Hi all!
I am new to the this forum and relatvely new to credit repair in general, so please forgive me in advance for asking a lot of questions. I have several different areas of concern, but I'm just going to try to focus on one area per thread, because I'm already overwhelmed as it is. I went through a very rough patch beginning around 2008 when I lost my job. I exhausted my savings and ended up living on credit cards, ultimately becoming delinquent on most of them. I have several CO's from that time, as well as several settlements and a bunch of late/missed payments ranging from 30 to 120 days that are still lingering. I probably should have just filed bankruptcy, but I didn't have a support network around me and was honestly to afraid and ashamed to ask for help. I've just started to learn about PFDs and GW letters from reading this forum. I hope that someone can help me to begin to get my life back.
My main question for this thread is regarding old accounts that were either closed/CO'ed and eventually paid (current balance shows as $0 on CR) or accounts that went through a settlement and also have a $0 balance.
There are a handful of these accounts (Citi Student card, Citgo, Shell, Gap, Lensecrafters, GM and BoA) that began reporting as Major Delinquent sometime between 2008 and 2009. Most were either paid in full or settled during this time frame. None of my CR's list the dates that these accounts are scheduled to fall off, but I estimate that it is somewhere from mid 2015 to the end of 2016.
Where should I start? Is it worth it to try a GW letter, since these accounts have now aged roughly 5 years since the last delinquent activity/pay-offs? Where do I send each one, and does anyone have any good resources for composing a good letter? I've also read about GW calls. Has anyone had a lot of success with these? I have limited time to work with, as I have 2 jobs and 2 young children to take care of at home. I want to make sure that I focus my energy where I have the best probability for success.
Thank you all in advance!!
