Thanks to a lot of what I've learned from myFICO, and friends in the banking industry I've been able to make signifcant progress in repairing my credit. In the last year my score has improved by 40-60 points on all 3 CRA's and this is while still maintaining a 76-87% overall utilization.
In doing so, I’ve been able to refinance my auto loan for a previous 21% APR (yeah I’m serious) down to 12% APR with Wells Fargo and obtain my first store card with Kohl’s since I messed up years ago with Amazon (Syncrony Bank).
How I did it?
[UPDATED] Capital One – Reported Numerous 30, 60, 90 Late Payment
Was able to remove the late payments by contacting the EO, and submitting hardship information and they agreed to remove all late payments from my current and previous cards.
[REMOVED] Credit One Bank – Chargeoff
Was able to have this TL removed after payment was made in full to Midland funding by contacting the CEO of the company by e-mail and the Presidents office reviewing my GW/Hardship request.
[REMOVED] South Carolina State Credit Union – Chargeoff
Was able to have the TL removed due to inaccurate reporting, and the creditor ignoring fraudulent activity on this account. Was able to accomplish this through a BBB complaint.
[REMOVED] Western Finanace - Reported Bankruptcy on TU, and as chargeoff on EX and EQ
Was able to remove this TL by disputing the inaccurate reporting through the BBB after all attempts through the CRA's failed. As the business had falsely reported a bankruptcy and the information on file was in accurate from the company they bought in an acquisition was able to have the TL removed.
What’s Next?
[STOP] Inquiries & Opening New Accounts
As of right now I’ve been in the Garden about 15 days, but truly need to work on average account age which is 4 years and the age of my most recently opened account.
[REMOVE] Bank of America – Chargeoff
So far, I have been able to get this TL removed from EQ, still pending review for removal from TU and EX. If this fails, then I will have to go through another means to get this account removed.
[REMOVE] Syncrony Bank / Amazon – Chargeoff
Waiting the outcome of a BBB complaint regarding the business refusing to accept a settlement or any payments on this account but still reporting a balance on the account.
[UPDATE] Affirm – 30 Day Late Payment in July of 2017
Sent an e-mail to their execs, and filed a BBB complaint which so far has not been answered they are nearing the end of the timeframe allowed so we shall see if this fails I will likely file a formal complaint with the CPB.
[CLI] Kohls from $300
Based on information learned on the forums I’ll request a CLI after the account has been open for 91 days which will be sometime in May and hopefully increase the credit limit.
[REDUCE] All Credit Card Balances - Currently 76-87% overall utilization
Once all chargeoff’s and late payment work is completed I then plan to work on lowering my utilization below 30% over the next 2-4 weeks. Thankfully or not depending on viewpoint I only have around $3,000 in credit card debt so this should be easy to accomplish.
[REDUCE] Student Loan Debt
Once all the above are completed I plan to work on paying down my student loan debt and getting it below the original balance which I’ve read will help me overall.
Thank you everyone for all your help, and if anyone can advise on things they think I should also try or do I’d greatly appreciate any feedback.
@Anonymouswrote:Great steps! Good luck on BoA. I couldn't get a 30 & 60 day late mark off of mine and it was for an item I never purchased!
Thank you everyone, it's been a journey for sure still so much more to-do but all I can think about is the movie What about Bob. Baby steps, just gotta keep taking baby steps until all negatives are gone and I'm in a solid place credit wise.
corpcrmgr: Do you have proof that you never purchased the item? If so, or that you disputed the purchase originally I'd file a BBB complaint to get the attention of their execs. They promote no liability on their credit card for new customers so a BBB complaint that has factual and evidentary basis will be seriously looked at as otherwise it could be a deep mark on them. If that fails and you have paperwork file a CPB complaint.
Congratulations on your hard work so far!
Thank you for the positive support, and help this community provides. Figured I would provide an update on the list I'm working on.
[RECON] Barclay Priceline Rewards Visa
Spoke to an agent who processed a recon, essentially was told you can request recon twice on each application. He advised I need to get both chargeoff accounts to report a $0 balance (not removed) and then they would more than likely be able to approve me for the card.
[UPDATE/PROGRESS] Bank of America – Chargeoff
EQ removed TL. EX & TU updated balance to $0. In communication with Office of the President to get this matter resolved and TL removed.
[PROGRESS] Syncrony Bank / Amazon – Chargeoff
BBB Dispute still pending. Received an e-mail from the Office of the President they were looking into this matter to hopefully get it resolved and the TL removed.
[REDUCED] All Credit Card Balances - Currently 51% overall utilization
Reduced overall utilization down to 51%, from 76%-87%. Reduced deliquent utilization to $0 on 1 account, $1,335 pending.
[UPDATE/REDUCE] Student Loan Debt
Loans come out of deferrment in August, but will start making interest payments to bring balance back to 100%. Before regular payments start, and begin the process of bringing down this debt currently at $60,000.
[FAILED] Affirm – 30 Day Late Payment in July of 2017
Affirm stands strong they will not update the account through 2 BBB responses, despite given documentation and reasons they should. It appears this is a lost cause I've e-mailed every e-mail address I could find as well to no avail.
[CLI] Kohls from $300
Based on information learned on the forums I’ll request a CLI after the account has been open for 91 days which will be sometime in May and hopefully increase the credit limit.
[CLI] Capital One from $2,400
Spoke to EO regarding another matter, request manual review but was told they couldn't do so until May after the card combination had aged 6 months. The agent did advise that because of the card combination I'm in a new "bracket" and would more than likely get a nice increase in May so long as I maintain positive payment history.
[CLI] Victoria Secret from $500
From what I've read with positive payment history and card usage this should receive an auto CLI after 90 days or I can request one.
[CLI] Wayfair from $500
From what I've read with positive payment history and card usage this should receive an auto CLI after 90 days or I can request one.
[CLI] Credit One Bank from $300 to $450
Checked my Credit One Bank account today and was excited to see an auto CLI after only first statement cut from $300 to $450. While I know this is a subprime card, it still is better than most subprime cards like the Milestone card I’ve got and had for years that will never see a CLI.