Thanks to myFico...

[Anonymous]

I have been reading and following the advice on this board since January of 2009.  Back in April of 2008 I finalized an unfortunate divorce.  I've always valued my credit scores and was taught well by my parents to be wise with your money, so even through that process I didn't get into credit problems.  Or so I thought.  I didn't know there was anything wrong until I sat down with a mortgage company in January of 2009 to try and buy a home to restart my life.  What I found out was that my credit was a disaster.  I litterally took off work the next day to figure out what was going on.  I signed up to use the Experian CreditCheck Monitoring through my bank (USAA) and found out what was wrong.  My ex-wife had missed 9 months of mortgage payments on the house she decided to keep with my name on it, and also without my permission used my name and SS to co-sign with her on a car, which she had repossesed about 6 months after purchasing it.  My scores the lender pulled were EX-570, TU-571 and EQ 573.  It was embarrasing thinking all was well and I'm ready to buy and they look at me like I planned on stealing the house from them! 

I tried to go through every thing I could, calling the bank, car loan company, attorney general's office, and more to try and get it remedied with no luck.  So I figured if I were going to make anything happen, it would just be hard work.  And I started then with regular dispute letters and GW to the creditors.  Lot's of rejection and seemingly no luck.  I was following advice of the members here and being encouraged by the stories I was reading, but it just didn't seem to be going anywhere.

In February of 2009 I met the most amazing woman and we married in January of 2010.  At that time we decided we were going to start the process of getting things to a place where we could buy our own home.  Her payment history was flawless, she just had 50k in student loans and 97% utilization of her credit cards.  At the time we had (together) 11 credit cards, all basically out from the move and wedding. 

But I was determined to provide my wife and family the home we deserve and not be crippled by our my credit.

It HAS NOT been easy but it's been worth it...

I have been saving up and paying off accounts in large payments.  As of today, I sent in a final $5000 payment to my final credit card with a balance.  This will bring my utilization from 90% to 0%.  In the past 14 months I have had 5 of the 9 months of late mortgage payements removed from my credit and the charge off removed from EQ and TU.  My scores are now at EX-609, TU-675 and EQ-634 with the score simulators adding 60-100 points on TU and EQ with my utilzation at 0%.  I put a contract in to build a house and we are scheduled to close mid-late July. 

I am so happy that my credit is improving.  I still want to get all 3 above 700 this year and I am looking forward to refinancing my car to a reasonable rate.  financing a car with below 600 credit scores is not healthy!

Thanks again and I look foward to being a part of this community and seeing us all find the success we work hard for!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have been reading and following the advice on this board since January of 2009.  Back in April of 2008 I finalized an unfortunate divorce.  I've always valued my credit scores and was taught well by my parents to be wise with your money, so even through that process I didn't get into credit problems.  Or so I thought.  I didn't know there was anything wrong until I sat down with a mortgage company in January of 2009 to try and buy a home to restart my life.  What I found out was that my credit was a disaster.  I litterally took off work the next day to figure out what was going on.  I signed up to use the Experian CreditCheck Monitoring through my bank (USAA) and found out what was wrong.  My ex-wife had missed 9 months of mortgage payments on the house she decided to keep with my name on it, and also without my permission used my name and SS to co-sign with her on a car, which she had repossesed about 6 months after purchasing it.  My scores the lender pulled were EX-570, TU-571 and EQ 573.  It was embarrasing thinking all was well and I'm ready to buy and they look at me like I planned on stealing the house from them! 

I tried to go through every thing I could, calling the bank, car loan company, attorney general's office, and more to try and get it remedied with no luck.  So I figured if I were going to make anything happen, it would just be hard work.  And I started then with regular dispute letters and GW to the creditors.  Lot's of rejection and seemingly no luck.  I was following advice of the members here and being encouraged by the stories I was reading, but it just didn't seem to be going anywhere.

In February of 2009 I met the most amazing woman and we married in January of 2010.  At that time we decided we were going to start the process of getting things to a place where we could buy our own home.  Her payment history was flawless, she just had 50k in student loans and 97% utilization of her credit cards.  At the time we had (together) 11 credit cards, all basically out from the move and wedding. 

But I was determined to provide my wife and family the home we deserve and not be crippled by our my credit.

It HAS NOT been easy but it's been worth it...

I have been saving up and paying off accounts in large payments.  As of today, I sent in a final $5000 payment to my final credit card with a balance.  This will bring my utilization from 90% to 0%.  In the past 14 months I have had 5 of the 9 months of late mortgage payements removed from my credit and the charge off removed from EQ and TU.  My scores are now at EX-609, TU-675 and EQ-634 with the score simulators adding 60-100 points on TU and EQ with my utilzation at 0%.  I put a contract in to build a house and we are scheduled to close mid-late July. 

I am so happy that my credit is improving.  I still want to get all 3 above 700 this year and I am looking forward to refinancing my car to a reasonable rate.  financing a car with below 600 credit scores is not healthy!

Thanks again and I look foward to being a part of this community and seeing us all find the success we work hard for!

---

Wow - congrats!!!!!  That has got to feel absolutely phenomenal!!

Now, I'll just throw in a friendly reminder because you are at the lovely 0% utilization.  Most folks get the highest FICO scores when they report a zero balance on all revolving accounts but one; with the remaining one reporting less than 9%.  (I usually report that one much much lower than 9%).  Then PIF that balance immediately after the statement cuts to avoid paying any interest or fees.

Congrats again - absolutely super!  And have fun with building your new home - that is one of my favorite things to do; and not everyone has the opportunity to do so. 

[bearsfan34]

Thanks for posting your success story! I've been very discouraged of late and this reminds me why I have to keep trying! May I ask how you removed the charge off? Did you send a GW letter? I've been trying to GW Bank of America with no luck as of yet.

[Anonymous]

Thats an awesome success story, I can't wait for you to post your scores when you get to 0% util (you would probably get the best scores if you had at least 1% util).

Don't get me wrong, going from 90% to 0% is amazing, however most, if not all of us get our highest scores showing 1-9% util (just something for you to think about.)

Congrats on everything, including your new Home!!

I wish you the Best

[Shogun]

Keep it kicking!!!  Good luck!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

I did GW for the charge off.  I think I sent 3 letters over the past year.