HELP, lots of questions to fix ONE major credit card problem

[Hls02045]

So I moved 2 years ago and had all of my mail forwarded to my new address, EVERYTHING forwarded except one credit card and of course it was my favorite TJ MAXX. well I had no idea that it didnt get forwarded untill about 6 or so months later when a credit agency caught up with me. I was a bit horrified and embarrassed so I agreed to pay the $700 and did it in 2 payments. Well unbenounced to me it absolutely destroyed my credit. I had EXCELLENT credit before this. It didnt help that I had 2 late mortgage payments during the same time but it is really the credit card issue that has killed me. I am in the process of creating a huge pile of evidence including the info from the post office that shows I had all my mail forwarded.

my question is 

1. can I get a copy of my older credit report showing my once excellent credit and if so how?

2. do I have to pay myFICO to see my credit scores every time? is there a site that will let me check in once a month to see how I'm doing

3. what other suggestions do you have to convince the TJ MAXX credit card people that the only reason  was late was because they didnt forward my mail? I know that technically it is my fault for not checking etc but I'm looking for helpful tips to convince them. they wont even let me open another credit card. I plan on writing a heartfelt letter with Alan Dershowitz like conviction and evidence. 

4. Does looking up your credit score a few times a year hurt your credit?

5. I called a credit lawyer and said because it was so recent (2 years???) they couldnt help me. Have you ever heard of this. I am desperate and will do anything to get this off my credit. Cant I pay a lawyer to help?

Any help is greatly appreciated

thx

H

[RobertEG]

Issues contesting credit card billing are covered via the dispute process under the Fair Credit Billing Act.

The FCBA dispute process has substantial requirements imposed on the creditor, but requries that your dispute be made within 60 days of the first billing statement that included the contested billing issue.

Check out the FCBA dispute process requirements.

That is your first resort when credit card billing matters are involved, but you must be timely........

[Hls02045]

ok, so here is something really weird. I couldnr figure out how to see my scores on MYFICO with out paying again so I went on to credit karma and it shows only 2 of my scores from transunion and Equifax, no experian for some reason but the really weird thing is that Equifax has me at 761 Excellent and Transunion at 744 Good, when I go to look at my tjx account it only shows that it was paid off and there is no negative information through Equifax, however on Transunion thay have me notes as 8 months late. very weid but great to see that my scored have gone so far up, I just dont know how or why and I cant see myfico score without paying again, I THINK, anyone know. myfico reported my scored back in December of 16 as Equifax at 717, transunion at 726 and experian at 704, all considered good but then I got an update on april 17 telling me it had dropped to 699. i dont get any of this. but does anyone know if  can see myfico for free or do i need to pay AGAIN????

[medicgrrl]

Do a $1 free trial with Credit Check Total.  They'll give you all 3 FICO scores.  Credit Karma gives you Vantage scores, which are a different scoring model.  Who is the bank that gives the TJ Maxx cards?  Is the collection reporting or just the negative account with TJM?

[Aprile421]

Credit Karma is not real Fico scores. Discover has a free site to sign up to get a monthly Fico score  https://www.discover.com/free-credit-score/  this is a real score not a fako.  It updates once a month.  Credit Karma is good for viewing accounts and utilization but not much else. Don't trust their scores.

I have one question? You said you had all your mail forwarded. Didn't you know you had a balance on the card? I don't even use statements on my cards. If I have a balance I know to make the payment every month. Even if I were to forget for one month which honestly hasn't happened I would notice on my bank statement I hadn't made a payment. I am not sure if they will help you even if you provide the forwarding proof because the burden of proof is on you to prove you never got those statements and also proving that you did not know you had a balance. Not trying to be snarky but those are things they will ask you if you try to dispute it.

[Hls02045]

thanks for the credit karma info, i didnt know that. Well, yes the fault is technically mine, however the reality of moving into a new house and trying to set up and I had to do it for the 1st month w/o my husband was overwhelming. setting up an office space and getting on track with my bills was no easy feat. And I honestly had an excellent credit score before this, it certainly wasnt like I was trying to not pay my credit card. I alo had everything else forwarded to my house it didnt even cross my mind that there could be an issue with that. So yes, technically it is my fault for not checking I guess but I am trying to prove tht bc my history was excellent, Isnt this what its for??? and because of that there was an obvious mishap, it being the only thing that didnt get paid and it was never forwarded. This has absolutely killed my credit. i had a $30k credit limit on another card and it got dropped to $500. Im 42 years old with a house and a family and a good job I cant do anything with a $500 credit limit, I cant even buy plane tickets. I am truely desperate and looking for ways to convince them it was an oversight and to possibly see it wasnt my fault. They could be nice and look at it that way or they could not, I just have to try everything I can.