Hi credit superstars,
Need some advice: I have a thirty day late, which is my only baddie on a 12+ year credit history. We're applying for a mortgage now and I'd like to request goodwill deletion because it dropped my score 88 points.
Both of these reasons are true, but which is a better reason to explain in the goodwill letter (when I mention that this is absolutely my fault and I would be most greatful if they granted a one-time goodwill deletion of the delinquency)?:
1. Our hosehold had COVID the month of the 30-day late, and one of our elderly family members was hospitalized which did 100% distract me from focusing on my credit. (Thankfully he was discharged and is recovering. But it was terrifying and we thought we were losing him at the time.)
2. My account was purchased by a different creditor who removed the account from autopay. MY FAULT: while they say they mailed me notice of the change, I was unaware of a relationship with this company and mistook the letters for spam which I recycled. Even the prior creditor mailed me notice which I disregarded as spam due to being on paperless mail with them. Stupid, stupid mistake. Really stupid. I deeply regret and have learned the (costly) lesson.
To avoid being long-winded I should just pick one of these. They may be rolling their eyes at COVID stories by this point. But the second one is convoluted and embarassing and could get the letter tossed out. What should I do?
Starting Score: 580
Just be honest; pick one and explain, but be succinct. They don't like to read through novels. Take full responsibility, explain what happened, how it happened, and what you've done to prevent it from happening again. It may take multiple letters to achieve your GW. It may also never be granted, but it's worth a try.
Did this late occur recently?
It was in August. They told me over the phone they'd remove it. And it did disappear from CreditKarma and other more casual monitoring services. But as we prepare to apply for a mortgage I discovered that Experian still shows it. I'm checking the others now.
I'll try calling again but from what I read here emails to the C-suite executives are most effective. I'll also mail a series of letters. I'm not sure if I should use the same verison of the letter every time or vary it slightly. I'm willing to try anything at this point!
@loviedovie, I agree with @OmarGB9 . Being honest, and highlighting that you are a long-time customer with a track record of making nothing but on-time payments.
It's clear that something significant occured in your life because you made an on time payment the month before and the month after. Missing payments and/or making a late payment is NOT your practice. Anyone can empathize with that.
Best wishes and please - keep us posted.
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UPDATE:
Success! Barclays agreed to the goodwill deletion of the $29 payment that was 30 days late when they purchased my account and removed me from autopay.
What I did:
- Call a few times, until I had one sympathetic person who submitted a request to their credit department on my behalf.
- In parallel I mailed exactly one letter, sent on Thursday, received on Saturday.
- The combination must have done the trick because on Monday the late mark was removed from all 3 bureaus (which I only know because I had already paid for real-time credit alerts due to being in the mortgage application process)
WHAT REALLY HELPED: In the letter, I included one screenshot from my credit report showing that this was the only account out of 53 in my history that had ever been late. I included a second screenshot, the payment table for this card specifically, showing only 1 late payment out of 105 monthly payments to date.
The whole process took less than 10 days, start to finish. My FICO score went up 55 points.
Thanks once again to the heroes of this forum. Over the years you have never steered me wrong. I've learned that if you just pay attention and take care of the little details, it all works out.