- With the start of the new year, I made many life altering decision: attending more classes to get my bachelors, leaving the military service, and yes - leaving the 800 club for a foreclosure. Before I missed my first payment, I paid off my auto loan, maitained 1% utilization on my credit cards, and set up an emergency fund for unexpected expenses. But let me give you some quick background notes so it makes more sense.
It has been over 18 months, every month, of making $1,200+ mortgage payments for a house that no one lived in. My wife at the time decided to cause over $20,000 in damage when she moved out and left me with the cleanup. Insurance wouldn't cover "intentional damage" and I didn't have the money to make the repairs. Over the months I wanted to make sure I became financially secure no matter what. My ex decided to leave the state mid-divorce (she represented herself) and since I am in a community property state, I would need her signature to sell the house. Prior to not making my payment, I tried for months to see what "other" options were available through my bank, but alas, community property stipulations wouldn't allow me to do ANY sort of sale on my own - even though I am the sole owner on the deed and mortgage. So as of January 2015, I went from full time job to full time student, and now 30 days past due on my mortgage. And instead of getting depressed about it, I decided I would turn my experience into a score update thread. This way, the community can see how much damage each late does from 30 to 60 all the way to foreclosure. I will update this thread every time I get my monthly FICO score updated.
Account Age as of January 2015:
Oldest: 7 years
AAoA: 4 years
Newest Account: January 2015 (approved for Chase Freedom with best APR with 30 day late reporting 
)
Number of Inquries: 1 on each bureau
FICO Scores as of 12/2014 - Absolutely no derogatories:
EQ04 - 790 / / EX08 - 814 / / TU08 - 829
FICO Scores as of 01/2015 - 30 Days Late Reporting:
EQ04 - 697 / / EX08 - 702 / / TU08 - 705
FICO Scores as of 02/2015 - 60 Days Late Reporting (all scoring models):
Equifax 08 - 633 Experian8 - 629 TU08 - 640
EQ Home - 626 EX Home- 651
EQ Auto 8 - 641 EX Auto 8 - 640
EQ Auto 5 - 658 EX Auto 2 - 682
EQ Bank8 - 652 EX Bank8 - 652
EQ Bank5 - 653 EX Bank2 - 691
FICO Scores as of 03/2015 - 90 Days Late Reporting (all scoring models):
Equifax 08 - 636 Experian8- 630 Trans 08 - 640
EQ Home - 622 EX Home - 638 TU Home - 648
EQ Auto 8 - 644 EX Auto 8 - 641 TU Auto8 - 646
EQ Auto 5 - 654 EX Auto 2 - 670 TU Auto4 - 661
EQ Bank8 - 653 EX Bank8 - 653 TU Bank8 - 662
EQ Bank5 - 649 EX Bank2 - 669 TU Bank4 - 662
FICO Scores as of 04/2015 - 120 Days Late Reporting (all scoring models):
Equifax 08 - 637 Experian8- 629 Trans 08 - 648
EQ Home - 625 EX Home - 638 TU Home - 636
EQ Auto 8 - 645 EX Auto 8 - 640 TU Auto8 - 654
EQ Auto 5 - 657 EX Auto 2 - 670 TU Auto4 - 650
EQ Bank8 - 656 EX Bank8 - 652 TU Bank8 - 670
EQ Bank5 - 652 EX Bank2 - 669 TU Bank4 - 653
FICO Scores as of 05/2015 - 150 Days Late Reporting/Foreclosure (all scoring models):
Equifax 08 - 636 Experian8- 636 Trans 08 - 657
EQ Home - 612 EX Home - 644 TU Home - 622
EQ Auto 8 - 644 EX Auto 8 - 647 TU Auto8 - 663
EQ Auto 5 - 646 EX Auto 2 - 675 TU Auto4 - 637
EQ Bank8 - 655 EX Bank8 - 659 TU Bank8 - 679
EQ Bank5 - 641 EX Bank2 - 622 TU Bank4 - 641
FICO Scores as of 06/2015 - Foreclosure Finalized/$0 balance:
Equifax 08 - 673 Experian8- 655 Trans 08 - 663
Equifax 04 - 645
FICO Scores as of 07/2015 - 1 Month Post-Foreclosure
Equifax 08 - 682 Experian8- 665 Trans 08 - 674
Equifax 04 - 662
FICO Scores as of 08/2015 - 2 Months Post-Foreclosure
Equifax 04 - 664 Experian8- 665 Trans 08 - 677
FICO Scores as of 09/2015 - 3 Months Post-Foreclosure (AAoA 5yrs -> 4yrs New student loan)
Equifax 04 - 664 Experian8- 665 Trans 08 - 674
FICO Scores as of 10/2015 - 4 Months Post-Foreclosure (Oldest Account 7yrs -> 8yrs)
Equifax 04 - 670 Experian8- 665 Trans 08 - 679
FICO Scores as of 11/2015 - 5 Months Post-Foreclosure (AAoA 4yrs -> 5yrs)
Equifax 04 - 674 Experian8- 669 Trans 08 - 689
FICO Scores as of 12/2015 - 6 Months Post-Foreclosure (DOFD -> 1yr old)
Equifax 08 - 683 Experian8- 672 Trans 08 - 691
Equifax 04 - 674
FICO Scores as of 01/2016 - (30 day late -> 1yr old)
Equifax 08 - 693 Experian8- 684 Trans 08 - 695
Equifax 04 - 674
FICO Scores as of 02/2016
Equifax 08 - 696 Experian8- 684 Trans 08 - 695
Equifax 04 - 680
FICO Scores as of 03/2016
Equifax 08 - 706 Experian8- 688 Trans 08 - 699
Equifax 04 - 680
FICO Scores as of 04/2016
Equifax 08 - 706 Experian8- 688 Trans 08 - 699
Equifax 04 - 680
FICO Scores as of 05/2016
Equifax 08 - 704 Experian8- 684 Trans 08 - 699
Equifax 04 - 680
FICO Scores as of 06/2016 - (all scoring models):
Equifax 08 - 704 Experian8- 688 Trans 08 - 700
EQ Home - 680 EX Home - 719 TU Home - 701
EQ Auto 8 - 732 EX Auto 8 - 718 TU Auto8 - 723
EQ Auto 5 - 702 EX Auto 2 - 706 TU Auto4 - 713
EQ Bank8 - 721 EX Bank8 - 705 TU Bank8 - 722
EQ Bank5 - 700 EX Bank2 - 714 TU Bank4 - 732
Equifax 09 - 741 Experian9- 727 Trans 09 - 741
EQ Auto 9 - 751 EX Auto 9 - 738 TU Auto9 - 750
EQ Bank9 - 747 EX Bank9 - 738 TU Bank9- 744
FICO Scores as of 07/2016
Equifax 08 - 709 Experian8- 688 Trans 08 - 701
Equifax 04 - 685
FICO Scores as of 08/2016
Equifax 04 - 685 Experian8- 688 Trans 08 - 702
FICO Scores as of 09/2016
Equifax 04 - 685 Experian8- 693 Trans 08 - 704
FICO Scores as of 10/2016
Equifax 04 - 695 Experian8- 693 Trans 08 - 703
FICO Scores as of 11/2016
Equifax 04 - 707 Experian8- 693 Trans 08 - 704
FICO Scores as of 12/2016
Equifax 04 - 707 Experian8- 694 Trans 08 - 705
FICO Scores as of 01/2017
Equifax 04 - 707 Experian8- 699 Trans 08 - 706
FICO Scores as of 02/2017
Equifax 04 - 704 Experian8- 699 Trans 08 - 706
FICO Scores as of 03/2017
Equifax 04 - 704 Experian8- 701 Trans 08 - 707
FICO Scores as of 04/2017
Equifax 04 - 704 Experian8- 701 Trans 08 - 707
FICO Scores as of 05/2017
Equifax 04 - 704 Experian8- 701 Trans 08 - 709
Equifax 09 - 755
FICO Scores as of 06/2017 (2 years since foreclosure finalized)
Equifax 04 - 704 Experian8- 712 Trans 08 - 711
FICO Scores as of 07/2017
Equifax 04 - 714 Experian8- 713 Trans 08 - 713
Equifax 09 - 755
FICO Scores as of 08/2017
Equifax 04 - 714 Experian8- 724 Trans 08 - 723
FICO Scores as of 09/2017
Equifax 04 - 714 Experian8- 725 Trans 08 - 723
Equifax 09 - 781
FICO Scores as of 10/2017
Equifax 04 - 714 Experian8- 725 Trans 08 - 724
FICO Scores as of 11/2017
Equifax 04 - 715 Experian8- 725 Trans 08 - 724
Equifax 09 - 781
FICO Scores as of 12/2017
Equifax 04 - 715 Experian8- 725 Trans 08 - 724
FICO Scores as of 01/2018
Equifax 04 - 715 Experian8- 725 Trans 08 - 713
Equifax 09 - 782
FICO Scores as of 02/2018
Equifax 04 - 717 Experian8- 711 Trans 08 - 708
FICO Scores as of 03/2018 (New auto loan @ 1.74% & credit card)
Equifax 04 - 717 Experian8- 699 Trans 08 - 689
Equifax 09 - 769
FICO Scores as of 04/2018
Equifax 04 - 717 Experian8- 695 Trans 08 - 690
FICO Scores as of 05/2018
Equifax 04 - 717 Experian8- 699 Trans 08 - 694
Equifax 09 - 745
FICO Scores as of 06/2018 (Foreclosure 3 years old)
Equifax 04 - 717 Experian8- 712 Trans 08 - 706
FICO Scores as of 07/2018
Equifax 04 - 717 Experian8- 712 Trans 08 - 718
Equifax 09 - 758
FICO Scores as of 08/2018
Equifax 04 - 717 Experian8- 712 Trans 08 - 715
FICO Scores as of 09/2018
Equifax 04 - 717 Experian8- 713 Trans 08 - 718
Equifax 09 - 770
FICO Scores as of 10/2018
Equifax 04 - 717 Experian8- 717 Trans 08 - 715
Equifax 09 - 770
FICO Scores as of 11/2018
Equifax 04 - 721 Experian8- 717 Trans 08 - 715
Equifax 09 - 770
FICO Scores as of 12/2018
Equifax 04 - 721 Experian8- 716 Trans 08 - 715
Equifax 09 - 770
FICO Scores as of 01/2019
Equifax 04 - 733 Experian8- 716 Trans 08 - 707
Equifax 09 - 771
FICO Scores as of 02/2019
Equifax 04 - 733 Experian8- 717 Trans 08 - 721
Equifax 09 - 771
FICO Scores as of 03/2019
Equifax 04 - 733 Experian8- 718 Trans 08 - 710
Equifax 09 - 772
FICO Scores as of 04/2019
Equifax 04 - 733 Experian8- 723 Trans 08 - 722
Equifax 09 - 772
FICO Scores as of 05/2019
Equifax 04 - 733 Experian8- 723 Trans 08 - 711
Equifax 09 - 774
FICO Scores as of 06/2019
Equifax 04 - 733 Experian8- 724 Trans 08 - 711
Equifax 09 - 774
FICO Scores as of 07/2019 - (all scoring models):
- TU & EX 1x inquiry each
- 1% overall UTIL
- All cards but 1 w/ $0 balance
- 1x Auto loan @ 73% loan/balance ratio
- Oldest Account: 11 years
- AAoA - 7 years
- AoYA - 1 year
Equifax08 - 721 Experian8- 724 Trans 08 - 713
EQ Home - 733 EX Home - 722 TU Home - 714
EQ Auto 8 - 749 EX Auto 8 - 753 TU Auto8 - 745
EQ Auto 5 - 754 EX Auto 2 - 738 TU Auto4 - 737
EQ Bank8 - 738 EX Bank8 - 740 TU Bank8 - 736
EQ Bank5 - 746 EX Bank2 - 746 TU Bank4 - 743
Equifax 09 - 774 Experian9- 779 Trans 09 - 767
EQ Auto 9 - 780 EX Auto 9 - 789 TU Auto9 - 775
EQ Bank9 - 776 EX Bank9 - 783 TU Bank9- 772
FICO Scores as of 08/2019
Equifax 04 - 733 Experian8-724 Trans 08 - 721
Equifax 09 - 774
FICO Scores as of 09/2019 - (Foreclosure deleted from TU)
Equifax 04 - 713 Experian8- 724 Trans 08 - 807
Equifax 09 - 774
FICO Scores as of 10/2019 - (all scoring models):
- TU & EX 1x inquiry each
- 1% overall UTIL
- All cards but 1 w/ $0 balance
- 1x Auto loan @ 65% loan/balance ratio
- Oldest Account: 12 years
- AAoA - 7 years (94 months) on TU & EX / 8 years on EQ
- AoYA - 1.5 years
Equifax08 - 826 Experian8- 724 Trans 08 - 808
EQ Home - 809 EX Home - 725 TU Home - 800
EQ Auto 8 - 844 EX Auto 8 - 753 TU Auto8 - 826
EQ Auto 5 - 827 EX Auto 2 - 743 TU Auto4 - 830
EQ Bank8 - 848 EX Bank8 - 740 TU Bank8 - 831
EQ Bank5 - 828 EX Bank2 - 749 TU Bank4 - 833
Equifax09 - 820 Experian9- 779 Trans 09 - 809
EQ Auto 9 - 843 EX Auto 9 - 789 TU Auto9 - 823
EQ Bank9 - 831 EX Bank9 - 783 TU Bank9- 821
FICO Scores as of 11/2019
Equifax 04 - 809 Experian8- 728 Trans 08 - 808
Equifax 09 - 820 Experian3- 721
FICO Scores as of 12/2019
Equifax 04 - 809 Experian8- 728 Trans 08 - 815
Equifax 09 - 820
FICO Scores as of 01/2020
Equifax 04 - 809 Experian8- 728 Trans 08 - 811
Equifax 09 - 820
FICO Scores as of 02/2020
Equifax 04 - 809 Experian8- 728 Trans 08 - 811
Equifax 09 - 820
FICO Scores as of 03/2020
Equifax 04 - 809 Experian8- 728 Trans 08 - 811
Equifax 09 - 820
FICO Scores as of 04/202020
Equifax 04 - 812 Experian8- 730 Trans 08 - 825
Equifax 09 - 820
FICO Scores as of 05/2020
Equifax 04 - 812 Experian8- 730 Trans 08 - 825
Equifax 09 - 820 Experian9- 780
FICO Scores as of 06/2020
Equifax 04 - 812 Experian8- 730 Trans 08 - 825
Equifax 09 - 820 Experian9- 780
FICO Scores as of 07/2020
Equifax 04 - 812 Experian8- 730 Trans 08 - 825
Equifax 09 - 820 Experian9- 783
FICO Scores as of 08/2020
Equifax 04 - 812 Experian8- 730 Trans 08 - 836
Equifax 09 - 819 Experian9- 777
FICO Scores as of 09/2020
Equifax 04 - 812 Experian8- 730 Trans 08 - 829
Equifax 09 - 820 Experian9- 783
FICO Scores as of 10/2020 - (all scoring models):
- All 0 Inquiries
- All 1% overall UTIL
- Credit Cards - AZEO
- 1x Auto loan @ 16% loan/balance ratio
- Oldest Account: All 13 years
- AAoA - All 8 years (rounded down)
- AoYA - All 2.5 years
Equifax08 - 838 Experian8- 736 Trans 08 - 829
EQ Home - 812 EX Home - 746 TU Home - 819
EQ Auto 8 - 859 EX Auto 8 - 770 TU Auto8 - 855
EQ Auto 5 - 830 EX Auto 2 - 765 TU Auto4 - 860
EQ Bank8 - 860 EX Bank8 - 751 TU Bank8 - 858
EQ Bank5 - 833 EX Bank2 - 766 TU Bank4 - 851
Equifax09 - 822 Experian9- 784 Trans 09 - 822
EQ Auto 9 - 845 EX Auto 9 - 794 TU Auto9 - 840
EQ Bank9 - 833 EX Bank9 - 787 TU Bank9- 834
FICO Scores as of 11/2020
Equifax 04 - 811 Experian8- 739 Trans 08 - 842
Equifax 09 - 822 Equifax08- 850
FICO Scores as of 12/2020
Equifax08 - 850 Experian8- 739 Trans 08 - 842
EQ Home - 811 EX Home - 746 TU Home - 819
EQ Auto 8 - 876 EX Auto 8 - 773 TU Auto8 - 879
EQ Auto 5 - 829 EX Auto 2 - 765 TU Auto4 - 857
EQ Bank8 - 877 EX Bank8 - 756 TU Bank8 - 877
EQ Bank5 - 830 EX Bank2 - 766 TU Bank4 - 851
Equifax09 - 847 Experian9- 799 Trans 09 - 846
EQ Auto 9 - 871 EX Auto 9 - 807 TU Auto9 - 864
EQ Bank9 - 857 EX Bank9 - 799 TU Bank9- 857
Wow that sucks dude.
Are you divorced at this point? I had thought usually one spouse had to refinance the house (or otherwise pay out of assets) to get full control over it in a community property state? Would think there's a different way this should be approached rather than just letting the mortgage loan burn.
If it's a money issue maybe a CH 13 might be in the cards, I really don't know the options well enough but I know I'd be talking to lawyers before I went down the road you're planning on.
Sorry to hear about your troubles OP. Divorce is stressful enough when the ex's communicate.
Is the house in a non-recourse state, or a recourse state? This is important because a recourse state allows the lender to go to court to get a deficiency judgement against the owners. Florida, for example, is a recourse state, which leads to the huge foreclosure backlog they had/have because each foreclosure has to get a judge to sign off. Non-recourse states usually have a template of simple steps to go through where the lender takes back the house and cannot go after the owners for additional funds.
Who is monitoring the house to minimize further damage?
@JagerBombs89 wrote:With the start of the new year, I made many life altering decision: attending more classes to get my bachelors, leaving the military service, and yes - leaving the 800 club for a foreclosure. Before I missed my first payment, I paid off my auto loan, maitained 1% utilization on my credit cards, and set up an emergency fund for unexpected expenses. But let me give you some quick background notes so it makes more sense.
It has been over 18 months, every month, of making $1,200+ mortgage payments for a house that no one lived in. My wife at the time decided to cause over $20,000 in damage when she moved out and left me with the cleanup. Insurance wouldn't cover "intentional damage" and I didn't have the money to make the repairs. Over the months I wanted to make sure I became financially secure no matter what. My ex decided to leave the state mid-divorce (she represented herself) and since I am in a community property state, I would need her signature to sell the house. Prior to not making my payment, I tried for months to see what "other" options were available through my bank, but alas, community property stipulations wouldn't allow me to do ANY sort of sale on my own - even though I am the sole owner on the deed and mortgage. So as of January 2015, I went from full time job to full time student, and now 30 days past due on my mortgage. And instead of getting depressed about it, I decided I would turn my experience into a score update thread. This way, the community can see how much damage each late does from 30 to 60 all the way to foreclosure. I will update this thread every time I get my monthly FICO score updated.
Account Age:
Oldest: 7 years
AAoA: 4 years (rough estimate)
Newest: 1 Month (approved for Chase Freedom with best APR with 30 day late reporting
Starting FICO Scores as of 12/2014 - Absolutely no derogatories:
EX08 - 814
EQ04 - 790
TU08 - 829
I'm going to be the one to point out the elephant in the room...is this point in time the best time to cut your income and go back to school?
I'm all for continuing education - I'm 41 and take online courses from my college and do them at night. You have financial responsibilties, I'm sure in addition to a mortgage you have some revolving accounts with balances?
Changing your life is great if it's what you want but doing it responsibly is also important. I don't know if it's too late but please reconsider and make sure this is the best way to do this. You are "only" 30-Days late at this point and this can be turned around and with other planning you don't need to do it this way.
I'm not judging but I think you really need to determine if this is the best way to do this. You can go back to school but why not wait, keep your job, continuing paying on your financial obligations, and sell the house. I understand that it is difficult with your wife MIA but I don't believe that there is no way around that - talk to a lawyer. I highly doubt that the "system" will allow you to defualt on a mortgage simply becuase your wife is unwilling to deal with her obligations. I assume you could file a motion and a judge could vacate your wife from the mortgage note in absentia (if not that way some other way, I'm not a lawyer but I really doubt you can't get around this wife not doing anything, take it to a lawyer, take it to court, let a judge make a decision). I know you have to ability to plan as you seem to be planning for a defualt and perhaps a BK. Once more, I stress that you speak to a lawyer, I stress that you reconsider not working, there is another way to do this.
Think about this.
Let's stick to the issues directly addressable. Decisions about life choices are not really something we can comment on.
If there has been no way to get complete participation by the ex to resolve this, and this is not the OP primary residence, then there may need to be the drastic action OP is taking.
As I've noted elsewhere, cash flow takes precedence over any FICO score considerations. This house is a big cash flow consideration that is best resolved soon so that the OP can get on with life.
@tufa4311 wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:Let's stick to the issues directly addressable. Decisions about life choices are not really something we can comment on.
If there has been no way to get complete participation by the ex to resolve this, and this is not the OP primary residence, then there may need to be the drastic action OP is taking.
As I've noted elsewhere, cash flow takes precedence over any FICO score considerations. This house is a big cash flow consideration that is best resolved soon so that the OP can get on with life.
I'm going to disagree, I think my point speaks directly to the issue. The actions being taken here/considered here will lead directly to what this forum is all about. "Life decisions are not really something we can comment on"? We comment on life decisions on this board everyday, choosing what to spend money on with credit cards, how to pay loans off, how to go through BK - these are all life decisions.
Has the OP spoken to a lawyer specifically about his financial obligations with regard to the mortgage? I don't think it was confirmed. I am not telling the OP to do or not do any specific action other than to make sure that the OP has all the info required to make a decision as drastic as this. If the OP has not spoken to a lawyer than all the info is not available. You, I, nor the OP know what the legal possibilities are here. All I'm saying is get all the information prior to making a decision such as this.
I knew my point was not going to be liked but I stand behind it, respectfully. I will no longer comment on my point as all my intent was to bring up the point and the ensure ALL options were considered, especially those that we don;t know about, but a lawyer may.
Understood, but your first line in your first post was:
I'm going to be the one to point out the elephant in the room...is this point in time the best time to cut your income and go back to school?
That is a life choice not relevant to FICO scoring. It is relevant to having resources to pay bills, for certain, but there are many factors that would lead to this decision that we don't have access to.
The rest of the questions / comments we are trying to understand relate directly to the question of how to handle the mortgage. My question about recourse vs non-recourse is critical. If it is a non-recourse state, in my mind it is an easy decision to monitor the house, not make the payments, and the bank has to pick up the pieces, FICO scores be da##ed. If the state is recourse, on the other hand, that is an entirely different kettle of fish, stinky fish, requiring OP to be much more involved in the process to protect his interests.
I think we both agree the OP needs to work with a lawyer to get through this. It would also be helpful to get the ex to participate, but we sometimes face challenges with getting people to take responsibility for their actions and just have to make the best of it, including triggering a crisis, such as stopping payments, to get things resolved. Not that that applies in all cases, but it is a legitimate tactic to consider.
Cheers!
I agree, to consider, while ensuring one is fully informed.
On a side note, this is why this board is awesome, we have informed people *fighting* to help each other
On a side note, this is why this board is awesome, we have informed people *fighting* to help each other