For the better part of 5 years I've been steadily working on improving my credit. In 2008, I got laid off and my financial situation deteriorate. I had my home foreclosed on in late 2007. I had moved cross country for a job and wasn't able to sell it then when the financial crisis hit I lost that job and had to move back to the east coast. I ended up defaulting on all my cards and was paying my car loan 30 days late for the better part of a year. Thankfully my student loans qualified for unemployment deferral or else it would have been a complete disaster. When I lost my job I was completely a mess and ended up missing a doctor's appointment I had previously scheduled and completely forgot about a payment plan I had agreed to with my dentist for a crown he did for me. The doctor's office charged me $50 for my missed appointment which I didn't realize until it went to collection and then the dentist office sent my remaining balance to collection. The $50 collection I resolved immediately, but the collection agency, Evergreen Recovery, reports it to all 3 bureaus and simply refuses to agree to GW it. It blows my mind too because it's such a small balance and it was paid in 2009. The balance from the dentist was ~$300 and I just couldn't come up with it at the time and I know that a paid or unpaid collection has the same impact on your credit. Fast forward to today, my scores are pretty stagnant. I have 8 baddies on my report today, the foreclosure, the charge off of the second mortgage, a Verizon account that I settled for less than what I owed, a charge off for an installment agreement I had with a store when I bought a new fridge, 2 Cap1 accounts that I paid off completely after they were charged off and the late payments on my car loan. I am trying so hard to get into the 700 club and I also want to buy a house in the fall so I would like to qualify for a mortgage without issue. Right now my scores are stuck in the mid 600s but it's almost entirely due to the presence of negatives and high utilization (currently at 45%).
I'm so impatient I decided to try to accelerate my arrival into the 700 club. This is what I did:
- Sent a 3rd GW request to Evergreen on March 1st but they denied the request AGAIN! So I decided to try a different route and sent them a DV letter. Just saying after their repeated denials of my GW request I reached out the the doctor's office who had no record of my account ever going to collections, so I stated I paid the account because it was so small but now I question whether it was ever mine to begin with. My hope is they will just remove it rather than go through the hassle of validating a $50 paid debt that is 4 years old.
- I sent a PFD letter to Olympic the agency that was collecting the debt from the dentist. They've never actively pursued me for it, but I just want to get it off my report because it's not paid and it is scheduled to stay on until 2016. I offered to pay the original balance if they agreed to delete the account from all 3 bureaus. They responded today, provided all the appropriate DV materials (which I didn't ask for and was shocked they even had a copy of the payment plan agreement with the dentist that included my signature) and offered to delete it but not for the amount I offered, they wanted the full balance due which was now almost $450. Not optimal but honestly I just want it removed so I just paid the balance and I have their letter on letterhead with the collection manager's signature agreeing to delete it.
- I sent a GW letter to Cap1 essentially begging them to remove the charge offs. I explained I'm a loyal customer I've appreciated them offering me credit since my troubles and that I wanted to qualify for the best mortgage rate. I also mentioned that the item is scheduled to fall off the report in Dec 2014 which isn't that far off but still would appreciate consideration. I've heard a lot of people have had success with this so I'm hopeful.
- Sent a GW letter to Verizon, the item is scheduled to fall off in Nov 2013, so I'm hoping they will have pity on me and just agree to remove it a few months earlier.
- I'm leaving the fridge loan alone, it's scheduled for removal in Aug 2013, I'm just going to wait it out.
- Nothing I can really do about all my 30 day lates from Toyota Financial (there are probably 10 months in a row worth) but the last late was in Jan 2010 so I'm thinking it's not hurting my score too much.
- The foreclosure drops off my report in Jun 2013 and the second mortgage charge off drops off in Sept 2013.
- I've e-mailed the Cap1 EO office for CLI consideration on my 3 existing Cap1 accounts in the hopes I can improve my utilization and possibly qualify for a much higher CL prime card with AMEX and one of the other prime issuers allowing me to get rid of all my credit builder accounts.
Apologies for the long post but ultimately my question is, assuming the 2 collections get removed, the GW letters to Verizon and Cap1 work and I get my CLI requests approved how likely is it that my scores will jump up over 700? I have absolutely no negatives since Mar 2010 and I'm absolutely obsessed with getting there by the summer.
Starting Score: FICO TU 503 FICO EX 470 FICO EQ 498
@guiness56 wrote:With the foreclosure still remaining your scores will probably not get over 700 until that is gone even if those did get removed.
Really the simulator suggests that I could jump to just over 700 by just getting my utilization down. The foreclosure falls off in like 60 days anyway so by the time the other stuff updates it will probably be gone.