topic Re: Journey to 700 club! in Rebuilding Your Credit

Journey to 700 club!

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Jan 2016 23:12:38 GMT

I am trying to rebuild my credit and wondering if i am on the right track. I have had several mishaps in the past and trying to do better for the future. So here goes.

My Current Scores as of 1/11/2016

EQ 660

TU 653

Ex 647

Credit Cards - my main thing is that my utiliization is way too high so my 1st goal is to get them down to <10%.

Chase Freedom - $3500 CL. Last reported utilization was 99%. Just paid down last night to 45% utilization - Plan is to have down to 10% by May, never late.

Citi - $1900 CL. Last reported utilization was at 87%, just paid down to 61% ultilization - Plan is to have down to 10% by March, never late.

Capital One - $1750 CL. Last reported was 81%, just paid down to 35%. Plan to have down to 10% by Feb. Will have at least $500 increase in CL in March. First and only late payment was 3/2013. Sent GW letter to remove. Waiting to hear back.

Credit One - $2025 CL. Last reported utilization was 93%. Plan to have down to 10% by Aug. Just received CLI Jan 2016. One time late June 2014. If anyone has info for GW letter please send my PM!!

Credit One - $500 CL. Last reported ultilization was 72%. Just paid down to 2% utilization. Will keep here. Never late.

1st National Bank - $700 CL. Last reported utilization was 75%, will be down to 10% by March. I have a few Late payments here. 6 total, last being March 2014. Plan to cancel this one. It is one of the oldest cards I was trying to rebuild my credit with when i couldn't get anything. Opened in 2009. If anyone has GW information please PM me.. What should i do here?

Old Navy $1660 CL. Last reported utilization was 64%. Just paid down to 45% utilization. Will be <10% by March. Never late.

JCP - $1888 CL. Last reported utilization was 73%. WIll be <10% by Aug. Paying last as there is no interest for 2 years on the large purchase i made. Late 3 times, last May 2014. Sent GW letter. Awaiting response.

Car Loan $16,000. Never late

Student Loans $19,000. Just consolidated them after finding out one of them I didn't know about went into collection. All the other loans where paid with no problems. All cleared up now and hit my credit report so damage is done and calculated into score on Eq and TU. If anyone has contact information Mohela GW please PM me.

Do have a collection for a cc that is dropping in 12/2016, YAY! Only on Ex.

Paying all cards multiple times a month. Gardening until CS 720 or higher and everything is <10% utilization. Considering requesting CLI for card who don't do HP.

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping for a little bump is score as I just paid about $3500 of this debt last night. Should help my utilization drop a little although is will take a few months for me to pay it all down.

Will check in with new scores once the decrease in utilization takes effect.

Re: Am I on the right track?

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 20:18:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I am trying to rebuild my credit and wondering if i am on the right track. I have had several mishaps in the past and trying to do better for the future. So here goes.

Current Scores 1/11/2015
EQ 660
TU 653
Ex 647

Credit Cards - my main thing is that my utiliization is way too high so my 1st goal is to get them down to <10%.

Chase Freedom - $3500 CL. Last reported utilization was 99%. Just paid down last night to 45% utilization - Plan is to have down to 10% by May, never late.
Citi - $1900 CL. Last reported utilization was at 87%, just paid down to 61% ultilization - Plan is to have down to 10% by March, never late.
Capital One - $1750 CL. Last reported was 81%, just paid down to 35%. Plan to have down to 10% by Feb. Will have at least $500 increase in CL in March. First and only late payment was 3/2013. Sent GW letter to remove. Waiting to hear back.

Credit One - $2025 CL. Last reported utilization was 93%. Plan to have down to 10% by Aug. Just received CLI Jan 2016. One time late June 2014. If anyone has info for GW letter please send my PM!!
Credit One - $500 CL. Last reported ultilization was 72%. Just paid down to 2% utilization. Will keep here. Never late.
1st National Bank - $700 CL. Last reported utilization was 75%, will be down to 10% by March. I have a few Late payments here. 6 total, last being March 2014. Plan to cancel this one. It is one of the oldest cards I was trying to rebuild my credit with when i couldn't get anything. Opened in 2009. If anyone has GW information please PM me.. What should i do here?

Old Navy $1660 CL. Last reported utilization was 64%. Just paid down to 45% utilization. Will be <10% by March. Never late.
JCP - $1888 CL. Last reported utilization was 73%. WIll be <10% by Aug. Paying last as there is no interest for 2 years on the large purchase i made. Late 3 times, last May 2014. Sent GW letter. Awaiting response.

Car Loan $16,000. Never late
Student Loans $19,000. Just consolidated them after finding out one of them I didn't know about went into collection. All the other loans where paid with no problems. All cleared up now and hit my credit report so damage is done and calculated into score on Eq and TU. If anyone has contact information Mohela GW please PM me.

Do have a collection for a cc that is dropping in 12/2016, YAY! Only on Ex.

Paying all cards multiple times a month. Gardening until CS 720 or higher and everything is <10% utilization. Considering requesting CLI for card who don't do HP.

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping for a little bump is score as I just paid about $3500 of this debt last night. Should help my utilization drop a little although is will take a few months for me to pay it all down.

Goal score is 700 with all 3.

Once you get your UTI down, pay off and get rid of those Credit One cards, and app for another Cap One card. Depending on how much your scores rise from getting out of the red zone, you may qualify for QS or Venture.

Credit One is wholly owned by Sherman Capital, a very large junk debt buyer. They are essentially, the enemy. Time to kick the vultures to the curb.

Re: Am I on the right track?

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 20:19:34 GMT

You're definitely on the right track. Paying down the util will give you some gains, and like the previous responder said, get rid of that Credit One garbage. My cap one just got upgraded to a QS without me asking for it, and I got approved for Discover IT for 2K, and your scores are better than mine. So you're doing things right.

Re: Am I on the right track?

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 15:58:06 GMT

Thanks for the advice. I will def get rid of Credit One as soon as I can. I will report back after seeing how paying down a good portion of my debt will change my scores and proceed from there.

Re: Am I on the right track?

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 18:05:17 GMT

If you can get less than half of your cards reporting a balance that will give you a point boost too

Re: Journey to 700 club!

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 17:34:15 GMT

While I am waiting on my previous payments to show in my scores, I did take the liberty of hitting the luv button to help decrease my utilization. Got a $600 increase with JCpa nd a $800 increase with Old Navy. Yay!

Does anyone know how easy/hard it is to get CLI wth Citi and Chase?

Re: Journey to 700 club!

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 19:04:49 GMT

Synchrony bank success GW letter! I sent a GW letter for my JCP late payments and thankfully it the late payments came off of my Ex and Eq. Still waiting on TU to update. Hopefully it does...crossing fingers and trying to be patient.

On another note, Capital One said NO! I have one late payment for them, I will keep trying. Still waiting for Credit one to respond.

Re: Journey to 700 club!

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 19:41:03 GMT

I started on the rebuilding path 2 months ago. I lowered my utilization from 98% down to 45% which and my scores have gone up. My scores are similar to yours. I am currently 656/661/658. I am also on the journey to the 700 club. Good luck.

Re: Journey to 700 club!

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 19:47:23 GMT

Thank you tenzin! I am trying to wait patiently for the scores to update with the drop in utilization. Good luck to you as well!

Re: Journey to 700 club!

Anonymous — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 20:54:56 GMT

Just got upgraded to Cap 1 QS. Went through the chat option and asked to be upgraged to reward status and just like that 1.5% cash back. Yay! Waiting on my new card in the mail.

Re: Journey to 700 club!

Anonymous — Sun, 24 Jan 2016 18:11:50 GMT

Ex up from 647 to 675 (finally some yellow!). Still waiting on all card payments to update.

Updates!

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 16:38:03 GMT

More good news! I got an EE from TU for a collection. I called and of course the CSA said i had to call the orginal creditor to delete it. I asked for a supervisor and he said it was to old to be on my account and took it off immediately. No questions asked.

Also had more GW success with a Credit One late payment. Still working on Capital One 30 day late payment and if anyone has any information regarding First National Credit Card (legacy) please let me know. If I can get the late payments off all my derogs will be taken care of.

Score Changes:

EQ - 671

TU - 655

Ex - 675

Re: Updates!

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 17:10:51 GMT

TU - 650

EQ- 682

EX - 683

I just got approved for Amex BCE! So excited. I have been waiting to get my hands on this card. Got a nice limit (for me) $6500. Also got BoA travel rewards approved. So I am offically going to the garden as of 2/5/2016.

Still waiting on TU to update and removed the collection. Hopefully score will increase. I also called and got a few of my cards to lower the APR and waive fees. Next step, get rid of those nasty Credit one cards.

Re: Updates!

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 21:43:50 GMT

yay congrats!

Re: Journey to 700 club!

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 17:39:08 GMT

Update. Finally all of the initial payments have been updated on my credit report since I started this journey. Still trying to get my utilization down. Right now it is at an overall of 45%. Should be <30% in the next 2 months or so. I was denied twice for the Capital One GW letter for removal of 1 late, and still in search of Legacy (first national credit card) information to send a GW letter. The BoA Travel Reward card has hit my credit report. The Amex is still pending which should drive my utilization down with the $6500 credit limit. I am also due for a CLI with Capital one credit steps in March. I have been using the card a lot and paying it multiple times a month. It is at a $0 balance as of today and i will keep it there going into March. Hoping for a high CLI. I am def going to the garden. There is nothing else i need to apply for at this time since i have all the cards i want. I plan to request CLI every 6 months.

I also got rid of one of my Credit One cards. Plan to cancel the other one and the legacy this year. I have had these cards so long, 6 and 7 years. My history if going down with canceling them and adding all the new credit lines. Currently my avg history is 4years, 11 months. I'm not sure what to do. Anyone please chime in and tell me your thoughts!

Current Scores:

EQ 689

TU 692

EX 678

Almost at 700. So much progress in so little time. It getting exicted!

Re: Journey to 700 club!

EdMan63 — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 20:10:57 GMT

Outstanding work. Keep it up. I got excited reading your story.

Re: Journey to 700 club!

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 13:52:36 GMT

@EdMan63 wrote:
Outstanding work. Keep it up. I got excited reading your story.

Thank you so much!

Re: Journey to 700 club!

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 17:09:54 GMT

Update: Kinda sad that Cap 1 credit steps only gave me the $500 CLI. I was hoping for more. Oh well, better than nothing I guess. I did add an Amazon Store card a few weeks ago, approved for $2100 and got a CLI making it $3000 using the chat option. Still waiting on Amex to report. If all goes as planned, I will have 8/10 cards reporting $0 balance by May. Now i just have to be patient and stay in the garden. Stay in the garden. STAY IN THE GARDEN!

Re: Journey to 700 club!

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 19:13:40 GMT

It's about time for an update. I have managed to pay off about half of my cards so far.

Paid cards are...( 0% uil) Citi, Old Navy, Capital One, Credit One, Legacy

Good Standing...(<30%) JCP, Amazon, BoA

Maxed Out...(>30%) Chase, Amex

Closed...Credit One (i had 2 of them)

Scores today: EQ 706, TU 691, EX 681

Goals: Stay in the garden, decrease total utilization <30%, pay cards on time, and continue getting CLI

Re: Journey to 700 club!

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 21:05:58 GMT

I am so excited/stoked for you!!
I'm in the mid 600s, with one at like 675 and I reallyyyyyy want my 700s across the board. I have 16.7% utilization and although percentage wise it doesn't look horrible the idea of $3k of debt and only $800 in my savings is kinda scary but your story let's me know it CAN be done!