Hi Everyone! I’m new here, but have been lurking the past two months absorbing all the great info here as I was getting ready to dive head first into tackling my credit issues. Compared to some other stories on here, I know I’m not in too bad of shape, my current scores are nevertheless restricting me from doing some things.
I’ve got the usual problems from wasteful spending during my college years. Back when I didn’t know a thing about how I was destroying my credit report.
Hopefully I can provide some help to others who share the same problems with some of my creditors/collections if I manage a few successes. I've read through other update threads and I think it's a great way to both help the community here and to also keep you motivated and excited to keep on keepin on until I get a score to be proud of!
Starting Date: 06/25/2013
Today's Date: 08/22/2013
UPDATED Scores (As of 08/14/2013):
EX (FICO): 680
EQ (FICO): 672
TU (FICO): 701!!!!!!!! 
Initial Scores (05/28/2013):
EX (FAKO): 586
EQ (FICO): 582
TU (FICO): 587
Negative Entries & Status Updates:
JCPenney Card (GE Capital Retail Bank) – A Single 30 day late, January 2010 (Account Closed with Zero Balance, February 2010)**Sent GW Letter for late removal: 07/08/13 by e-mail direct to CEO, received personal response, was forwarded to escalation department for review****Recieved call from Executive Escalations Service 07/08/13 - Gave additional account information, said will review and return response by mail to see what can be done**- **Pulled Monthly Credit Reports 7/17/13 - Late was removed, Account Status Changed to "Closed/Never Late"
- Citi Dividend Platinum For Students – 60/90/120/150 + Collection/Chargeoff (Settled for less than $5250 balance, $3100 June 2012)
- **Sent GW Letter for complete trade line removal: 07/08/13 by e-mail direct to CEO. Awaiting Response.**
- **Recieved E-mail from Executive Response Unit - 7/9/13 Saying they will review and call back
- **GW Letter sent by certified mail 07/09/13 to Citicard. Awaiting Reply**
- **Recieved call back from Executive Response Unit - 7/12/13 Saying they CANNOT delete the tradeline because the "FCRA Requires us to report accurate information"**
- 8/9 - Mailed & Faxed GW Letter again
- 8/20 - Recieved Letter dated 8/14 (In response to the FAXED Letter) saying that they recieved my "Dispute Letter" and that my account was accurate and my report has been marked as "In dispute"
- 8/22 - Pulled all three reports through CRA's, accounts marked as in dispute BUT payment status, comments, and payment history has been CHANGED to more positive looking statements?!?!?!?
ECSI Federal Perkins Loan – A 30/60/90 day late Nov/Dec/Jan 2013. Paid owed balance February 2013, all payments on time since.- Contacted schools financial aid department directly with a GW Letter. Recieved response saying all lates will be removed.
- Lates removed in July credit reports!
Solomon & Solomon PC Collections Account – Opened 01/01/2013 Rochester Gas & Electric Utility Bill ($265)** I haven't recieved ANY mail or phone calls relating to this account, I assume they're being sent to an old address****Sent a PFD Letter, offered to pay full amount, by certified mail 6/26/13 – No response yet, however credit tradeline now amended with: “Account information disputed by consumer, meets FCRA requirements”****Send a second PFD CMRRR Letter to two different addresses 7/10/13. Awaiting Response.****Recieved a Letter from Solomon & Solomon saying they recieved our letters and are under no obligation to accept my PFD, or delete any information from my credit report blah blah blah, mention something about suing for the amount owed. I call them directly to get information on the account, and they say my account is "Closed" with them and I need to all the Original Creditor.***Called RG&E - Just called to inquire about my account, they said they still own the debt and the CA was only acting as a collector for them and I could pay them.** Need help figuring out where to go from here.7/25 - Disputed Accounts through all 3 bureaus, investigation completed stating the account was validPulled my 3 reports today...the collection account was deleted in my EX and EQ Reports!!! Still listed on TransUnion.8/9 - Mailed a letter of Direct Dispute for the remaining open entry on my TransUnion reports- 8/11 - ACCOUNT REMOVED FROM ALL CRA's!!!!!
AllianceOne Collections Account – Opened 11/01/2011 Rochester Gas & Electric Utility Bill ($265)**Also never recieved any notification of this account either****This was the 1st purchaser of the debt from the OC, which was then sold to Solomon…but it still lists it as open with a balance of $265. Not sure where to go with this from here**Paid Original Creditor - RG&E in FULL.**Sent DV Letter CMRRR to Postal Address & Contact E-mail stating how since debt has been transferred/sold, in violation of FCRA to keep reporting account listed as open to CRA.** Awaiting Reply.**It's only listed on my Experian Report - So I submitted an online dispute** -Still in Review8/9 - Mailed a letter of Direct Disptute CMRRR- Recieved response to Experian Online Dispute - Account DELETED!
- 6 Inquiries last 3 Months:
- 4 Hard Inquries (Applying for the 3 above Credit Cards to start rebuilding credit + 1 denial)
- 2 Soft Inquries (Pre-approval ones I think)
Positive Accounts in Good Standing:
- Capital One Journey Card: $210/$500 (Opened 06/13, Never Late)
- Capital One Secured Card: $0/$300 (Opened 06/13, Never Late)
- Credit One Bank Card: $0/$300 (Opened 05/13, Never Late)
- Sallie Mae Federal Student Loans: All Monthly Payments made on time since start of repayment in July 2012.
- ECSI Federal Perkins Loan: All Monthly Payments made on time since start of repayment in September 2012.
- 7/28 - Added as Authorized user on Father's Chase Sapphire Card: $0/$5000 (Never Late, Father rarely uses it, pays balance in full every month. Shredded my card.)
- 7/1 - Added as Authorized user on girlfriends Discover IT card: $78/3000 (Never Late, She uses regularly, pays balance in full every month. Shredded my card.)
- 8/15 - Approved for Barclaycard Rewards $1000CL
- 8/15 - Approved for Walmart Store Card $600CL
Current Credit Utilization:
- Credit In Use: $288
- Available Credit (As Reported By CRA's): $9100
- Utilization: 3.16%
Successes & Positive Changes:
- E-mailed ECSI Loan holder (My colleges’ Financial Aid department) with a GW Letter. Received a response that all lates will be removed by next credit reporting cycle. 7/17 - Lates Removed
- JCPenney/GE CRB Deleted 30-Day Late after GW Letter.
- 75+ ish Score Bump so far in less than a month in 2 CRA's
- 1 Collection Account (Solomon & Solomon PC) Removed from all CRA's by paying OC directly
- 7/28 - Added as Authorized user on fathers Chase Sapphire Card: $0/$5000 (Cut up my card, will never use it)
- 7/1 - Added as Authorized user on girlfriends Discover IT Card: $78/$3000 (Cut up my card, will never use it)
- 1 Collection Account (AllianceOne) Removed by Experian Online Dispute system.
- Closed First Niagara Bank Account (Too many fees and BS) – Opened Savings/Checking Account with local Cap Com FCU (Free ATM use, Dividends, Other benefits).
- Became Full-Time & Salaried with Benefits. Started 401k Plan. Contributing the maximum percentage that the company will match each paycheck.
- Opened a Roth IRA account – Automatic $100/mo Investment for now in Blended ETF Investments.
- Opened an Ally Online Money Market Account (Emergency Funds) – Automatic $200/mo transfer from Checking Acct.
- Opened a High-Yield American Express Savings Account (Emergency Funds) – Automatic $200/mo transfer from Checking Acct.
- Bought myFICO ScoreWatch, and signed up for CreditKarma to track credit changes.
Near-Term Financial Plan:
- Budget Out Finances Monthly – Created a Excel Spreadsheet with formulas tracking all expenses/income/loans/etc.
- **Link to it if anyone wants to create their own based off it: Life Finances Tracker (It just has random sample numbers I entered)
- Monthly rounds of GW’s on (2) negative credit accounts and PFD’s on (1) Active Collection Accounts, Dispute other sold-off CA
- Maintain less than 7.5% Credit Card Utilization. ($75 total on combined $1000 CL)
- Rotate Credit Card Usage
- Pay off Credit Card balances in FULL each month.
- All bills/utilities set up with autopay from checking account.
- No Inquiries for at least next 12 months.
Off we go!
Starting Scores (05/28/2013): EQ (FICO): 582 / TU (FICO): 587 / EX (FAKO): 586
Welcome to the forum! You have a solid plan and I'm confident your CS will reflect the change positively. Please keep us updated on your adventure.
@guitarguybs07 wrote:Hi Everyone! I’m new here, but have been lurking the past two months absorbing all the great info here as I was getting ready to dive head first into tackling my credit issues. Compared to some other stories on here, I know I’m not in too bad of shape, my current scores are nevertheless restricting me from doing some things.
I’ve got the usual problems from wasteful spending during my college years. Back when I didn’t know a thing about how I was destroying my credit report.
Hopefully I can provide some help to others who share the same problems with some of my creditors/collections if I manage a few successes. I've read through other update threads and I think it's a great way to both help the community here and to also keep you motivated and excited to keep on keepin on until I get a score to be proud of!
Starting Date: 06/25/2013
Today's Date: 07/08/2013
Initial Scores (As of 07/08/2013):
EX (FAKO): 586
EQ (FICO): 597
TU (FICO): 587
Negative Entries & Status Updates:
- JCPenney Card (GE Capital Retail Bank) – A Single 30 day late, January 2010 (Account Closed with Zero Balance, February 2010)
- **Sent GW Letter for late removal: 07/08/13 by e-mail direct to CEO, received personal response, was forwarded to escalation department for review**
- **Recieved call from Executive Escalations Service 07/08/13 - Gave additional account information, said will review to see what can be done**
- Citi Dividend Platinum For Students – 60/90/120/150 + Collection/Chargeoff (Settled for less than $5250 balance, $3100 June 2012)
- **Sent GW Letter for complete trade line removal: 07/08/13 by e-mail direct to CEO. Awaiting Response.**
- **Will send GW Letter by certified mail this week to Citicard**
ESCI Federal Perkins Loan – A 30/60/90 day late Nov/Dec/Jan 2013. Paid owed balance February 2013, all payments on time since.
- Solomon & Solomon PC Collections Account – Opened 01/01/2013 Rochester Gas & Electric Utility Bill ($265)
- ** I haven't recieved ANY mail or phone calls relating to this account, I assume they're being sent to an old address**
- **Sent a PFD Letter, offered to pay full amount, by certified mail 6/26/13 – No response yet, however credit tradeline now amended with: “Account information disputed by consumer, meets FCRA requirements”**
- AllianceOne Collections Account – Opened 11/01/2011 Rochester Gas & Electric Utility Bill ($265)
- **Also never recieved any notification of this account either**
- **This was the 1st purchaser of the debt from the OC, which was then sold to Solomon…but it still lists it as open with a balance of $265. Not sure where to go with this from here**
- 6 Inquiries last 3 Months:
- 4 Hard Inquries (Applying for the 3 above Credit Cards to start rebuilding credit + 1 denial)
- 2 Soft Inquries (Pre-approval ones I think)
Positive Accounts in Good Standing:
- Capital One Journey Card: $72/$500 (Opened 06/13)
- Capital One Secured Card: $0/$200 (Opened 06/13)
- Credit One Bank Card: $0/$300 (Opened 05/13)
- Sallie Mae Federal Student Loans: All Payments made on time since start of repayment.
Successes & Positive Changes:
- E-mailed ECSI Loan holder (My colleges’ Financial Aid department) with a GW Letter. Received a response that all lates will be removed by next credit reporting cycle.
- Closed First Niagara Bank Account (Too many fees and BS) – Opened Savings/Checking Account with local Cap Com FCU (Free ATM use, Dividends, Other benefits).
- Became Full-Time & Salaried with Benefits. Started 401k Plan. Contributing the maximum percentage that the company will match each paycheck.
- Opened a Roth IRA account – Automatic $100/mo Investment for now in Blended ETF Investments.
- Opened an Ally Online Money Market Account (Emergency Funds) – Automatic $200/mo transfer from Checking Acct.
- Opened a High-Yield American Express Savings Account (Emergency Funds) – Automatic $200/mo transfer from Checking Acct.
- Bought myFICO ScoreWatch, and signed up for CreditKarma to track credit changes.
Near-Term Financial Plan:
- Budget Out Finances Monthly – Created a Excel Spreadsheet with formulas tracking all expenses/income/loans/etc.
- Monthly rounds of GW’s on (2) negative credit accounts and PFD’s on (1) Active Collection Accounts, Dispute other sold-off CA
- Maintain less than 20% Credit Card Utilization.
- Pay off Credit Card balances in FULL each month.
- All bills/utilities set up with autopay from checking account.
- No Inquiries for at least next 12 months.
Off we go!
Great plan! Love the investments! Especially the Roth to ETFs. I would however keep utilization 1-5%.
Thanks everyone! shols44...after reading up a bit more you're right, 20% is too high. So i'll make you a deal, i'll come down to 7.5% utilization for the near term. That means carrying only $75 total on my $1000 credit limit, which is usually the monthly amount I put on my Journey card in gas for a month. Once I can get approved for a higher limit card, i'm going to definitely shift down to 5% or below.
And ETF's are the shiznit! At least right now they're doing well...time will tell!
OP,
The hardest part for anyone is to address credit mistakes/faults. I was in your situation or worse 3 years ago and it sucks. I wish you well on your journey and contine to ask all the questions you need.
- E-mailed ECSI Loan holder (My colleges’ Financial Aid department) with a GW Letter. Received a response that all lates will be removed by next credit reporting cycle.
This one's for you ikanga24. I was in a bit of a special situation with my 90 day late ESCI Loan. When doing my exit interview...my dad put his e-mail address as the person to have the "E-bill" sent to. When he started getting an E-mail notification after the grace period ended, he assumed it was just a notification for the paper mail Federal Direct Loans I was already paying, thus ignored it.
I found out about the loan after pulling my credit report, and instantly started to write an e-mail to my college, coincidentally right at the same time my college gave me a call lol. I paid up and settled everything that day, but 3 months later sent this e-mail to try to get the lates removed.
Tip: ECSI is not the holder of loans, they merely manage them for others. Any Federal Perkins / Student Loan through ECSI is still owned by the college you attended. So, I contacted my college's Financial Aid office, and they were the ones able to tell ECSI to remove the lates on my report.
My Letter: I used one of the GW Letter starters from here: GW Example Letters (Thanks Charlesrking!))
Hello,
My name is XXXXXXXXXXXX and I was previously in contact with you in regards to a Federal Perkins loan that I was late on repaying due to an error as to where my notifications for statements/bills should be sent to. They we’re being sent to an incorrect e-mail address, and therefore, I was not aware I had a loan to repay through ESCI. I was under the impression for months that the Direct Federal Loans I had been paying on time monthly was the only student loan payment I had to make.
I initially found out about my overdue Perkins Loans after having my credit report pulled and seeing 120+ late derogatory marks listed on my report. Coincidentally, right around that time I received a voicemail from you notifying me of that exact loans status. If you can recall, I promptly attempted to make contact to remedy the situation, eventually reaching you through e-mail. Once you provided me with the proper login credentials for the ECSI website, I immediately made a payment in the full amount that was owed for past months and brought my account to current. Since then, I have set up automatic monthly payments, and a check of my ECSI account will show all monthly payments being made on-time, and my account has been in good standing ever since.
I am writing to see whether (XXXXXXXXCollege)/ECSI would consider making a goodwill adjustment to the credit reporting bureaus on this account. I am asking whether (XXXXXXXXXXX) can help me, in conjunction with ESCI, to remove the adverse late payments and settlement reporting from these accounts in reporting to the credit bureaus. I understand this is a rather unusual request--particularly as my accounts fell behind upwards of 120 days, as a result of my confusion over the exit interview, and not correctly reporting where I needed all future correspondence sent to. I am now currently employed full-time, salaried, and will have no problem making all the required payments on this account for the foreseeable future. However, these derogatory late marks are severely impacting my credit rating, and currently hindering me at this point in my life when trying to secure certain finances as I am currently in that stage of life trying to search for a house/mortgage and personal loans. I sincerely hope that there is redemption between (XXXXXXXXXX) & ECSI, and I beg you for such consideration. Please let me know if any additional documentation would assist in reaching a positive outcome, or if you know of any other parties I should attempt to contact in regards to this matter. I thank you again for the time you have spent reading this letter.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXXXX
College Response:
XXXXXXXXXXX,
ECSI will update your credit status to show no delinquencies; they will be sending this file at the end of the month. I would check your credit report sometime after the 5th of July. Thank you.
The past week i've managed to get the e-mail address to two credit card CEO's and send a GW letter...and both times they've actually managed to get it, one actually responded directly to me, and the other forwarded it to the executive unit to help, where I got a call back. Guess not all wallstreet bigwigs are jerks! Let's hope they can help me out.
Recieved a call back from Citicard's Executive Response Unit today. A nice lady stated they reviewed my account and unfortunately are "Unable to delete any information because under the FCRA they are required to report accurate information."
I politely stated to her that what the FCRA actually says is that any information that IS reported must be accurate...not that any information even has to be reported at all. She said she didn't know anything about it and the decision is final.
Back to the drawing board, back to mailing GW letters!
In other news, my Experian score jumped +37 points after my ECSI lates were removed. Other two reports still have them on there.