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Like everyone else, my finances were impacted by COVID-19 in early 2020. That led to late payments on my credit cards across multiple banks. I had given up and prepared to face the 7 year punishment because I thought nothing could be done. I have been making my regular payments since about April when things stabilized for me. I somehow stumbled on goodwill letters and came back to myFICO forums after a 5 year absence.
I summoned the courage to send them out to 2 banks for starters (Citi - 3 cards and Capital One - 2 cards) in early January. I had read about the saturation strategy and was fully prepared to send out a new round in February.
For CIti, I got a call in mid-January and was told they would research and get back to me. About a week later, they called me back and said specifically that they would take off the 30 day late on 1 card (so I still have lates on 2 cards pending). I checked my report last night and it was indeed gone.
For Capital One, i received about 20 letters in the mail with the standard "we have to report accurately". No worries. About mid-January I got a call from the Exec Office saying they received my email and would research and get back to me. About a week after, I got a call from a nice gentle man saying they would be taking off the lates (i think there were about 4 or 5 in total) and it may take 15 days. I was so excited. I thought my credit monitoring apps (CK, CS) would alert me to the removal but I just randomly checked last night and they were gone!!
Quick question - Citi wasnt really specific about whether they would call me back about the other 2 cards that still have lates. How soon should I reach back out to them? Did they just give me a one shot offer ie they will only remove lates for one card? Or do i still have a chance at goodwill adjustment for the other 2 Citi cards?
This great news has given me a huge boost of confidence as I work on rebuilding my credit through paying off my balances and getting these goodwill adjustments. I still have lates with DIscover, Amex, BoA, Chase and I know these are typically harder to goodwill. But keeping my fingers crossed
I really hope they take them off, especially if you got caught up. It's not fair for people to lose their jobs because of state ordered closures and then have to pay for it for the next 7 years.
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:I really hope they take them off, especially if you got caught up. It's not fair for people to lose their jobs because of state ordered closures and then have to pay for it for the next 7 years.
I agree, edgier situations have been created and it is terribly unfortunate that many of us have to deal with.
To @Bayuze congrats on the EE!
Congrats on you GW Success. I think you got a chance with the other Citi cards it wouldn't hurt to call and follow up. As for the other lates(Discover, Amex, BoA, Chase) go ahead you wouldn't know if you dont try. Good Luck👍
Congratulations!
I also have a few Capitol one lates I'd like to get off. Do you mind sharing the addresses you used and the gw letter if possible
Check your DM @Anonymous
Congrats on the GWs! 👍
NFCU More Rewards: $23,100
NFCU Cash Rewards: 25,000
Congratulations!!! That is so amazing I'm rebuilding as well. I have 2 lates from Cap1 from 2015! I know I'm late in starting this process, but I Now find myself needing a new car so I would love to get these lates removed to see if I get a boost. Can I also get the email address please?
Thank you!
Congrats on all your success!
I'm on a similar path and have had tremendous success with GW emails to the higher ups, as well!
Along with my congratulations, I'm coming to tell you to go after discover! They're doing a 2 month forgiveness due to covid right now, and all you gotta do is call and speak to a manager and plead your case. I did this, and they removed 2, which that's all was reporting, then a week later they reported another random one. I called in and they couldn't do anything so I emailed the executives office and they granted my request for the last removal.
So, if you have only 2, a simple phone call should do you right. If you have more, I am more than happy to share with you the contact that worked for me.
Cheers to even more success with building your credit!