First off, thank you to everyone who contributes to these boards. The wealth of information I have found on this site is priceless! I started working on my credit back in August/September of last year, but have only really been putting in a lot of work the last month or so, when I joined MyFico. Details are below and while this is really for me to mark my steps, I would LOVE any tips the community has!
Scores from August 2018 - from 515 - 545
Scores as of 7/19 – EQ 593 / TU 595 / EX 640
First……the good:
August 2018 – approved for secured CC through my CU - $500 CL, never over 7% utilization, no late payments
June 2019 – Experian boost - 3 accounts now reporting
July 2019 – Approved for Discover it secured - $200 CL (have not yet received card)
July 2019 – Approved for a Savings Secured Loan through my CU - $500/12 Months
Now to dumpster dive……..
9 collections currently showing on my CR! All from 5 years ago (job loss, separation - all good now!)
Midland Funding (Synchrony Bank CO Oct. 2014) - $296 – PIF today, they will delete from CR
PRA (HSBC CO not showing on my CR) - $912 – Will be PIF 9/19
PRA (Citibank CO Nov. 2014) - $2735 – In communications with them currently for payment plan. Will have it paid off by October.
EOS CCA - $91 – PFD letter sent 7/16 - Pending reply
Columbia Collections – 1 for $176 & 2 with $0 – PFD letter sent 7/16 asking to PIF the $176 and have all 3 removed - Pending reply
Professional Credit Service - $100 – PFD letter sent 7/16 - Pending reply
LVNV Funding (Resurgent Capital Services) (Credit One CO Nov. 2014) - $1728 – Sent PFD letter 7/16 (I now know they won’t do PFD, so will start paying this off next month)
Public Records: 0
Inquiries: 2
I paid off my $41k auto loan in December and we rent our home, so no other debt.
My plan:
Improve credit mix with new secured card and secured loan – Done!
Pay off all collections by end of October and look to get most deleted – Getting there!
GW letter saturation to try to remove COs and old late payments showing on auto loan from 2014 – Starting soon!
My main goal is to get all 3 scores above 700 by this time next year. Is that even feasible? Any suggestions or tips on what else I should be doing would be most appreciated! Thanks!
Awesome. Sounds like you know what to do and are doing it. Good progress. (Those delinquencies are most critical and you laid out a well defined plan for them)
So I have some slightly non conventional advice:
Assuming you have the emergency/short term credit that you need, my advice is to be more selective and slow with adding new credit than you maybe think you should be. You may find yourself quickly moving in to the "fair to good" credit area. If you can afford to be, be a little picky, and make your applications with precision rather than scattershot. Specifically, avoid the secured cards if possible. Avoid the AF cards. Avoid the comenity fruit if possible and not useful. Assuming you have not burned them in the past, it looks like you have a few mid level options that will open up in a few months. (Specifically, have you tried the no fee capital one platinum card prequal check yet? You may be a few months away, but waiting for that is better than most secured cards IMO).
Is 700 in a year possible? My guess is yes, it is possible but most if not all of those charge offs and collections would bneed to be gone, not just resolved, so your PFD and then GW plan is the right one. Time heals though!
Note: I should also listen more to my own advice.
Thanks for your reply @BallBounces!
First off - I am not applying for any new credit. Gotta pay down the collection balances first. My CU MC and the new Disc. cards and the small secured loan is all I am looking for in the short term. Not sure what you mean by AF cards (annual fee maybe?) or what comenity means.
Also, my Mom offered to add me to her Amex as an AU. My folks have 800+ credit scores and haven't made a late payment on anything in probably 25 years. They have a 10+ year, perfecthistory with AMEX ($50k CL with a 5% usage). I'm wondering if that would help boost my scores at all.
Way to go on working to get things back in order. Keep on chugging and you'll get there eventually. Nowhere to go but up the ladder now! Good Luck!
@ladeda8971 wrote:Thanks for your reply @BallBounces!
First off - I am not applying for any new credit. Gotta pay down the collection balances first. My CU MC and the new Disc. cards and the small secured loan is all I am looking for in the short term. Not sure what you mean by AF cards (annual fee maybe?) or what comenity means.
Also, my Mom offered to add me to her Amex as an AU. My folks have 800+ credit scores and haven't made a late payment on anything in probably 25 years. They have a 10+ year, perfecthistory with AMEX ($50k CL with a 5% usage). I'm wondering if that would help boost my scores at all.
- Yes, AF= Annual Fee. My point is, at your spot you should avoid sub prime credit. Sounds like you agree!
- Comenity is a retail card issuer that can grant easy to achieve store cards. Nothing wrong with it per se, but it is not a panacea and needn't be the basis of anyone's recovery.
- Good on paying those collection balances (to 0 and hopefully OFF your reports if possible!). Unfortunately it's the "last" one that matters most.
- AU card would not hurt, but depending on circumstance may not help at all either.
Again, I like your plan. Stay patient.
Thanks for the reply @Remedios! I think I'll pass on the AU add for the time being. Honestly, I kinda want to do this on my own. Finally "adulting" with my credit. Excited to see ANY score increase once the collections are gone!
@BallBounces - No store cards for me! Went that route in my early 20's and ended up with a personal loan to pay all 9 off. Never again!
Again - thanks so much for everyone who contributes to this forum. Your knowledge has been priceless!
Just wanted to benchmark my progress.
Midland Funding (Synchrony Bank CO Oct. 2014) - $296 – PIF today, they will delete from CR - PIF & Deleted from all 3 bureaus in August. 2 point score boost with TU only. Just started GW campaign to Synchrony.
PRA (HSBC CO not showing on my CR) - $912 – Will be PIF 9/19 - New balance $304, will be PIF this month and removed from all 3 bureaus. CO not on CRs, so no GW campaign needed.
PRA (Citibank CO Nov. 2014) - $2735 – In communications with them currently for payment plan. Will have it paid off by October. - New balance $1824, will be PIF by November and removed from all 3 bureaus. Will begin GW once PIF.
EOS CCA - $91 – PFD letter sent 7/16 - Pending reply - PIF & they agreed to delete from all 3 bureaus. I know they are stubborn with PFD, but I was able to speak with a supervisor and get him to agree (I recorded the call) immediately, on my 1st try.
Columbia Collections – 1 for $176 & 2 with $0 – PFD letter sent 7/16 asking to PIF the $176 and have all 3 removed - Pending reply - PIF, but they will not delete. All are due to "fall off" CR in January, so leaving these alone.
Professional Credit Service - $100 – PFD letter sent 7/16 - Pending reply - PIF and they agreed to delete. Only removed from TU so far.
LVNV Funding (Resurgent Capital Services) (Credit One CO Nov. 2014) - $1728 – Sent PFD letter 7/16 (I now know they won’t do PFD, so will start paying this off next month). - Still dealing with this one. On record until Jan. 2021, so really need a PFD.
No real upward movement in my FICO scores, but I know they will eventually start moving. Since I have most of my derogs being worked on, on to my hubby's! Thanks again everyone!