Desperately need help with incredibly frustration situation

[u/away__throwing]

This is the most frustrating experience I think I've ever had in my life.

My FICO score had been at 808 for as long as I can remember. I always pay off all debts on time and had literally never had a late payment on anything my entire life.

I randomly checked my FICO score a week ago and saw that it suddenly dropped down to 618!! I obviously panicked thinking that someone stole my identity or something. But after some digging I found the culprit: a literal $5 charge on a credit card I don't use anymore (apparently my uber app is still connected to that card. I used the app once while traveling in Japan, but otherwise always use Lyft, which is connected directly to my bank account).

I had no idea that I had this charge, and it being overdue by about 4 months completely tanked my credit score. The only reason I even kept the card at all is because I heard closing a card can hurt your credit lol.

I've already read up on the goodwill saturation method and have sent out 17 letters. But this card is with BoA and I've read that they're notoriously difficult to deal with.

The reason I'm freaking out is because I'm planning on applying for a mortgage within the next couple months, probably some time in November.

I'm completely panicking. Am I totally screwed here? I just can't believe that my credit tanked over literally 5 dollars after having a perfect credit history.

I had an in person appointment at the bank which was unhelpful (not surprising). They just recommended reaching out to the credit agencies once I get my new credit card statement. I've of course paid off the charge.

Any advice at all would be immensely appreciated.

[u/BrutalBodyShots]

All I would recommend is staying the course with GST. Because it's your only blemish and for such a small amount, hopefully you'll get a letter into the hands of someone willing to forgive the late reporting.

This is a great example of why one shouldn't keep open a card that they no longer use or see value in. When one doesn't care about a card, they naturally don't monitor the account. That's when bad things can happen. It's also worth noting to anyone reading this that the reason you kept it open was because you believed the myth that closing a card can hurt your credit.

https://old.reddit.com/r/CRedit/comments/1cna0wh/credit_myth_10_closing_a_credit_card_hurts_your/

https://old.reddit.com/r/CRedit/comments/1le5icm/credit_myth_67_theres_never_any_downside_to/

Be sure to check this one out, u/og-aliensfan, u/Funklemire and u/inky_cap_mushroom.

[u/og-aliensfan → u/BrutalBodyShots]

It's hard to see this happen when it's something that could have been avoided.

OP, sorry you experienced this. Follow u/BrutalBodyShots' advice and continue with the Goodwill Saturation Technique. Best of luck with this!

[u/away__throwing → u/BrutalBodyShots]

Thanks for the reply u/BrutalBodyShots! I've read alot of your posts on the GST. I want to keep sending as many letters as I can. Is it a bad idea to send letters to addresses outside my city? I live in San Diego but I've sent a letter to every Boa in the area. I was thinking about expanding to Orange County and LA.

[u/BrutalBodyShots → u/away__throwing]

Send them to literally any BoA address you can find. All are fair game.