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For myself, the biggest thing that helped me keep on top of things was keeping all my accounts current (that is, paying all bills on time) and knowing which of my accounts were being listed as "negative accounts" on my 3B Credit Report from MyFico.I'll admit that only time will get the negative accounts removed, at least keeping a mental note of when they can be expected to drop off is still helpful. Remember, its a marathon and not a sprint. Just keep at it slow and steady and you'll win the race with the score you want.
Eric
Help please... I don't see a signature box on the 'my info" page.
Just a quick update everyone. My current scores are:
Trans: 716
Eq: 777 (close, but no cigar, yet)
@Monniewrote:
I am joining this for the first time. I have committed to be super conscientious about my credit because I tend to focus on new and exciting challenges and then get distracted. So, I'm joining this challenge and helping others with their credit, which will force me to stay focused!
EQ = 723 (1/5/18)
TU = 709 (1/5/18)
EX = 697 what the heck, right?! - (12/19/17)
0% Util, 10 yrs AAoA & 17 yrs 9 months AoOA, Age of new credit 1year, Credit mix- all noted, PH- see below, 0-collections, 0 PR: So, basically I only have real estate and student loan debt.
My goal for this year is 780 all around. I want to be the Oprah Winfrey of the 780s! I think this is possible because:
I have two of four late tradelines dropping this year: one will drop-off next month (if it is removed 6 months early from DOFD) and May for the second. The other is over 3-year (30-day late - Capital One) with a GW letter to CEO and credit department b/c I still have it and was never late in 10 years other than the one time (in band camp LOL);
I have a rehabilitation of my student loans kicking in in June. I have the money to pay off early and have paid half in 5 months, but don't want to mess-up the rehabilitation plan so I am being patient to make it to the nine to ten months. Once in the program, I'll pay-off the loan;
I have other student loans reporting multiple delinquencies, during forbearance periods. A letter to the CRAs are already sent to get them removed.
With that said, I think the 780 goal is doable, but won't happen until the fall or winter when everything kicks in with the removals.
Ex: 703 (what the heck?)
My goodwill letters did not work, but one of the negative tradelines was removed early. It was scheduled for the fall, but after I contacted the company (comenity), it suddenly fell off. The big rehabilitation is scheduled to drop around June. I expect that major changes on points will occur because that is my only past due account. Then that pesky late will drop in June. As for the student loans that were in forebearance, I was only successful in removing one month or reporting (5 consecutive were reporting for each). Nelnet said that the forebearance was backdated at that time to allow me to get on track with them. I'm still looking into ways to force them to remove the other months. Any suggestions?
@Anonymouswrote:Help please... I don't see a signature box on the 'my info" page.
Hi, sjm. It should be under your Profile on the Personal Information tab. If it's not, you might not have enough posting history or time spent on the forum yet. ☺️
Thank you @Bella007 & @A1023 I appreciate your help.
I found it last night. It's under... My Settings -> Personal Information.
I've been a lurker of the forums here for the past year and it's been a huge help. My credit has changed dramatically since deciding to use advice here full time.
I'm in my mid 20's, low six figures income, started working right out of high school several years ago. I was making $50k/yr from the start and kept my finances in order for the first year, but had started slipping up. Between enjoying investing in entrepreneurial side projects and occasionally living above my means I had ruined my credit pretty quickly. Luckily I didn't actually rack up any significant debt, just some late payments and a couple small chargeoffs. I had let the last month of an apartment lease go unpaid too which left me with a nice $1,600 collection.
At that point I was too scared to look at my credit and I couldn't even get an approval for a store card. Living with bad credit for the next several years kept me from racking up any more debt which is good, but I couldn't get approved for a reasonable apartment or auto loan. I only made a few short lived attempts to try to correct it again. I'd get it up to the high 500's then forget about it and max out my only secured card. I'd let my auto loan go into 30 days late all the time and it was just out of control.
Finally a year ago I decided it was time to get this fixed. So far I've been able to bring my score from about 450 to a high FICO 8 of 641 last month. I got my auto loan back on track, opened up a QS 1 card, kept my utilization between 5-20% and opened up several store cards to have more on time payment activity to help reduce the impact of those autoloan payments. This site has been amazing in helping bring things back on track. It's really become like a game that strategically track.
Living without credit for so many years has really made me grow an appreciation for having it. What's funny though is that the better my credit gets, the less I actually want to use it. I'm not interested in taking out frivelous loans or being able to finance large purchases on high limit credit cards. My big thing now is earning rewards on cards. I've help my girlfriend who's much younger get a score in the high 700's already and we maximize our rewards and PIF every month so that we can travel more. My biggest goals now are to get into the 700's and finally get a house.