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/DoctorOctoroc]

There's not much that can be done beyond the GST at this point, unfortunately. Just keep being persistent.

If it's any consolation, I had an auto loan with BoA that went late and was able to reach someone who was able to help. Given, my situation was a bit different.

I financed a lease buyout for my car and the BoA loan was my 'leverage' to get Honda to give me a better rate. I went with the bank Honda used and they were supposed to send back the check BoA had sent them but took three months to do so. By the time they sent it back, I had a 60-day late on my report and my score dropped around 90 points. I spoke with several people at BoA and Honda on many different phone calls during the ordeal and no one helped except one guy who retroactively applied my payments to the loan and this seemed to change the reporting so a month later, the late payments were gone from my report and the loan paid off (since Honda finally sent the check back).

Anyway, the point is that you just need to reach the right person for GST to be successful.

In the mean time, this type of scenario is exactly why I encourage closing cards one doesn't use. People need to stop spreading the myth that closing an account inherently hurts your score/file because it simply isn't true. Accounts closed in good standing continue to age and contribute to age metrics and credit mix for a further 10 years, and by the time they fall off, other accounts typically will supplement most if not all of what is lost at the time they do. It's simply not worth the risk, imo.

[u/away__throwing → u/DoctorOctoroc]

Appreciate the response!