I wanted to share my credit journey with all of you with hopes that it will give you all encouragement, relief and hope that one day your journey will be successful and stress-free! It IS totally possible to get back on the road to having good credit (or have good credit if you have never had it) and to be SUCCESSFUL in the journey. I encourage everyone to fight hard, work hard, RESEARCH, focus, do NOT loose hope and most of all...have patience. Rome wasn't build overnight!
1) Preface:
So...4:30am today I woke up with an odd feeling in my chest and in my head. I NEEDED to check my scores through the Experian app and MyFICO apps for some reason, Sure enough that feeling didn't go unfounded. My Experian went from 644 to 714 and my Equifax went from 640 to 690. I quite literally experienced a 70pt JUMP with EX and a 50pt JUMP with EQ. TU has detected the changes within my CR and is currently pending to adjust the changes (explanation below). I am predicting a 30-50 point jump which will bring me to 700-710's
I can't believe it....I am in the 700 club with 2/3 CRAs!!!
2) The Start of my Credit Journey:
About 4 years ago I was in debt with multiple banks, in collections with other companies, had 2 student loans with 120+ missed payments makrs, 15+ hard inquiries on all 3 CRA's, my vehicle was reposessed, I was fired from my professional banking job (because of my debt), had no vehicle and last but not least...I owed money to my college as well as deferred my student loans. I literally as at the lowest point possible in my life (financially, mentally and physically). I knew I needed to turn my life around or else I was doomed to wallow in my own pit of delinquency and self loathing and even worse, sent to prision over debts I failed to pay.
In August 2012 (actually this week), I set goals for myself in order to encourage and motivate me to reach them. My "fire" didn't burn out and I knew I had the opportunity to turn my life around and despite my circumstances. I believed, I KNEW that every opportunity in life is only a breath away. I constantly put in my mind that every SECOND of life is an opportunity to better myself and those around me with my actions and life. So I set those goals and never looked back!
Later in 2012 (Nov) I got a decent paying job ($13.50) after 20+ face to face interviews and bought a cheap 1999 Mecury Grand Marquis to get myself on my feet and on my way. I had pulled up my credit report(s) later that month after putting it off (due to my fears) and was devestated what I found. ALL 3 CRA reported my credit score at 518 (EX) 510 (TU) and 498 (EQ). Needless to say, I was determined to get my credit back in line.
Steps I Took to Success:
From 2012 to 2016 this month I....
1) Paid off my school debt and was granted admissions once again.
They did NOT report my debt to the CRA's however I remembered that they stated that I was about 3 months out from them sending my debt to a collections account. The total debt was $558.17. I paid it off and got back into school.
2) I called the loan / collection company responsible for my repo and arraged a deal with them...
in writing (which I ADVISE EVERYONE WHO IS BUILDING CREDIT TO HAVE EVERYTHING IN WRITING) that if I pay a sum of 460.xx to pay for the repo fees and other fees associated with my account, once they sell my vehicle at the auction, if there was no balance remainaing they would close my account as paid in full and NOT put it in repo status. I paid, the agreement was set in stone and even till this day my account is shown as PAID. I kept consistent communication with them and was completley transparent, told them my struggles, what I was going throgh etc. Surprisingly enough, the managers over my account and over the finance teams had mercy on me and till this day I am grateful.
3) I gathered every single letter and answered every single call from collection companies that reflected what was on my credit report.
I owed a grand total of $2,549 and some change between 6 collection agencies/banks. I owed Capital One, Regions Bank, US Bank, BofA, and a pay to own company (do NOT recommend) and a medical collections company.
Capital One: I spoke with them about my account and at that time, I could not afford to pay them in full. I opted to wait for the SOL and eventually it dropped off my CR this year. I had this account open in collections since 2009 ever since my first delenquency that year. I called them 5/2016 to get an update/status on the debt. They stated that it was past the SOL and once an account was past the SOL, they do NOT pursue the debt depending on the amount ($639.00 at the time). I of course had this in writing and is in my file cabnet and email as we speak. The collection is GONE from all CRA's and I confirmed with them this as well. I also opened up a Capital One platinumn creditcard with a 3k credit line this month
Regions Bank: I had owed over $1260.xx dollars due to two accounts being overdrafted (family and "friends" issues....). I could've reported it as fraud however instead of going down that slippery slope, I decided to settle with the CA for 35% of the overall debt from both accounts. Luckily enough, before I settled and paid I had:
a) Had the settlement offers sent to me via email and USPS witht he percintage and agreement(s).
b) Validated the debt with an old associate who worked in Regions Collections departments. Ironically enough (yes you can laugh or raise an eyebrow) I worked for the bank as a bank teller, so I knew who to contact and ask about this debt. Luckily since the debt was from 2 checking accounts, Regions stated that they do NOT report these charge offs to the CRA's, including the debt collection company (in their policies, and have it in writing and recorded phone call) as well. In case you were wondering, the collection company was Convergent Outsourcing. Honestly they were by far the 2nd easiest collection company to work with, contrary to what MANY people have said about them.
c) Confirmed with them and have in writing that the account will be closed, balance at 0 and not reported.
d) I paid them off this month 8/2016
e) Once again, these debts did NOT show up on my credit report however they were VALID, so I decided to take care of them before they could potentially affect my credit score (even though they were in collection for over 4 years).
US Bank: Data Collections Central was the debt collection company and to be blunt, they were nice, professional and straight to the point. Not only did they send me my requested PFD via email (signed as well) shortly AFTER my call with them, they ALSO sent me that same letter via certified mail. A week after calling them and setting up the PFD, I paid the account in full and in 2 weeks, the collection account was removed from my credit report. Easy Easy. I paid them off 7/28/2016.
BofA: Pretty much just walked into a branch and paid off the debt with them. They removed it from their system and also from chexsystems. Paid them off 4/2013
3rd party company. I paid them off directly but of course, had a PFD written up, acknowledged and agreed upon by them and me. Report dropped off of my CR after 2 weeks of agreement and payment. Paid them off 7/2013.
Medical Collections: I did NOT know this was a collection that I had on my record prior to me pulling my credit report on 4/2016, I was VERY shocked to see this, to be frank. After calling and doing my research, apparently the collection company reported this collection as I owed $60.00 to US Healthworks for a Dr. Visit I had in late 2013. I thought that the charge was suspicious so I did some digging and contacted the OC as well as the Dr. office I had my appointment at. Sure enough, they double dipped and charged me for that visit TWICE. I didn't know they did this nor did they send a letter but somehow the amount owed was sent to the collections office a MONTH after the "bill" (that I once again, didn't see) was owed. I was quite disappointed to say the least. I asked the OC company and the Dr. office for about a week (sending letters and calling almost every other day), to see if they can remove this wrongful collection off all 3 of my CRA's but even the Dr's and MANAGERS wouldn't budge. Since the debt was so "old", they gave me the run around and lied and lied to me about how they "couldn't help me" and that I had to "contact the colleciton company to remove it".
After about a week of back and fourth calls from the OC and Dr., I finally called TSI/Transworld Systems and sure enough, it was an extremely rough experience. Not only were they pushy, rude and unprofessional, they also claimed that their company does NOT grant pay for deletes. Mhhmmm. So After several calls within a few weeks, I decided to send letters to their PO Box and directly to some of the collection managers as well. After about a few weeks of persistance they asked if I can dispute it so they can see if they can delete the records from my CRA's through that method since they claim they didn't have a "formal pay for delete process". Of course we made this agreement and it was in writing/paper. I successfully removed the collection from TU and EX, however EQ is the last one and the dispute is pending. Once that is off my EQ, my credit score is projected to raise 10-30 points. All of this for just $60.00...and it was totally worth it!.
4) Waited to open a credit card. After I performed all of these actions, I knew I wasn't in the clear.
Despite my tenaicity, dedication and focus on removing all the bad marks off my credit report, I still didn't feel comfortable opening a credit card. I sought in 2014, credit counseling and financial counceling (from my now father in law, how ironic). From there I was advised to stick with a budget and once all the inquiries fell off (Dec 2014), I can begin shopping for credit cards. Of course when Dec 2014 rolled around I was still somewhat "afraid" of opening up a card. I was so wrapped up in my head from experiences from the past that I simply didn't open up a new credit card for 2 years.
I also knew that I had so many inquiries and that it would take 2 years for them to drop, so I waited for that as well. Aside from the hard inquiries from Comcast and from a rental company/apartment complex, I had little to no inquiries on my credit report when I opened up my cards...
5) Opened up 3 (yes 3) credit cards in one month and became a AU on my wife's $4500 Chase Freedom and $15500 AMEX Delta Gold.
I opened one for $500, one for $3000 and another for $3500. All with low APR and 0% introductory APR for a year. After a 2 weeks of opening all 3 credit cards, I recieved the credit score updates / upgrades and low and behold, my scores from TU and EX jumped via the points I posted above. This is also taking into consideration that I haven't even paid off my first balance yet, which is under 10% utlization (goals are to keep them under 10-15 percent Util). Also once again, TU is 5-14 days later than Experian (from experience) so I should see that boost (and will report it here) once it occurs.
Thank you everyone on this forum for experiences, wisdom and knowledge in doing the RIGHT thing when it comes to credit repair. I would NOT have gained the confidence I had if it wasn't for this forum, my financial advisors and overall sticking to my goals to make things right. If you have any questions or inquiries (not hard ones, jk jk jk) I will be more than happy to answer.
Right now my new goals are:
1) Write GW letters to NelNet and to the Car Loan company who repoed my vehicle with hopes that they remove the late payments from my CRA's. If they are removed then i'll be an even happy camper, if not I will be content none the less with my progress.
2) GARDENING and staying between 5-15% utlization on 2/3 of my credit cards. Aiming for 5-10% once our budget stablizes in a month.
3) Consistently tend to my credit score and be on the look out for anything that "jumps out" all of a sudden.
4) NO inquiries over the next 4-5 months. I DO plan on shopping for a new car sometime late December however I won't apply for ANY application
Thank you! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
Edit/Update: I also added another collection I totally forgot about. This was the MOST difficult to remove but the cheapest to pay to delete.
Starting Scores (8/2012) - EX 558 | EQ 498 | TU 544
Current Scores (9/2016) - EX08: 714 | EQ08: 701 | TU08: 729
Score Goals by 12/2016: EX08: 720's | EQ08: 710's | TU08: 730's
Starting Score: 5/2012 TU 595, EQ 565, EX fako 547
