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My Summer of rebuilding… Now off to the Garden.
Credit was never really a factor in my life, so I had never paid particular attention to it. Besides I KNEW that it was bad. Heck, in 2011 Chase denied me a BANK account because of my credit.
Here's the quick story...
Defaulted on 48k of SL's 10/2009
Wage garnishment from 6/2010- Late 2014 for 20k of SL's - Got down to 7k and PIF on 5/2015
8/2014 - Entered SL rehab for 28k of loans through FAMS - Ended SL Rehab 5/2015 - Loans Picked up by Navient 6/2015
I had no other personal credit, except some stuff from years ago. (some good some bad) – all too old to report on my credit.
I was an authorized user on two of my family's cards. - a Chase Freedom MC $5k limit (which was basically setup for my exclusive use - I charged I paid) and a BOA World Points MC $5k limit (this was a use in case of emergency card - I have NEVER used my card).
ALL my SL's are still showing as defaulted by Sallie Mae
New Jersey Student Assistance Authority still showed my loans as defaulted.
I have a judgement for $702 on my report (This was paid years ago) but it was still showing as open. – currently disputing this
I have an open collection for $333 from Enhanced Recovery over a sprint bill from YEARS ago. (this was entered on my CR in 2012) – currently disputing this
So my starting scores were as follows:
(6/15) TU 587 EQ 564 EX 563. Terrible I know.
So now that my loans were in order and picked up by Navient – I currently have duplicate reporting – loans show good by navient – defaulted / being paid by insurance by sallie mae. Sallie Mae stuff is scheduled to fall off Nov 15 due to aging.
I decided to try to rebuild / reestablish as much credit as possible. I read and studied on here and here’s where I’m at.
Applied for Cap One plat 6/22/15 - Approved for $3k
Got Pre approval letter in mail for USAA WWP MC - 8/11/15 Applied Approved for $5k
Got Prequal AMEX Plat offer 100k bonus with 3k spend - Applied 8/27/15 - Approved
On 9/1 I logged into my Cap One platinum account (to see if my payment cleared) and hit the cli request button after reading about said "luv" button here. CLI granted instantly to $5k.
Sept 2 - Applied for Barclay rewards card – Got the 7-10 day decision message – tried to recon, they said that my “only” acct – the cap one was too new. USAA and AMEX haven’t hit my Credit Report yet.
Sept 2 – Went back to Chase Prequal site – was prequaled for Freedom and Slate. Since I already had a freedom card (remember the one set up for me) I opted for the slate – Approved with $5k CL. Looking back I prob should have gotten the Freedom, BUT I just wanted a 4th TL and was kinda pissed about the barclays denial.
Now I'm starting to worry about inquiries:
I show the following Inquiries:
TU - 3) Cap One 6/12/15 Barclays 9/2/15 Chase 9/2/15
EQ: 5) Cap One 6/12/15, Verizon East 2/11/15, Verizon Wireless 2/10/15, Verizon East 1/20/14 - I switched my cable to Verizon fios, AND got a VZW cell phone plan - why 3 hp's I don't know. and USAA FCB 10/1/14
EX - 5) Amex 8/28/15, USAA 8/11/15, Cap One 6/12/15, FAMS (Student loan servicer during rehab - dunno why this is a HP) 4/3/2015 and BOA 9/12/13 – Opened bank acct, got an HP.
I started the summer with NO accounts in my name and horribly bad scores. Here’s where I’m finishing the summer:
Cap One Platinum with $5k CL
USAA WWP MC with $5k CL
Chase Slate with $5k CL
Amex Plat with 100k bonus offer after 3k spend in 3 months and NPSL.
Current Scores:
9/3/15 – TU 684 (+86 points) EQ 692 (+128 points) EX??
I’m waiting till dec to pay for another 3 bureau to confirm the duplicate sallie mae stuff fell off.
Only ONE TU pull was wasted - The Barclays one, which was a denial but it is what it is.
It's been a very fruitful summer. SO now it's time to garden for at least the fall and winter. My plan is to charge small amounts each month to each of the 3 revolving cards and PIF, usually early. Amex is a diff story bc I'm on a mission to acquire points, but that's a diff discussion.
What would you guys do in my shoes?? How long in the garden?