 CAs, I plan to keep my monitoring.in place, and hopefully they get transferred so I can pay the OC during the transition. Otherwise I'll wait them out. CRTP isat most 1 1/2 years out, my scores are good, and I'm in no hurry to app for new credit.
That's the short summary. Thanks for sharing the journey.