Well, after my wife left me on Valentines day of 2006 because she got thyroid cancer and it messed up her head really bad, she had just finished starting her own business and pulled 60K out of our HELOC. Not only that, but we used about 50K in credit card debt as well. Then she left and stopped working. All of a sudden, overnight, I was left with having to pay a mortgage by myself, and all these ridiculousely high credit card debts and my HELOC. I was seriosely strapped for cash. Back then, I was a proud homeowner. I had a credit score of 790 before I bought that house that we lived in. I was able to sell the house just in the knick of time, it was right before the market took a nose dive. I barely escaped foreclosure. Anyhow, I was not able to make my credit card payments on time. Her attorney kept dragging his feet about releasing the proceeds of the sale of the house so I could take care of my debt. It dragged on for months and I was late with payments several times. My FICO score dropped to a 540 at one point. Then I met a wonderful girl who just so happens to be an accountant. She motivated to get rid of my debt and to concentrate on OUR future. I was even more motivated than ever because I was living in an apartment with her and hated not having a home. I dreamed of one day having a home with a backyard again. Apartment life was draining me mentally. One day I also stumbled onto this website and got some excellent advise from some excellent people that really CARE about others. Thank you to all that answered my questions. It has been over 2 years and I am proud to say that my middle score...the one used for mortgage qualifications...is now a 722 ! I am so excited and so proud. I still have about 4k in credit card debt that I am aggressively chipping away at and some 30 day lates that are about to hit their 2 year mark, so I expect my score to jump even higher. Just wanted to say that it is indeed possible to get out of the hole your in. Everyone's situation is different...it may take you longer or shorter...but the end result will always be the same....SUCCESS. Thanks again to everyone and stay driven !
