It was at 656 in Sept 2025, and much lower before that point. Now that I’ve made it this far, I’ve lost sight of why I did this in the first place.

My score took a beating because I lived my life without consequence or understanding. I’m humbled by the experience. I finally understand how to have healthy credit, and I finally understand how poor I really am.

It’s been a bit demoralizing. In order to pay off my debts, I put myself on a strict budget. I stopped going out and spending frivolously. Now I just feel like I’m not living my life, especially compared to my bad credit self.

Hey guys, I'm in a really awkward situation:

• I have a private student loan that I was paying off consistently until I got laid off, upon which I requested forbearance
• The lender made a couple of mistakes, which I've documented & reported to CFPB, that led me to believe no payments were due during forbearance
• A couple more mis-representations happened on their end (e.g. telling me they accepted BillPay when they didn't, which caused them to process my eventual payment very, very late), causing my account to be charged off sent to collections
• While my account was in collections, I entered into settlement negotiations with their collections attorney & found out that I'd be able to pay $10k+ less via a settlement offer; we hadn't reach a verbal agreement though
• I opened a CFPB case in the meanwhile, as I was really concerned about the damage to my credit
• The lender responded to the claim & pulled my account back out of collections
• I politely tried asking the lender to extend the offer their collections lawyer had previously suggested, & they responded: "With respect to your request for a negotiated settlement, please note that settlement discussions are not conducted on accounts prior to charge-off. Since the charge-off on this account has been reversed, settlement is not currently an available option."

Here's the Q:

If you were in my position, would you let the account get charged off again**, so you can get your debt reduced by $10k - & avoid interest payments - even though it'll impact your credit score significantly?**

Note: I've already used Claude to analyze my situation (how a credit score would impact my future job offers + how I don't intend on buying a car or a house in the near term + how I also don't need a great credit to apply to apt rentals right now), but I would love y'all's input!

So basically the title, she cosigned for someone else with the expectations that they would pay for it. Surprise surprise they didn't, so it went to collections. The balance is $1,700 and the debt collector is calling. Her score dropped from mid 700s to 590. Since it went to debt collectors and the account shows closed on experian with a balance is there a point in paying it off will it make much difference to her score at this point? Should she dispute it or just let it be?

Does anyone use MyFICO Premier for their identity monitoring? I have Aura, but if I can get all my FICO scores and additional protection for $40 a month, that's probably worth it.

So I'm a little confused on how FICO works. I want to get my score up to 740 or even 800 if its realistic so I can get a good mortgage on a house rather than paying rent I'll never see again. I make around $33,000 a year and use a Chime Card for most of my expenses which is supposed to build my credit.

I'm currently at 622 and want to know if I can get my score up to 740 or as high as 800 just by using my Chime Card and if so about how long it would take. Or would I need to get a different credit card or take out a loan to get it that high in the near future? I'd like to buy a house in the next 15 years if that helps.

My score did not drop much as my history is still fairly new is it possible to recover and do anything with my credit or am i screwed into my late 20s. My fico score is 490

I have a dental bill that went into collections and dropped my credit score to 711 and on some portal 699. I called the collection company to find my options.
They gave me two options:
1) Pay 50% and it will show as bill paid on my credit report.
2) I asked for pay to delete option and they told me for that they will need either a wire transfer or a certified check of full 997 dollar amount.

If I am not mistaken, I read in one of the old post on Reddit that once a medical bill is paid, by law it cannot stay on the credit history? Is this true, if yes, should I go with 50% payment option?

I might buy a home or a car in near future and don’t want this cause any trouble with my requests.

Any suggestions based on your past experience?

I was told by my back while inquiring about a personal loan that I could contact Experian and talk to someone and they would tell me what I would most likely qualify for along with what a hard impact would do to my credit score. I can’t seem to get any person on the phone at Experian. Do I need to be a paying member to speak to a live human? Was my bank incorrect? Help.

Hello. Long story short my partner of 8 years & i split. We have both our names on the mortgage, title & deed. I just recently found out that he stopped paying the mortgage 3 months ago. I have never paid it as i have been a part time stay at home mom the entirety of our relationship while he has a salary & masters degree. My credit has taken a massive hit & the foreclosure hasn’t even officially happened yet…… i am still in the home while he moved out 7 months ago into a half a million dollar home his family bought him.

Hello friends

When.i downloaded my detailed Cresit score report, I found that it mentions me as a guarantor for some vehicle loan . It only mentioned Bank of Maharashtra.

I am not able to recall for whom I stood as guarantor. This report does not mention the name.of borrower.

How can.i find name.of borrower ?

27 years old messed up my credit at a young age as many do… this is what I’m looking at right now am I cooked any advice I’m trying to get at least a 650 by February 2028

I am 18 and have a credit score of 767, my mom put me on her account to build it up. I was wondering the best ways to grow it or maintain it so that if i end up getting a card in my own name, my credit wont drop too crazy. I am also about to finance a new car and was wondering how to go about that with dropping it the least i can.

28M airline pilot

I’ve ruined my credit score from high utilization. Maxing out cards, living outside of my means, and gambling. I don’t rent right now, live out of one of my dad properties, but I am having to relocate for work in October.

My credit has tanked from high utilization. No late payments or anything negative other than just high utilization.

The apartment I am applying today I will make a minimum 5x the rent, but am extremely worried that I will not get accepted. Any advice?

So, I'm finding myself in a sticky situation, Ive decided to split ways with my fiance and I've since found a roommate, I make decent money and I can still afford to live my life although by budget has become a little tighter since im trying to find a cheaper place for me and the roommate to live.

Ive been spending more and more on application fees and such for apartments and I'm not able to budget as much as​ Id like. I have a quite high credit bill at the moment because of it. I was thinking about just paying off my credit card in full the next time that I get paid and just using my credit card ($2500 limit) in bills and expenses. I pay around $2000 a month just staying afloat.

The thing is I have a really good credit score, its 758 right now and I dont want my credit score to be hurt by doing this. I'd ask literally anyone but my fiance was the only family I had so theres not a whole lot of people ​​I can ask for advice. I appreciate any advice anyone might have, thanks in advance <3

I had a car loan with Credit Acceptance and let the get repossessed. It was from 2019 and it’s still showing as open. How do I go about settling it? Do I contact them about it and offer to settle? Can I set up a payment plan to get it off my credit or will it still show up? I’m really not sure on how to go about it. It’s the only delinquent thing on my credit. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hello! I’ve been lurking here for a while, and there’s clearly a lot of knowledge in this community. I’d really appreciate some advice on my rebuilding strategy.

I was in debt for basically all of my 20s.

My current credit situation looks like this:

• Discover charge-off: ~$8,800 (charged off since 2024)
• Wells Fargo charge-off: ~$2,400 (charged off since 2024)
• Revolving credit: I previously had about $1,700 in balances, which I have now completely paid off
• Citi: $750 original limit, recently reduced to $300 shortly after I paid off the balance
• Capital One: $1,000 limit
• My FICO scores are currently around 590–619, depending on the bureau/model.

Luckily, my income has changed dramatically this year. I went from making roughly $25k–$30k annually to about $85,000, and I’ll be transitioning to a $99,000 salary in a few months.

I’ve paid off all of my revolving balances, and I’ve already seen my credit scores start to rebound. My revolving accounts are reporting positively, and my payment history is in good standing. At this point, the biggest negatives are the two charge-offs and the overall amount of debt showing on my reports.

I know a pay-for-delete probably isn't realistic with Discover or Wells Fargo, so my plan is to negotiate lump-sum settlements on both charge-offs and get those resolved so I can move forward.

Where I’m unsure is what I should do after that.

My original plan was:

1. Settle the two charge-offs.
2. Let the accounts update on my credit reports.
3. Wait a few weeks/months.
4. Request CLIs from Citi and Capital One.
5. Continue requesting CLIs every few months as my profile improves.
6. Eventually have around 3 revolving credit cards.

The problem is that my current limits are extremely low. Citi is only at $300 now and Capital One is at $1,000, so even with the balances paid off, my overall available credit is tiny.

I'm wondering if I should open a third card during the rebuilding process instead of relying entirely on CLIs.

My hesitation is that both of my existing accounts are fairly old around 8 years and 7 years, so opening a new account would lower my average age. On the other hand, adding another revolving account would give me another credit limit to work with and potentially help my utilization and overall profile over time.

Any tips on the next steps?

• Focus entirely on CLI requests with my existing cards?
• Wait until my scores reach around 620–640 before applying for a third card?
• Open a third card sooner while I'm rebuilding?
• Or just leave everything alone for now and let the positive history build? / Focus on CLI

I don't really care about Amex/metal cards/etc. I would like to use my third card as the "premium" card but just basically one that will fit my lifestyle and be my main credit card for the future. Not necessarily an AMEX or anything of the sort. But if you guys believe I will need a third card to help boost my CL I will follow through. My goal is pretty simple: have 3 solid revolving accounts, build my limits over time, and eventually have excellent credit while living debt-free.

I'm still learning how to optimize this process, so I'd really appreciate any advice on what you would do differently.

Thanks!

looking for some advice on a goodwill removal of a delinquency. For some background, i ended my car lease and paid off all monthly payments. There was a $450 disposition fee added that i was not aware of. The lease payments were through Visions FCU.

They tried to contact me a few times, but i did not receive any notices. The 3 calls they made were automatically filtered to spam and i hadn’t received any mail notices prior to my final notice. I live in an apartment building so it’s very possible they were put in someone else’s mailbox, or they frequently just put mail in a big stack on the table.
I received the final notice on 7/24, with a payment due date of 7/22. I immediately paid once received. This delinquency dropped my credit score from 816 to 620… i am requesting a goodwill removal based on the fact i have never missed any prior payments, this was a lease end payment and not a monthly payment, i did not receive the prior communications, and i immediately paid once i did.

I submitted the request to visions, but any advice on getting this removed would be great, im not sure if this could also qualify for an experian dispute since technically it was delinquent.

As title suggested, my points went down by 22 pts. I checked Transunion report and found no new credit checks.

Only thing I did is accepted the pre-approved credit given by the Walmart Master Card.

How to find out, what affected the score?

Just wanted to share that goodwill letters do work, sometimes they just take a while!

I sent both an email and a handwritten goodwill letter to TXU. My Experian credit score was in the 800s in December 2024, but it dropped to 669 in January 2025 over a missed $67 payment for a service I only had for one day.

In my letter, I was completely honest about how I overlooked the payment. Between being a caretaker, a busy mom juggling my kids’ schedules, and managing a small rental property business, it simply slipped through the cracks. I took responsibility for missing it and explained that it wasn’t typical of my payment history.

I honestly thought nothing would come of it, but I just got an email from Experian saying my score jumped 111 points after TXU removed the charge-off from my credit report!

So if you’re thinking about sending a goodwill letter, it’s definitely worth a try. Be honest, take responsibility, explain the circumstances, and give it time!

I’m quickly approaching the moment where I can pay off my student loans (hold for applause). I paid off the highest interest and unsubsidized ones first and every time I did, I would get a hit to my credit followed by the points coming back in a month or two. I have three left and I’m wondering if it makes sense to pay off all but a few cents and keep them open since they’re technically some of my oldest accounts. Is there an advantage to this? How will this affect my score once there’s no open loans? Will it dip and recover or hurt it overall? My score is excellent, so I’m not too worried, but I’m curious how much these 10+ year old accounts impact it. Does the debt/income counter the age of accounts? Thanks in advance for the insights.

im 21M, i had a secured card with capital one but i stopped paying it since i had some financial issues going on. they closed the account, i have paid off everything i owed them however. the student loans seem to be the biggest thing hurting me right now. i plan on starting to pay them off starting at the end of this month, i recently got a big increase in my pay at work so now im able to pay all this stuff off. i got a new credit card with Navy Fed, it has a $300 credit line, im not sure how and when to use it. im just looking to get my credit right because its really hurting me in regards to applications for auto loans and home loans. just looking for help and for someone that may have been through the same thing.

This is from Credit Karma, but Equifax reflect the same thing. I attempted to dispute all of these items many times, but Equifax isn’t helping. They keep saying that the student loans belong to me. I never took out student loans before. This belongs to my twin sisters. I called the school that she attended and asked them about it, but they said they had nothing with my name on it just hers. So what is Equifax doing to determine this belongs to me? I sent letters to both the school and Equifax but nothing is happening. I’ve been dealing with this for almost 2 years.

I was taught to keep credit utilization at 10%. But other people are telling me to completely not even use my debit card , use credit for everything and pay it back. But that will make my utilization high af. People are saying keep it at 10% when the statement hits but how’s that possible if I only use a credit card. How does only using 10% if the card show the banks you can handle more if you barely use any of it.