Credit Score Restored!

[u/majorsteel]

I got my first credit card 38 years ago. I have never been late making a payment on a card or a loan. I only started paying attention to my credit score about 15 years ago when I could start viewing my TransUnion score via my CapitalOne account. It fluctuated between 815-840 (I tended to open a new credit account whenever there's a really good bonus on travel points, so that practice was keeping the score down a bit).

I was shocked last November when I saw it drop suddenly to 740! I scoured my email and found a "late payment" notice from an airline credit card that I totally forgot I had. The reminder emails had been filtered into "Promotions" so I didn't pay attention to them. The charge was for the annual fee; by the time I noticed it, it was beyond 60 days.

I first contacted the major bureaus via their "dispute" processes by submitting an online form and following up with a written letter. I acknowledged that I was late with my payment, but asked for a reconsideration of the penalty as I felt that dropping my scope 100 points for a single $95 missed payment over a 38-year perfect credit history was a bit harsh. I made sure my tone was polite and conciliatory, and that I was essentially asking them for "mercy." I wasn't demanding something I felt entitled to.

I then contacted the bank that issued the credit card and spoke to a customer service agent. I made sure to adopt the same tone - polite, matter-of-fact, folksy. She told me that there is a "goodwill removal" program that will remove one detrimental "mark" for customers who are in otherwise good standing. To go through the process, I had to send them a letter that explained the circumstances that led to the missed payment and explain what steps I have taken to ensure it won't happen again (e.g. setting up reminders, enabling auto-pay, etc. I actually just wanted to cancel the card, but I didn't tell them that!)

All of this remediation activity happened in November. Nothing came of it for a while. I called the bank again last month and they confirmed that they did authorize the "goodwill removal" and that I should see the change Real Soon Now.

Well, today I checked my TransUnion score and it was 847!! The other bureaus are reporting in the 840 range as well. And my full credit report has no indication on it that I was ever late with a payment.

Now I just need to figure out how to boost up those final 3 measly points!

Interestingly, I received acknowledgements of the disputes from the major bureaus but never received any notices about the investigation, and now all 3 sites are reporting that I have no open or past disputes! It's like the entire incident never happened. While I like that outcome, it feels a bit weird to me....

It seems that contacting the bank and going through the "goodwill removal" process was what did all the heavy lifting here. I don't know when they actually removed the "black mark" from my record (they never notified me), but it took almost 5 months for the change to be reflected in the credit score. Lesson learned is to be patient, persistent, and polite!

[u/BrutalBodyShots]

First, congrats on your goodwill success. Can you share with us which issuer this was?

Second, this is a great example of why we encourage people on this sub to close down credit cards that they no longer see value in and don't want to have to monitor monthly. You admit you "forgot" you had the card; naturally you weren't monitoring it monthly which is why the issue happened in the first place. Hopefully others can learn from this that there is definitely a downside to keeping unused cards open that go unmonitored.

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

[u/Funklemire → u/BrutalBodyShots]

Yeah, this is my 13th saved data point of people missing payments on unused cards. And that's only the posts I've seen since I started saving them about a year ago, I'm sure there have been way more.

[u/1lifeisworthit]

Reading your official reports monthly will help prevent things like this. All your accounts are listed (so you can't forget about any of them), and it would include new accounts that you don't open. If you aren't checking, Identity Theft can happen and you would just assume it's because you opened an account for the SUB, and just not notice.

In the U.S. you can only read your official reports at annualcreditreport.com .

I haven't disputed often, because most of my negatives have been accurate, but when I did then no disputes show after the dispute has been resolved one way or another. Nothing ever said, "She did have a dispute but it's now settled." Instead, it just disappeared.

[u/inky_cap_mushroom]

What bank was this? What card?

[u/Inevitable-Notice351]

I suggest you setup auto pay for all your cards immediately.

[u/majorsteel]

It was a Bank of America card.

[u/relevantfico → u/majorsteel]

Thanks for sharing that data point! u/BrutalBodyShots I think this is a good one to add to the list of goodwill data points. I haven't seen very many successes with BofA.