Sending GW Letters

[Anonymous]

Hello!

I've been reading this forum and seeing the suggestion to send GW letters to get late pays taken off of CRs has me excited about getting this part of my credit cleaned up.

I had cosigned an auto loan with my sister in law (I know, bad mistake and it's not happening again).  Unfortunately I did this through mine and my wife's CU that we bank with and have had excellent history with.  Because of all the late pays and such they won't even consider us for a new loan of anything.  Her car was totaled in Dec 2009 and the insurance company and gap paid off her note with the CU so the loan closed in good standing except for the late pays.  I called this morning and got a contact name and email to send the GW letter to.  At least I hope it's the right email to send it to.

Because of this auto loan mess (all of our others were and currently are spotless payment history wise) my auto enhanced FICO has taken a big hit.  My wife and I need to trade my truck in for a minivan and my score is too low for a lease or decent interest rate.  I'm about 50-60 points off from qualifying for a lease though.  What impact does getting these late pays taken off do to a credit score, especially an auto-enhanced? 

The CU in question is Texans Credit Union.  Has anyone here dealt with GW letters to them?  How successfull were those letters and whom should I send one to?

[llecs]

I'm not familiar with that CU, but I would send also the GWs via snail mail. Try sending to the address listed on your CR. Then try sending others via their corporate address if different, addresses listed with NCUA (if members), and any address listed on their website. It's OK to keep calling too.

There are quite a few success stories in here using the generic GW found on this forum. Feel free to edit it and shorten it too in future drafts. Success w/ this CU is based on their management. Some creditors accept GWs all the time. Some never. But never give up.

How many lates? How severe is the most recent and how soon was that?

[Anonymous]

Most recent would probably be Dec 2009.  I haven't had a chance to look at my CR but I know from history that's when the last late was before the accident with the car.

There are several 30 and a 60 or 90 day late due to the slowness of the insurance companies paying off the vehicle.

I'm going to look at my CR tomorrow.

[llecs]

FICO scores mostly on the most severe of all the lates in that TL and scores on the recentness (a word?) of that late. So, if your most severe was a 30, then I wouldn't do anything. If it was a 60, then you are being dinged a little bit. If a 90, you might be able to recoup the points you need to your future app if they use an auto-enhanced score, and might be worth the time and effort for the GWs. IMO, if you had any 90 day late, then I'd send GWs.