cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Starting my rebuild journey (3 month update)

tag
Anonymous
Not applicable

Starting my rebuild journey (3 month update)

Hello all,

 

I just signed up and wanted to introduce myself a bit. After finding this site two nights ago I have decided to start on the trek of rebuilding my credit.

 

I had 5 credit cards when I was younger, and didnt really care about my credit at all, so I maxed them all out and stopped making payments on them. I was never sued, and all debt has since fallen off of my credit report as of last spring. Since then I have only had one car loan, which is still reporting a few 30, 60, and 90 day lates, but will fall off next year. The loan was paid in full and is reporting as so. Recently I just got screwed by a verizon line that i transferred over to someone else due to me moving away, and I ended up oweing $70 dollars for 1.5 years that I just found out about. I am paying this off next week when I get paid. However I called into verizon Sunday morning and spoke to a rep, and asked how I could owe money when for the previous 7 years I always paid my bill a month in advance, and paid the bill in full an hour before transferring the line. The gentleman looked at the history and saw I was correct, and said he doesnt know why all of a sudden at the time of transfer that my payment arraingment had changed. He said he would delete it from my credit report, and told me it could take up to 30 days for the CRA's to process the request.

 

I also have 21k in student loans reporting, but I am currently in school, so I do not have to start paying those off for 2 years at the earliest.

 

I just pulled my scores from CCT, and currently I am at EX 558, TU 579, and EQ 594. I also applied for a Capital One secured card on Saturday night for $49 toward a $200 limit.

 

Hopefully if Verizon removed the negatives, and with all but two 30 day lates on my car loan falling off within a year, I should be able to build a pretty nice credit profile within the next 18 months. I was thinking of writing a good will letter to the credit union asking for the lates to be removed, but theyre only currently reporting lates to one credit agency, and I dont want to realize this and correct their mistake.

 

Outside of the secured card, and applying for a Capital One Platinum in a few months, are there any tips that I should know to get off on the right foot?

 

Thanks for any help thrown my way, and Im excited to join in on this journey with all of you!

 

Message 1 of 9
8 REPLIES 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Starting my rebuild journey

The two top tips you'll hear on this forum are to NEVER miss a payment (always pay on time) and to keep your utilization low.  These two factors combined make up 2/3 of your credit score... so nailing both of them down for 6-12 months can usually result in 50-100 point increases on a file such as yours. 

 

Getting baddies removed or having them fall off certainly helps speed up the rebuilding process, but it definitely takes a good deal of effort and of course time.

Message 2 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Starting my rebuild journey

Thanks very much for the reply and the optimism.

 

I have read a lot that I need three credit cards and a loan, and to keep two cards at a zero balance and let one show less than 10% utilization.

 

My question is though, will my student loans count as a loan for my credit profile currently, since I am not required to make any payments on them? Also, would Great Lakes report early payments that I do make to knock down the interest before m deferment is up? If not, do I need to get a secured loan in like 10 months to complete my credit profile?

 

I hope to have a credit score of around 750 by December of 2017, which I hope is attainable if Verizon removes negatives from my report like they said they would, and with only two 30 day lates from 6 years ago remaining on my car loan.

 

Do you think I have a shot? I litterally have nada on my report except for 21k in student loans, the verizon, and my old car loan. The 5 old credit cards that went into deferment and collections that I never made a single payment towards dropped already like I said. My capital one secured card should hit my credit reports within the next two months though

Message 3 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Starting my rebuild journey


Bubba12885 wrote:

Hello all,

 

I just signed up and wanted to introduce myself a bit. After finding this site two nights ago I have decided to start on the trek of rebuilding my credit.

 

I had 5 credit cards when I was younger, and didnt really care about my credit at all, so I maxed them all out and stopped making payments on them. I was never sued, and all debt has since fallen off of my credit report as of last spring. Since then I have only had one car loan, which is still reporting a few 30, 60, and 90 day lates, but will fall off next year. The loan was paid in full and is reporting as so. Recently I just got screwed by a verizon line that i transferred over to someone else due to me moving away, and I ended up oweing $70 dollars for 1.5 years that I just found out about. I am paying this off next week when I get paid. However I called into verizon Sunday morning and spoke to a rep, and asked how I could owe money when for the previous 7 years I always paid my bill a month in advance, and paid the bill in full an hour before transferring the line. The gentleman looked at the history and saw I was correct, and said he doesnt know why all of a sudden at the time of transfer that my payment arraingment had changed. He said he would delete it from my credit report, and told me it could take up to 30 days for the CRA's to process the request.

 

I also have 21k in student loans reporting, but I am currently in school, so I do not have to start paying those off for 2 years at the earliest.

 

I just pulled my scores from CCT, and currently I am at EX 558, TU 579, and EQ 594. I also applied for a Capital One secured card on Saturday night for $49 toward a $200 limit.

 

Hopefully if Verizon removed the negatives, and with all but two 30 day lates on my car loan falling off within a year, I should be able to build a pretty nice credit profile within the next 18 months. I was thinking of writing a good will letter to the credit union asking for the lates to be removed, but theyre only currently reporting lates to one credit agency, and I dont want to realize this and correct their mistake.

 

Outside of the secured card, and applying for a Capital One Platinum in a few months, are there any tips that I should know to get off on the right foot?

 

Thanks for any help thrown my way, and Im excited to join in on this journey with all of you!

 



Welcome!

 

Before I was in a position to do anything, I was in a waiting period. I used that time to READ as much as I could on this site. I also took notes (copied & pasted) into different topics, to include different credit card vendors. I continued to update and refine / correct this information so that I had as much as I needed to know available to myself, and didn't have to constantly search for info, or post questions and wait on replies. I benefited at least on an emotional level knowing I was prepared with information I could use to make the best decision for myself when that time came.


Here is a thread which can expand your information and perspective. Consider using it as an example of "How" one can move forward in a disciplined manner.


* keep in mind, it and everything else here is not a Silver Bullet. It needs to take into consideration your specific circumstances, needs, and abilities, and adapt it to yourself.


Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2 by Scupra


http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Bankruptcy/Bankruptcy-Friendly-Credit-Cards-Pt-2/td-p/3999737


Welcome & Best Wishes!

Message 4 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Starting my rebuild journey


@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks very much for the reply and the optimism.

 

I have read a lot that I need three credit cards and a loan, and to keep two cards at a zero balance and let one show less than 10% utilization.

 

My question is though, will my student loans count as a loan for my credit profile currently, since I am not required to make any payments on them? Also, would Great Lakes report early payments that I do make to knock down the interest before m deferment is up? If not, do I need to get a secured loan in like 10 months to complete my credit profile?

 

I hope to have a credit score of around 750 by December of 2017, which I hope is attainable if Verizon removes negatives from my report like they said they would, and with only two 30 day lates from 6 years ago remaining on my car loan.

 

Do you think I have a shot? I litterally have nada on my report except for 21k in student loans, the verizon, and my old car loan. The 5 old credit cards that went into deferment and collections that I never made a single payment towards dropped already like I said. My capital one secured card should hit my credit reports within the next two months though


Yes your student loans count as installment loans and with three credit cards allowing only one to report with a balance of less than 9% of its limit will maximize your scores. As for the 750 by December that is maybe a little optimistic but you will have much higher scores than you have now and be eighteen months closer to 750. Good luck in your rebuild.
Message 5 of 9
RonM21
Valued Contributor

Re: Starting my rebuild journey

Welcome to the forums Bubba! Your goal is possibly obtainable. I fully agree with BBB and Sabastian. Utilization, no missed payments, and reading these threads are all key. Moving forward, keep youg what you are doing, working on getting the derogs removed.

Beyond that, if you grow your credit with a few cards, and follow much of the info you learn on here, your scores will rise. Many, many success stories here, and examples for almost any situation are covered in these forums.

Stick closely to this place, and you'll be well on your way to success in no time!!


Total CL: $321.7kUTL: 2%AAoA: 7.0yrsBaddies: 0Other: Lease, Loan, *No Mortgage, All Inq's from Jun '20 Car Shopping

BoA-55k | NFCU-45k | AMEX-42k | DISC-40.6k | PENFED-38.4k | LOWES-35k | ALLIANT-25k | CITI-15.7k | BARCLAYS-15k | CHASE-10k

Message 6 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Starting my rebuild journey

Thanks everyone for the replies.

 

Just a quick update. I spoke with Verizon last monday and was told that the negative acount would be deleted from my credit history, and to give the CRA's 30 days to update the change. Well I checked Credit Karma today, and the acount has already been deleted from both credit reports. My question though is this. I have CCT, but I dont know how to get new reports and scores from them. My reports are showing current as of June 28th, and I only see the option to pay for 3 new reports and scores. How, and or when, does CCT update? Is there a link somewhere that I am missing that I need to click on?

Message 7 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Starting my rebuild journey

I just logged into CCT and noticed my Experian score updated today. I am assuming the only change on my credit report is due to the Verizon account being removed.

 

However, my score jumped up from 558 to 694! Almost  140 point jump!!!! Can't wait to see what happens when that Cap1 secured card starts to report. Hopefully I can be above 700, that would be unreal!

Message 8 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Starting my rebuild journey (3 month update)

So since I have joined this site and made this first post, I have made a few moves. 

 

I opened up the CapOne secured as indicated above, and am in my second billing cycle with them.  In an attempt to get to 3 cards fast, I bit the bullet and got a Credit One card.  

 

Due to this forum I became aware of NFCU, and realized I was eligible for membership, so I applied with them last month and applied for their Go Rewards card. I only got a $500 limit, but I have ran a ton through it, and pay it off each week.  Hopefully that will grow quickly. 

 

This week I also received a pre-approval for the Citi Double Cash, so I applied for it.  I got in with only $700,but IDC. I only wanted it so I can drop the CreditOne, drop the CapOne secured n get the platinum (then PC to QS after a few months), and keep my 3 cards for a good year of gardening. 

 

I have also began to make monthly payments towards the interest in my student loans while they are still in forbidence.  

 

With all of this, my Ex and TU Fico scores are around 715,and my Eq is at 680 (still have two 60 and 90 day lates from old car loan that fall off next spring). 

 

Overall I am happy to see the benefits and the realization that I am so close to having decent credit, and no subprime cards in my wallet. 

 

Thanks again to everyone that has posted on here, I learned so much from yall, and you have had a discreet yet profound impact on my life.  Thanks again! 

Message 9 of 9
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.