Hello everyone,
First of all, I want to thank each and everyone of you for helping me!
It's time to give back to this community, this forum has changed my life. This is going to be a long post, so I am sorry about that.
My credit has been under 500's since 2013. It was not until March 2018, I discovered this great forum. My first post on this forum was in March 2018 and thats when I started taking my credit score seriously.
I had 0 credit cards now I have 5, including AMEX! I went from 480's to 687.
You can see the post here:
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/Ashamed-even-to-share-this-post/td-p/5201177
My FICO8 was under 500 across all 3 CBs. No credit card company would even touch me, not even secured cards. From March to November 2018, I was reading this forum almost everyday to educate myself. Once I was aware of what was needed to be done, I started working on my credit in November 2018.
I would list the steps that I took, in case if it helps anyone.
1) November 2018, Authorize User - I added myself as an authorized user to 3 of my sister's credit cards. This didn't help me boost my credit score though.
2) November 2018, Disputing smaller accounts - I sent out letters to all 3 CBs disputing the collection accounts (even when they were mine). I didn't dispute it online, instead I mailed out letters disputing every account that was under $500, by this time I had 9 collection accounts, 5 of which were under $500. Next thing I know, all of them were removed!!!! Call me lucky but it happened! Those accounts were spread across all 3 CBs. This helped my credit score a bit.
3) November 2018, Dealing with big accounts - I had BofA charge off for $848, I didn't have enough funds to PIF so I called them and settled for $230. I did this to stop it updating every month.
I also had $4197 charge off Auto loan with WFDS. This amount was way too big for me to even settle. The car was never reopoed since I had changed my address, I was still in possession of the car even after going deliquent in 2013. I gathered courage and gave them a call. The represetative told me, since the debt was too old, they can not accept any payments towards it and I can keep the car and they will send me the title. I was so happy, this was a huge relief for me!
I had collection from Eversource for $919, so I called them and told them I need to transfer elecricity from my sister's name to mine. They said I have unpaid balance and that can not happen unless I pay it off. So they put me on a payment plan and REMOVED the account completely!!!
4) December 2018, First credit card - Thanks to this forum, I came to know the easiest cards to get approved for. I didn't go with predator cards like Credit One. I knew Capital One platinum was pretty to get approved for so I checked if I was pre-qualified, but I wasn't. I still pulled the trigger and got APPROVED for an unsecured platinum card with a SL of $300 (Not a big SL, but made me jump with joy). Once my credit card was reported, my credit score jumped to over 550! Thanks to this forum I came to know how important it is to have an open account. I went from 0 open accounts to 1.
5) January 2019, first open loan - I knew how important a loan is to your account so I went with the easiest option and got self lender. This further boosted my score once it was reported.
6) January 2019-March 2019 - I let few payments post on my 2 accounts on my credit report to improve my payment history.
7) March 2019, 2nd credit card - Still no other bank would approve me for unsecured credit card, so I chose to go with Discover secured card. I knew how important was to have 3 credit cards to apply AZEO. I put $300 deposit and got my second card.
8) July 2019, 3rd credit card and limit increase - It had been 6 months since I got my Capital One credit card. As per their policy, they increased my limit from $300 to $500. Thanks to FicoForums, I knew CapOne would approve you for another card after having a card for 6 months. So I applied for CapOne QS and got approved with SL of $500.
9) August 2019, Experian boost - I read about Experian boost on this forum and thought I would give it a try. It boosted my score by good 24 points. My FICO8 was 652 now! What a win!!!!!!
10) October 17, 2019 - 2 more credit cards - My credit score was 674! It was my dream to be in AMEX family! I checked prequalify but the results weren't positive. I came to know on this forum that AMEX would approve you for Delta gold card if you were above 650's. I pulled the trigger and boom! Approved with $2000 SL! (Dream come true). The same day I applied for Citi Doublecash and was approved with $1000 SL!!!
11) November 1, 2019 - Credit score 687. 7th statement of my discover was on 23rd October, I was hoping to get my deposit back. Got an email today saying that my card was now unsecured and they had increased my limit to $2000 and they will be sending a check with my deposit. (Didn't expect this to happen days after my 7th statement).
This were the steps I took to go from 480's to 687 in a year! Even though limits on my CCs are not big, I am happy! I have 5 credit cards now instead of 0! Waiting for 60 days AMEX 3X CLI! Also, I have been getting pre-approved auto loan and personal loan letters. Also predator banks has been sending me pre-approved credit card offers 
My credit journey has not ended. I still have 3 baddies on my report, BofA, WFDS and Progressive. The good news? They all fall off between August and October 2020. I beleive once I have 0 baddies, my credit score should be close to 790s or 800s. (According to Experian score similator).
Like everyone says, its not a sprint but a marathon. I can't wait for 2020 and post another thread saying from 492 to 800!
Once again, thank you everyone! God bless you all! Don't give up this fight 
Congrats on a 200 point improvement and major wins along the way! You definitely had some luck but it shouldn’t be overlooked that one rarely gets lucky without doing work to end up in a position to take advantage of that luck I look forward to your next post and your continued success!
I look forward to your next post and your continued success!
Congratulations on your success!
Booyah! Now thats how you play the FICO Credit Game. Nice job and well done on getting rid of the baddies.
Congratulations!
Thank you for sharing... Your story is an inspiration for others who are the road to credit rebuilding. You are absolutely correct about this Forum. It provides a great wealth of credit knowledge that books could never capture. My time spent on this forum reading about success stories like yours provides the additional motivation to overcome some poor life choices with respect to credit management. Keep up the great work and all the best on achieving your 800 goal...
I am on the same climb right now and your story gives me the extra boost and motivation I need to keep going. Got a no on a cap one goodwill today, expected, but still disheartening. Just have to jeep pushing. My goal for this year is to hit 620 before 2020 hits. I think I can do it if I can get my cards down to AZEO.
Thanks for the incredible story! I have some work to do to catch up
Thanks for the incredible story! I have some work to do to catch up
Starting Score: TU-470 4/11/19, EQ-482 4/11/19, EX-486 4/11/19
Amazing job! Thanks for sharing!
