topic Re: 1 Year Mark - Holy Progress! in Rebuilding Your Credit

1 Year Mark - Holy Progress!

Jutz — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:58:33 GMT

Hey all,

I haven't been posting as much as I had over the summer and into the winter, mostly because i've been exponentially busier at work. I had to re-enroll in ScoreWatch because my Debit card had expired, so I figured I'd commemorate my 1 year mark of finding these forums, and starting my credit "renovation"

April 2012

My last derog, 30 day late on a BOA credit card. Really stupid and ignorant of me. I basically just ignored that this card existed and paid the minimum once in awhile when I remembered it.
Decided to check credit, so after pulling all three bureaus from the annual credit report site, I was interested in my actual score. I did some research to find out what score would be most accurate, and ended up at MyFICO, getting my free trial of ScoreWatch.
Score: EQ 525

May 2012 - September 2012

Spent time learning everything about how credit works, and what I could do about it. I would say roughly 90% of my research spawned from this forum. Whether it be actual posts, or recommended reading.
Began working on getting information removed through PFDs, Goodwills, and more. It was not a quick process. For those looking to make changes overnight; it is rare. Don't get frustrated.
Score: EQ 575 TU 620

October 2012

Motivated to finally see some "progress" I got my first new credit since my rebuild. As per recommendations I got the WalMart card. Instant approval, great success.
Score: EQ 580 TU 630

November 2012 - December 2012

This is where all my hard work paid off. Months and months of PFD and Goodwills resulted in big changes to my report
Two Collections removed via a PFD. I owed the same collection agency for two tradelines, one paid, one unpaid. I used the leverage of the unpaid to get both deleted for a full payment.
I managed to Goodwill a collection account that had been paid for about a year, it had been a tradeline for about two.
In addition, based on the progress made, I did the Capital One CEO request for a CLI. Approved for $2000 CL from $750.
Score: EQ 640 TU 660

January 2013

The first reason I decided to repair my credit, was because I needed a car, so really my primary goal was to get a car loan, so car shopping I did go.
Got an auto loan from DCU, along with a DCU Visa card (They were able to use my HP from the auto loan to approve me for the card)
Used Auto Loan for $17,000 on an Audi S4 at 5.49% (Can get promo APR of 1.99% once I hit EQ 676)
DCU Visa w/ $2000 limit.
Score: EQ 655 TU 675

February 2013

I needed a good solution for my growing work expenses, and really none of my cards fit the bill.
Applied and approved for AMEX Gold
Score: EQ 655 TU 675

April 2013

1 Year since my last derog! (Hopefully my last one ever)
House shopping! Hoping to close on a house over the summer, have my realtor, and more important, my finance company.
Prequalified for FHA and conventional mortgage, albeit barely (Middle score just hit 660 according to the lender's pulls)
Score: EQ 662 TU 683 EX 698 (Lender provided EX FICO)

Re: 1 Year Mark - Holy Progress!

tdrjustus3 — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:04:05 GMT

Thanks for the encouragement. Looking to buy a house this time next year.

Re: 1 Year Mark - Holy Progress!

Jutz — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:27:58 GMT

Short of your actual financial situation at that point, you should be well on your way in regards to credit. Good luck!

Re: 1 Year Mark - Holy Progress!

SLR72689 — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 19:48:28 GMT

Good job! Hope I make this much progress in a year!

Re: 1 Year Mark - Holy Progress!

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:20:39 GMT

thanks for sharing - it's inspirational.

Re: 1 Year Mark - Holy Progress!

qd — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:26:42 GMT

Congratulations on the success...nice to see the hard work paying off. I only wish I had learned about myFico a year ago. I am at the learning stage still, but hopefull.

Re: 1 Year Mark - Holy Progress!

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:29:21 GMT

Congratulations! It sounds like persistence was a key to your success.

Re: 1 Year Mark - Holy Progress!

kjel — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 21:25:43 GMT

Thanks for the share. Well done!

Re: 1 Year Mark - Holy Progress!

angelalala — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 02:44:16 GMT

Congrats, this is good to see. I thought I was way further from buying a house than this.

Re: 1 Year Mark - Holy Progress!

shanac — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 13:04:42 GMT

Great progress Jutz. Congratulations! When u applied for your Amex gold in Feb. had all if your baddies been removed? What CRA did they pull from?

Re: 1 Year Mark - Holy Progress!

new_earth — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 13:36:36 GMT

that is awesome progress, I can't wait to be in your shoes

Re: 1 Year Mark - Holy Progress!

rebuildingmission2013 — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 15:26:18 GMT

Very detailed OP. This will help give insight to others. Gl.

Re: 1 Year Mark - Holy Progress!

Jutz — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 22:45:58 GMT

@shanac wrote:
Great progress Jutz. Congratulations! When u applied for your Amex gold in Feb. had all if your baddies been removed? What CRA did they pull from?

I still had a 90 day late, and a couple of 30 day lates. I have a Verizon charge off thats like 6 years old, but that doesn't report to EX, which is what they pulled. For reference, I just had my EX pulled by my mortgage lender and it came back at 698 this month, so it was probably close to the same then.

Re: 1 Year Mark - Holy Progress!

Jutz — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 22:47:23 GMT

@rebuildingmission2013 wrote:
Very detailed OP. This will help give insight to others. Gl.

Thanks, the idea is that your hard work can snowball. I went 6 months with absolutely nothing happening. Once I got my balances in check, I just plateaud. Then BOOM, everything started happening at the same time because I never gave up with goodwills, PFDs, etc during all that time.