Long time lurker, first time poster. This was too crazy not to share. Here's the Cliff's Notes version of my story:
2008 - had a bunch of unsecured credit cards become delinquent due to job loss
2009 - settled them for less than full amount with collections agencies
2010 - got a secured BoA Visa ($500)
2012 - applied for a few cards, rejected for all, so avoided applying for a while
2014 - got approved for a Discover ($1200 CLI)
2015 - charge-offs started falling off my report, and FICO started slowly increasing
2016 - used Discover CLI button 3 times, getting a 50% increase each time
Last month - last charge-off fell off my report
This month - FICO shot up from 677 to 779!
Here's a link if you want to see the score over the past year.
I can't really contribute much advice beyond what's already discussed here (never miss a payment, keep utilization low, and dispute the baddies like crazy). But I had to share this because it's a fantastic visualization of where the journey can take you. Next stop, 800's!
EDIT: Just realized I may have posted this to the wrong forum, so mods feel free to relocate if appropriate. Heck of a start 
CONGRATULATIONS! I enjoyed reading your Cliff Notes. I could have read more! Nicely done! Way to go! 
@Anonymous wrote:Long time lurker, first time poster. This was too crazy not to share. Here's the Cliff's Notes version of my story:
2008 - had a bunch of unsecured credit cards become delinquent due to job loss
2009 - settled them for less than full amount with collections agencies
2010 - got a secured BoA Visa ($500)
2012 - applied for a few cards, rejected for all, so avoided applying for a while
2014 - got approved for a Discover ($1200 CLI)
2015 - charge-offs started falling off my report, and FICO started slowly increasing
2016 - used Discover CLI button 3 times, getting a 50% increase each time
Last month - last charge-off fell off my report
This month - FICO shot up from 677 to 779!
Here's a link if you want to see the score over the past year.
I can't really contribute much advice beyond what's already discussed here (never miss a payment, keep utilization low, and dispute the baddies like crazy). But I had to share this because it's a fantastic visualization of where the journey can take you. Next stop, 800's!
EDIT: Just realized I may have posted this to the wrong forum, so mods feel free to relocate if approprite. Heck of a start
Congratulations!! Hard work and honesty always pays off!! Keep up the good work!!
Congrats! That's always a great moment when the last baddies fall off. It also emphasizes how much one derog can keep down your score. The Discover CLIs probably helped too, since they dropped your overall utilization dramatically.
Nicely done!!
Congratulations!! Very happy for you!
Congrats on the success!!.100 is a big move.
