Is a GW letter worth it to remove old lates???

[Anonymous]

According to my score watch report, I have not had a late in 2 yrs and 9 months.  It was during 2008 that I accumulated tons of 30,60,90+ lates.  Seven 90+ lates in one account alone! Of these accounts 6 are now PIF and closed. I have 4-6 more accounts with balances that should be PIF within a year.  My fico score is stuck around 670-690. Is it worth it to do GW letters to get the 90+ lates removed??? If so, should I focus on the accounts that are PIF or should I write to all accounts??? Or should I let them alone so they will not re-age somehow???

Also, should I even bother with the 30 & 60 lates??? Or has time passed equal to any score bump from their removal???

Before our crisis, I always had perfect credit and I am eager to get back to the days of 700+ credit scores!!!

[RobertEG]

Thirty day lates loose most of their scoring impact after a few years, but 60+ lates have a greater impact on scoring over a longer period.  It never hurts to get any derogs deleted.

Apart from the FICO impacts, the continued showing of those delinquencies in your CR will have a negative impact on those reviewing your CR.  They show a pattern of untimliness that may impact their future credit decisions, apart from your three-digit FICO score.

[pizzadude]

I would try to remove any lates that you can. 

Really you have nothing to lose by requesting GW, except that in some rare cases, creditors may interpret your GW request as a dispute.

Unless any of these accounts are much, much older than the rest of your accounts, I would go for it.

[Anonymous]

Supposedly a 90 day late hurts a long, long time.

Asking for goodwill will only cost stamps and paper. If lucky, a yes will save tons in interest payments.

IT might not be a terrible idea to look up the creditors here and see if there's been success with goodwill letters.

[haulingthescoreup]

A 60 less than two years old, and 90's or older of any age, put you into the serious derog bucket. One a 60 hits 2 years old, it carries the same weight as a 30 in scoring.

If all you have is lates (no charge-offs, collections, etc.), and your 60 is over 2 years, it is DEFINITELY worth trying to get off the 90.

WFNNB erased all my lates when I called, saying that they were over two years old, and my credit had been fine ever since, and I jumped up into the 760's and beyond, because all that's left on my reports is a scattering of 30's.

I'd try to GW any lates, including the 30's, because in the end it all pays off, but if you can get the 90's off, it should definitely be worth the effort.

[Anonymous]

Wow! Thanks for the replies!

In answer to the above question, YES...all I have are TONS of  lates. NO collections, C/O, BK, etc..  Other than ONE 90+ in 2006 (I didnt know I owed anything), ALL MY LATES are in 2008 and one in Jan 2009.  I will start the GW letter today and will provide an update!

Thxs!

[Anonymous]

Oops....I meant a 30 late in 2006.

Also, what about a Utility company???  When I moved out of state in 2003, my apartment was taken oven by a family member. I forgot to take my name off the heating/gas bill until 2008 when I learned this family member was having a hard time also and had accumulated lates under my name. IS it possible to get these removed??? Do lates on utility bill carry the same weight??

[Anonymous]

I wrote the GW letters last night. While I was counting up the lates on each account I remembered that some of these acccounts were re-aged once I was current.  Does that mean that the lates are no longer hurting my score???  Would GW letters help or hurt???

[llecs]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I wrote the GW letters last night. While I was counting up the lates on each account I remembered that some of these acccounts were re-aged once I was current.  Does that mean that the lates are no longer hurting my score???  Would GW letters help or hurt???

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What do you mean by re-age? A late can't re-age. Once it appears in 2/2005, as an example, they aren't going to add it to 10/2011 too. If you were late in the month you were late in, then that late stays...it won't be brought to the forefront and FICO won't view it any differently than it is now. It is common for a TL to update as payments are made, but that's not re-aging. Re-aging is when the DOFD changes causing a baddie to report longer. If these aren't CO's or CAs', then you don't have to worry about DOFD.

I'd send the GW.

ETA....if the lates are still reporting, they are still hurting (ditto to the effects as mentioned above).

The only side effects from sending GWs are this:

1) A late is on one report but not the other(s) and the OC decides to stick it to you and report on the other(s) after receiving a GW (this is rare).

2) You send a GW on a current CC and the OC decides to mark it as disputed. If FICO sees the dispute comment, then FICO will ignore the balance and CL and that can hurt or help your FICO temporarily (seldom happens).

3) You send a GW on a old, closed OC account that had lates showing or a GW on a closed CO. The OC might do you a favor and delete. If that account was your oldest or one of your oldest, you could see a score drop, but have a cleaner report in the process. (it happens).

4) You send a GW on a baddie that is paid and closed. However, you owe $$$ on a bad debt with the same OC/CA. You wake them up and they sue for the other account.

5) You send a GW on a TL that never reported all the lates. The OC sticks it to you and updates the TL with added lates instead (happened to me).

[Anonymous]

Back in end of 2008 or early 2009,  once I was current with them,  I called Wells Fargo to 're-age' my accounts.  It sounded as if it reset my account..as if it were a new account.  I did have a bit of a score bump from it. But i dont know if thats from becoming current though.