Hello everyone,
This is my first post here but I felt like sharing my experience with you. My journey started in 2010 when I had clean credit with scores of 730+. That year I started to have financial difficulties and had no choice but to overuse my credit cards and, worst of it all, take out cash advances. By 2011 I had collections on all of my credit cards (five). The only account that was in good standing was my auto loan with San Mateo Credit Union. I made sure I never missed a payment. By summer 2012 I had enough money to be able to payoff three collections in full (AmEx, Macy's and Cap One) and settle the other two (Discover and Comerica). By that time my score was already around 550 and the only thing that kept it from going down even further was my auto loan. Jobless and desperate enough I decided to take a job overseas and left the U.S. in 2013. I forgot to wire money to my US bank account and my auto payment didn't go through. When I got an email from San Mateo CU I called them immediately and explained my situation and they were very understanding said they won't report it and gave me a week to make the late payment. For some reason the money wire didn't get processed within a week (usually it take 2-5 days) so I called them and asked for a few more days. The lady said don't be late otherwise we'll have to repossess the car. I called them as soon as the money was processed (about 4-5 days later) but the lady said it was too late and they already repossessed the car. She said my only option if I want the car back was to pay in full. So I told her that I had a trip back very soon and if she can hold back the auction process I will pay in full. I did so in the summer of 2013 and reclaimed the car and went back overseas for my job. Of course my credit took a small dip but thankfully never went below 500.
Not being in the U.S. I wasn't able to work on my credit, but I was glad that I was done dealing with collectors and credit problems (at least I thought so). In August 2014 I decided to sign for myfico service again to check on my credit since my return date to the U.S. was close. I found out that I had three small collections. A parking ticket, Verizon bill, and medical bill. I paid off the first two immediately. As for the medical bill I knew I shouldn't have been billed since I was insured at the time of my visit, and that visit was a follow-up to a covered one. I tried to talk to the doctor's office but it was very difficult with me not being there. At that moment I should've realized that the best course of action was to pay the collection and deal with it once I got back. Unfortunately, I didn't do that until April of 2015.
In March I applied for an auto loan with San Mateo CU. I was declined at first but after a bit of negotiating and talking to them they agreed to give me another chance as long as I put a higher down payment, which I expected. I agreed and got a good rate of 4.99%. At the time my credit scores had increased a bit but I had no open positive accounts. The scores were: Eq 617, TU 587, Exp 593. The loan officer used the highest one to secure the rate for me.
At the beginning of June, after researching here, I decided to apply for a First Progress Secured Credit Card since it seemed easy to get. Between June 4th and 6th I saw my scores increase because of the inquiry. Eq went up by 3 points to 620, TU by 20 to 607, and Exp by 17 to 610. I was very excited to say the least. By yesterday, July 2nd, my First Progress account was added to my reports and the scores went up again. Eq by 37 to 657 and Exp by 20 to 630. TU went up by 2 points but myfico didn't specify the reason so I'm not sure if the account was added or not yet as of today. Yesterday, I went into Banf of America and applied for their secured credit card and left the bank with the application pending. I woke up today to find the account in my online banking 
.
I am very happy about the progress I've made in the short time since I came back in January. I am going to keep rebuilding my credit and hopefully gain creditors trust again enough to secure a good home loan next year and purchase my first property.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my experience and say I truly thank everyone here for posting their experiences and tips. If it wasn't for this forum and the people here I wouldn't be in this position today. I didn't even know the value of secured credit cards, let alone how to get around this mess I buried myself in. So, again thank you, and I wish you all the best.
Have a wonderful weekend and happy 4th.
