Hey everyone!
I am not very public on this forums about what I did to get to the 500's and lower on some score models. However @FinStar a really great, helpful and kind person inspired me. I want to share my story to inspire others and so you know you're not alone in your journey you'll get to good scores it takes work but it will happen.
Before I begin on my story I would like to thank everyone who has helped not only me but who has helped others. I have found so many answers to questions on here it's amazing. It's also comforting in a way to know that when you have questions someone has asked them before so you are not alone or someone has the answer and their really is no judgement. I also have found a community which does not judge people no matter what their financial/credit picture is like. I just want to share one of my favorite aspects of this forum is the signatures. I like reading posts and taking a look at each card a person has. But really thanks to every member give yourselves a pat on the back for making it an amazing community.
So this is how I got my scores into the 500's and before you read this feel free to laugh I laugh at myself sometimes I just can't believe it happened. I was over 2 and a half years late on my mortgage. Yep you read it right no error 2 and half! I used to be embarrassed but I know I shouldn't be everyone has their own things going on. I was never foreclosed upon or anything. I just kept pushing for a loan mod and finally they gave it to me. I did manage do go through 3 lenders while not paying on the mortgage. I did pay some escrow but not nearly enough to cover all that was due. I went from GMAC to Ocwen Then PHH Mortgage after PHH and Ocwen merged they're still Ocwen but a bit better. PHH is the one that finally gave me a loan mod. 2 months prior to me joining this forum they offered me a loan mod and I signed and before anyone here worries. I did NOT sign a ballon payment loan mod. I signed an extension + raise of my payments for my loan. Thankfully I am paying more to princpal than intrest right now. And yes in case you could not tell I still live at the home. When I joined this forum I learned many things. Before joining this forum I used to use credit cards I was careless. I had no clue about how anything affected anything. I knew the basics lates are bad and don't go over the limit. I had just a few cards when I joined this forum a ExxonCard(they can close it) a Bloomingdales card(Now an AMEX), a Cap1 QS(Since Closed), a Cap1 QS1(Since Closed), and a Credit One Card(Yikes when I look back nowClosed.). On December 30th 2019 I got my first approval after reading a ton on the forums. I applied for a Walmart Mastercard and bam approval for $3000! With over 24 months of recent lates on my report! Since then it's been a long journey with many approvals, many questions all answered. If you told me where I would be in terms of credit 2 years ago. I probably would have laughed and then said I don't know what a credit score is or something like that. A major milestone that happened along the way was getting all of the late payments from Ocwen deleted. You might be wondering how I did it. I argued for hours spanning many days about my hardships and they finally did remove the late's from all 3 CB's. That put my scores into the 600's. It's continued to rise to this date. If you look how my signature you can see how much has changed since I joined. Below you can see some timestamps of important dates.
Also the garden is more of an idea for me than a thing. If I see something I want I apply for science. Worst thing they can say is no. Though I gardened for a year about.
I'm not including all the cards just important ones for me.
-September, 2019 Loan Mod Signed!
-December 30th, 2019 Wally MC Approval
-Jan 25, 2020 Kohl's Approval and Wayfair
-Feb 1st,2020 PHH informs me that lates will be removed.
-Feb 21, 2020 Discover approval $10,500 I jumped up and down
-May, 2020 Delta American Express Approval
-May,2020 Home Depot Approval
-July,2021 FNBO 1st of 3 approvals
-August FNBO 2nd of 3 approvals This is the Evergreen and has my largest limit to date. Expect for Bloomingdales Amex but that was before it got upgraded.
-September FNBO 3rd of 3 approvals
-Carvana Car. Fianced through Carvana they use Bridgecrest got a good apr. I love the car.
If anyone on here as any questions at all please feel free to ask I'm all ears. Once again thanks to everyone for being here to help others just like me.
My scores then:
500's and lower
My Scores Now:
TU:750
EQ:748
EX:749
>
Congrats on your rebuild. I know the struggle. Job well done.
Started: 5/2018 EX8 468 TU8 479 EQ8 451
@Irv02 Not completely clean yet unfortunately. I have some Synchrony Bank Gap Store Card lates due to fall off next year. I also have 1 late for my Chase Home Equity LOC due to fall off end of 2022. Oh yeah and the 1 late on my Bloomingdales Store Card which would fall off end of 2023 or early 2024 but i'm working on getting a goodwill! I feel like I could have focused more on the cards I choose initially. I am actually pretty happy with me lineup right now and feel that each card does it's own thing for me. However some cards I didn't need and regret like my now closed Credit One Card.