First post: GW question

[Anonymous]

Hello all. I have been lurking in this forum for the past week or so and gathering some great info and knowledge, but I have an issue that I need some advice on. First off, a little of my history. I am in my late 30's and been married for over 3 years, my wife and I are ready to purchase our first home and have been pre-approved for a first time home buyer mortgage through our bank. I just had all three of my scores pulled, TU 715, EX 743, EQ 748, I pulled my wife's EQ score and it is 789. I have paid off over 10k worth of CC debt this past year and currently have 0 CC debt, my only outstanding debt are 2 student loans, and my car loan. I have one negative from October 2002, a 30 day late on a loan,how much is this 30 day late hurting my score?  Should I try to send a Good Will letter to see If I can have this removed from my report? If so, how do I go about doing this? Do I send the letter directly to the company where I had my loan? Where can I find an example of a GW letter? Do you think I have a good chance of having this removed from report? This loan has been paid off since mid 2003.  It seems like there are quite a few knowledgeable and friendly people in this forum, and I would greatly appreciate any help, or advice you can give me! Thank you!

[Anonymous]

It doesn't appear this problem is hindering your score at all.  Besides,  it's over 2 years old so it's impact has been diminished anyway.  At my bank, all but your lowest score would qualify for the best interest rates.

You can try to send a goodwill letter, it couldn't hurt.  Just send it to the bank who granted the loan.  I've read it's best NOT to use form letters.  Just explain to them what a pleasure it was doing business with them and that you wouldn't hesitate to do business with them in the future, blah, blah, blah.  Then explain your current situation and how you feel it may hinder you from getting the best interest rates on your mortgage.  Explain that over the entire course of the loan, there was one simple oversight on your part compared to an otherwise perfect payment history with them.  Let them know that your entire credit history is perfect except for this one little 30-day late payment. Plead your case without begging and kindly ask them to remove it from any report that it's on as a goodwill gesture for being an otherwise outstanding former and potentially future customer.

Just use your own words and be very sincere and appreciative of how that loan helped you get your credit as good as it is today.

[Anonymous]

You have nothing to worry about.

Once your FICO gets to the mid-700s, you're home free. Take a look at the interest rate tables versus FICO scores that comes with ScoreWatch. Raising your scores beyond 725 or so really makes little difference in interest rates. The 600s are where the magic happens in terms of a higher FICO reducing your interest rates. Even if you could get all the way to the 800s, your interest rates would only go down 0.2% or so.

[Anonymous]

Any FICO over 720, and you aren't going to find any better mortgage rate. CC debt is $0, only student loans and a car, so long as they are on time you're good to go.

A 30 day late from 2002 isn't going to hurt you. However, it is a good candidate for GW. Not many GW examples here, but there's a number of them over on creditinfocenter. Search there to get a feel. You can PM me if you like, and I can point you directly to several.

There are a couple of hard nosed lenders who probably wouldn't remove a late. But by and large an old late can be GWed away.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your replies. I had noticed that a lot of people were saying that anything above 760 would get you into the top tier for mortgage rates, since i am so close I thought I might try sending a gw letter. Thank you for pointing me to  the info on creditinfocenter, that will be a big help. Thanks again, I really appreciate it!

[Anonymous]

BTW, "astroficocist" is a cool name!

[Anonymous]

I second that.

[Anonymous]

I've had a civil judgment placed on my credit report for 5 years and i finally found the cleared bank check that was issued 5 years ago to pay it off completely. The judgment was filed on 11 feb and i paid it on 5 mar both in the same year. When i contacted the company a week ago, who placed it on my credit report (i couldn't locate this company until now)I showed him the copy of the check and he went into the court house and put "satisfied" but it was the date he went in there on the 16th of Nov of THIS year. This was paid 5 years ago. Need less to say this has hurt my credit score tremendously. Any advise on what I can do to get this removed from my report since it's been reported falsely for 5 years?