I haven't been posting much lately. The short version: I met my rebuilding goal of qualifying for a mortgage by January, purchased a home and am in the process of moving in. 
The long version. I hope this can give some hope to those starting out on their repair/rebuilding journey.
I began monitoring my credit in earnest in November 2014. At the time, my Equifax FICO score was 499. I had around about a dozen collections on my credit report, most of them paid medical, a foreclosure, charged-off credit cards and loans. My only active account - a student loan - had (and still has) 8 late marks, ranging from 30 to 120 days. 2012/2013 were bad years and my finances had fallen apart. I was trying to juggle things and failed miserably. I had just about every large adverse event (deaths, job loss, relationship ending to name a few) in the court of 12 months. When things looked to be on the upswing, I decided to get my act together and clean up the mess.
- Between negotiations, goodwill letters and simple aging, I was able to remove a few collections.
- I got up to date on my student loans by getting on an income based repayment plan.
- I began saving money in earnest and paying off charged off cards and the few open medical collections.
- I corrected incorrect information on my report, whether it was beneficial or not. Most of this was AU entries from my ex's accounts. Some were in good standing, some weren't. I also had collections updated to display the proper DoFD and went through every entry with a fine toothed comb to make sure whatever was reporting was 100% accurate.
By doing this, my EQ score had jumped from 499 in November to 571 in April. In March, I opened a Fingerhut account with a $400 limit. In April, I opened 2 Cap1 unsecured cards with $500 limits each. I also began tracking all 3 bureuas with MyFICO. My TU mortgage score was my lowest at 509, as that was the bureau with the most negative entries.
More debt was paid off and a few more CAs removed. My score crept past 600 in May. I added a third unsecured card in June.
The remainder of the year - May to December - became a 2 steps forward, 1 step back housekeeping affair. I would take care of something that would temporarily drop my score by 15 tto 20 points. Within 3 or 4 months, I'd regained the points with positive entries and CLIs. The CLs on my Cap1 cards went from $500 to $2000 by September, and I combined the cards. My FH account increased to $1,800 (it sits neglected now). I applied for an AMEX and was approved. All but 2 of the collections were removed, all my debt was paid off, and I got to the point where every TL reported each month was positive.
In December, right before I began seeking pre-quals for a mortgage, my FICO 08 score was 650. My mid-mortgage score was TU, with a score of 655. I had managed to increase my TU mortgage score by 146 points in 8 months!
In January, I put a complete freeze on my credit. I didn't use my cards at all. At the time of my underwriting, I had a combined CL of $8,000 and a reporting balance of $107. Despite the negative entries, my report was squeaky clean. My largest "problem" during underwriting was a credit pull from another mortgage lender when I was rate shopping, which was solved with a simple explanation letter.
Now that my mortgage is signed, I'm doing a bit of clean-up on my existing cards. I recently was approved for another Cap1 card with no annual fee and a slightly lower APR. When I'm able, I will combine my existing card ($40 fee) with the new card.
I've gained a large amount of financial freedom. I no longer worry when I see an unknown number call my phone. I have a large amount of unutilized credit available in case of extreme emergencies. I've been able to reflect upon my financial situation and make adjustments. I currently have 6 months of bills, before my first mortgage payment is due, in savings. The best part of all of this is honestly not the credit, but getting a solid grasp on my financial life and setting aside funds for goals/emergencies. When I started this in 2014, I really didn't think it was possible but gave it a shot anyway. It was emotional and infuriating at times, but 100% worth it.
@Anonymous wrote:I haven't been posting much lately. The short version: I met my rebuilding goal of qualifying for a mortgage by January, purchased a home and am in the process of moving in.
The long version. I hope this can give some hope to those starting out on their repair/rebuilding journey.
I began monitoring my credit in earnest in November 2014. At the time, my Equifax FICO score was 499. I had around about a dozen collections on my credit report, most of them paid medical, a foreclosure, charged-off credit cards and loans. My only active account - a student loan - had (and still has) 8 late marks, ranging from 30 to 120 days. 2012/2013 were bad years and my finances had fallen apart. I was trying to juggle things and failed miserably. I had just about every large adverse event (deaths, job loss, relationship ending to name a few) in the court of 12 months. When things looked to be on the upswing, I decided to get my act together and clean up the mess.
- Between negotiations, goodwill letters and simple aging, I was able to remove a few collections.
- I got up to date on my student loans by getting on an income based repayment plan.
- I began saving money in earnest and paying off charged off cards and the few open medical collections.
- I corrected incorrect information on my report, whether it was beneficial or not. Most of this was AU entries from my ex's accounts. Some were in good standing, some weren't. I also had collections updated to display the proper DoFD and went through every entry with a fine toothed comb to make sure whatever was reporting was 100% accurate.
By doing this, my EQ score had jumped from 499 in November to 571 in April. In March, I opened a Fingerhut account with a $400 limit. In April, I opened 2 Cap1 unsecured cards with $500 limits each. I also began tracking all 3 bureuas with MyFICO. My TU mortgage score was my lowest at 509, as that was the bureau with the most negative entries.
More debt was paid off and a few more CAs removed. My score crept past 600 in May. I added a third unsecured card in June.
The remainder of the year - May to December - became a 2 steps forward, 1 step back housekeeping affair. I would take care of something that would temporarily drop my score by 15 tto 20 points. Within 3 or 4 months, I'd regained the points with positive entries and CLIs. The CLs on my Cap1 cards went from $500 to $2000 by September, and I combined the cards. My FH account increased to $1,800 (it sits neglected now). I applied for an AMEX and was approved. All but 2 of the collections were removed, all my debt was paid off, and I got to the point where every TL reported each month was positive.
In December, right before I began seeking pre-quals for a mortgage, my FICO 08 score was 650. My mid-mortgage score was TU, with a score of 655. I had managed to increase my TU mortgage score by 146 points in 8 months!
In January, I put a complete freeze on my credit. I didn't use my cards at all. At the time of my underwriting, I had a combined CL of $8,000 and a reporting balance of $107. Despite the negative entries, my report was squeaky clean. My largest "problem" during underwriting was a credit pull from another mortgage lender when I was rate shopping, which was solved with a simple explanation letter.
Now that my mortgage is signed, I'm doing a bit of clean-up on my existing cards. I recently was approved for another Cap1 card with no annual fee and a slightly lower APR. When I'm able, I will combine my existing card ($40 fee) with the new card.
I've gained a large amount of financial freedom. I no longer worry when I see an unknown number call my phone. I have a large amount of unutilized credit available in case of extreme emergencies. I've been able to reflect upon my financial situation and make adjustments. I currently have 6 months of bills, before my first mortgage payment is due, in savings. The best part of all of this is honestly not the credit, but getting a solid grasp on my financial life and setting aside funds for goals/emergencies. When I started this in 2014, I really didn't think it was possible but gave it a shot anyway. It was emotional and infuriating at times, but 100% worth it.
Very nice!!! Slow and steady wins the race.
The ups and downs in scores while trying to rebuild can be very discouraging and many don't understand that it can take a couple of months to regain a small loss in pts.
Congrats and thanks for putting this up as encouragement to all...
