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Will a Failed Good Will Letter Hurt Score? What to Do?

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Repairman
Established Contributor

Will a Failed Good Will Letter Hurt Score? What to Do?

Forgive me if the answer to this question is elsewhere on this board, but I've searched and couldn't find it...

 

I think I remember reading somewhere on this borard in the past that one has to be careful sending GW letters, as if the baddie has a good amount of age to it, and the GW attempt fails, it can cause the creditor to update the date on the baddie to the present, essentially re-starting the 7 year date on your report time clock, when it could have had just a year or two to go, for example. Am I rembering this correctly? Is this true?

 

I have 3 late payments and paid charge offs on my reports from Chase and AMEX that are hurting my scores, all from 2013 & 2014. I attempted to have them removed a few years ago with GW letters, without success and am wanting to try again now that some time has passed and my payment history has since been stellar. Should I try again? Or is there a risk that attempting to GW those removals at this point could actually update their reporting and hurt me?

 

Finally, upon a recent look at my CR, I actually noticed this on a 2014 Chase charge off that I Paid In Full in 2016: Transuninon and Experian still list it as Last Updated on 10/2014 and says Paid Charge Off,  but Equifax, however, changed Last Updated to 3/2016 (when I paid it off). What's up with that? Can I dispute that update?

 

3 REPLIES 3
Medic981
Valued Contributor

Re: Will a Failed Good Will Letter Hurt Score? What to Do?

An original creditor cannot re-age an account or restart the seven-year clock. What can happen, when trying for a GW adjustment is the OC or CA can update the account which can cause it to have more weight in negative FICO scoring.

 

What counts is the date of first delinquency or DOFD. That is the date that the seven-year clock is calculated from. Just as you pay on your current credit accounts and they are reported each month so can a negative account be reported as being delinquent. It is that updated negative account that affects your FICO more because it has been refreshed.







Your FICO credit scores are not just numbers, it’s a skill.
Message 2 of 4
Repairman
Established Contributor

Re: Will a Failed Good Will Letter Hurt Score? What to Do?


@Medic981 wrote:

An original creditor cannot re-age an account or restart the seven-year clock. What can happen, when trying for a GW adjustment is the OC or CA can update the account which can cause it to have more weight in negative FICO scoring.

 

What counts is the date of first delinquency or DOFD. That is the date that the seven-year clock is calculated from. Just as you pay on your current credit accounts and they are reported each month so can a negative account be reported as being delinquent. It is that updated negative account that affects your FICO more because it has been refreshed.


So what I'm gleaming from your response is that a failed GW can not possibly cause my baddie to fall off any later than 7 years from when it 1st occurred, however, it still is possible for a failed GW to hurt my score, anyway, if they update it which will give it more negative weight. Is that right? Also, if so, what would your reccommendation be to me in this case?

Message 3 of 4
Medic981
Valued Contributor

Re: Will a Failed Good Will Letter Hurt Score? What to Do?

Chase and Amex are tough nuts to crack. 

 

@BrutalBodyShots has written a primer on how to best go about successfully getting a goodwill adjustment.







Your FICO credit scores are not just numbers, it’s a skill.
Message 4 of 4
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