It has taken me over fifteen years, but I have finally rebuilt my credit to a "very good" rating. Part of that time I spent in ignorance, thinking my only option was to "wait it all out." I learned the hard way that that was a mistake - errors on my report and outright fraud perpetrated by collection agencies, "factoring companies", tricks and intimidation on the phone, re-aging accounts, lack of history and lack of good credit... you name it, all of it worked their magic at my (literal) expense.
I was powerless, watching debts from way beyond the statute of limitations sit for years on my credit reports, with no apparent recourse. I only learned two years ago about this website and I have spent hours reading and re-reading the stories here, the questions and answers, the letters and strategies to use. It is thanks to this site that I have managed to stop inadvertantly playing into the credit sharks' hands and learned how to advance my own interests.. how to protect myself... how to understand how it all works. In those two years, I went from an average of 534 score to my current 747. A lot of the baddies were old, but due to my previous naivete, all of them were devastating to my credit, and several were illegally kept on my report long past time when they should have been.
I went through all the things suggested here: writing disputes, PFDs, keeping CMRRR receipts, secured cards workng my way up to bottom-feeder cards, and then one day in a flash of MyFico insight, realized that I must treat credit cards not as a relaxation and expansion of buying power, but as "the credit slaves that they are." (Thank you, thank you, whichever moderater wrote that post.)
So here I am now, in the admittedly enviable position of finally having a GOOD credit score. In one more month, the very last "late" will fall off my report, I will owe no more than the usual monthly $9.53 Netflix charge, and I anticipate my score going up further, since I am still using those bottom-feeder cards with low credit limits and I just paid off the last $1000, which was hurting my utilization.
My next move is to apply for a "real" credit card - one with a decent credit limit. I am anxious about it - I still hold over those old "loser" feelings I guess. I don't know what to expect - I am hoping to qualify for one finally, and I see no Fico reason why not... but am scared to let go of the crappy cards that led up to this point. My question to all of you is, what is the best way now to go about closing the old accounts - the ones with horrendous fees (both yearly and monthly) and ridiculous interest rates? I am not used to operating from a position of strength... what should I ask for (demand?) Can I expect those predatory companies (First Premier, Orchard, HSBC, etc) to convert me to anything decent?
