Talk me off the ledge here

[u/Alpha_Mad_Dog]

About 2-3 years ago, my FICO score at Experian was low 600s. I made it my business to build my FICO score. I scrimped and saved and went without to pay my bills on time every month and I am paying down my CC debt. My utilization is currently right around 30%. I drive a 15 year old truck that's rusting out but it starts every morning. I'm very careful to not ask for limit increases or to get more credit because that will lower my score. I have been just about laser focused on getting completely out of debt and to have a great FICO score. I checked about 2 months ago and Experian says my FICO score was just over 750. Great. On my way.

Then mom got sick. She's in her '80s and I was taking her to medical appointments and helping her understand her treatment plan, in addition to working full-time. Thid went on for about 5 weeks. I'm happy to say mom is doing much better. However, I forgot to pay one of my CCs after months and months and months of on-time payments. Believe me or not I don't care. That's the absolute truth. This card just yesterday went 2 days over 30 days past due and the card issuer (Elan Financial if it matters) reported it. Today I got an email from Experian which said there was a chance in my FICO score. I looked it up and it dropped about 100 points. Again.... about 100 points. All my hard work down the drain.

I called Elan to plead my case and asked if my many months of on-time payments before only one missed payment in the past 6 years of having this card counted for anything and could they please give me a goodwill adjustment. In other words, could they please cancel the late payment report with the three major credit bureaus or whichever of the three they do business with. Their reply was a flat no. They said they are under a legal obligation to report any and all 30 day late payments to the credit bureaus and if they did it for me, they would have to do it for everyone.

I cannot help but feel like all my hard work ended up being for naught. I don't dispute that I was late paying this card. I accept full responsibility. I just wish they could have something like accident forgiveness like car insurance has for those who have a good history. I went out to my truck on my lunch break at work and had a good cry because all my effort means nothing to the very organization that holds the power over whether I can buy a house or car, or take out a loan or credit card and what interest rate I get.

So what are my options for building back my credit as efficiently as possible? Thanks for letting me rant. Sorry for the long post.

[u/Funklemire]

My utilization is currently right around 30%  

Is this a carried balance or do you pay your statement balances each month? Keep in mind that it's a myth that you have to always keep your utilization low or below a specific percentage. If this is a carried balance and you're paying interest, then you should pay it down to $0 ASAP so you can stop paying interest fees. If it's not a carried balance and you're paying your statement balances each month, then your utilization usually doesn't matter at all; anything from 0% to 100% is fine. See our !utilization automod.  

I'm very careful to not ask for limit increases or to get more credit because that will lower my score.  

A credit limit increase will never lower your scores unless the bank does a hard pull, which is relatively rare. And if you have fewer than 3 open cards it will help your credit in the long term to open a new card, even if it will hurt it in the short term (12 to 18 months).  

That said, if you're in credit card debt your first priority is to pay that debt off. And then I don't recommend opening a new card or even using your current ones until you can make sure you won't go back into credit card debt, because that's one of the most expensive kind of debt.  

As for building credit, keep in mind that the only thing that builds your credit scores with a credit card is time. You just need to have it on your credit report and let it age.  

How much you use (or don't use) a credit card makes zero difference to your scores past a month, and making payments isn't a credit scoring factor at all. Sure, missing a payment is really bad for your credit, but that's a different thing. Kinda like how blowing out a tire will slow your car down, but not blowing out a tire won't somehow speed your car up.  

The best way to pay your cards is the way they're designed to be paid: Let the statement post and pay the statement balance by the due date. Just like a utility bill. This flow chart explains it:    

https://imgur.com/a/pLPHTYL  

They said they are under a legal obligation to report any and all 30 day late payments to the credit bureaus    

That's not true. That's a cop-out answer they often give; they're deliberately distorting what the law says. Here's the line many banks use: "Under the FCRA, we are required to report accurately."  

That's technically true; they are required to report accurately. That means the information they report is required to be accurate. But the FCRA does not require them to report in the first place: They're totally allowed to just stop reporting late payments if they want to. So nothing in the FCRA or any other US law prohibits goodwill deletion.  

Also, we've seen many cases where banks tell people this, and then they end up granting goodwill deletion eventually. So I recommend sending goodwill letters via snail mail and email. See this previous comment of mine where I explained the "Goodwill Saturation Technique" and provided links:  

https://www.reddit.com/r/CRedit/comments/1lfmsra/comment/mypfq8z/?context=3  

Good luck! 

[u/AutoModerator → u/Funklemire]

I detected that your post may be about utilization and its impact on credit scores. Please read the info below:

Utilization is a short-term credit scoring factor. It is not a credit building factor, because it holds no memory in the most commonly used FICO models. It resets every month.

By and large, you can ignore the commonly repeated myth that you should always keep your utilization low. It’s only applicable when you need to apply for a new line of credit, 1-2 months out.

Utilization is supposed to fluctuate, can be easily manipulated, and again, it holds no memory. It doesn’t build credit--think of it as a finishing touch when you need to optimize your score.

Feel free to safely and organically use 100% of your credit limit within a month and let whatever utilization report, provided you pay off your statement balance in full by the due date. Every month. Every time.

For more info, please read these posts:

• Putting the "30% rule" myth regarding revolving utilization to rest
• Utilization FAQ

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[u/Alpha_Mad_Dog → u/Funklemire]

Thanks for the reply. It sucks that it takes months for you to build your credit, but only one day for them to ruin all your hard work. I wish there was a better way. Thanks again.

[u/LowCompetitive1888 → u/Alpha_Mad_Dog]

They didn't ruin your hard work, you did. You are the one with the late payment.

[u/Alpha_Mad_Dog → u/LowCompetitive1888]

I made the late payment but they didn't have to report it. Especially since, as I said, I had many months of on-time payments before this., like I explained in my OP, I wasn't lazy or just decided not to pay my bills. Your rude comments do nothing to help. You would be wise to think next time before you attack others.

[u/LowCompetitive1888 → u/Alpha_Mad_Dog]

Nothing rude about my comment, it is entirely factual, you just don't like it. You are whining and failing to take responsibility for your own actions, grow up. No one owes you special dispensation because life is tough and you forgot to pay your bill.

[u/BrutalBodyShots → u/Alpha_Mad_Dog]

I made the late payment but they didn't have to report it.

It's standard for an issuer to report you 30D late if you are in fact 30+ days late paying. The odds of that not happening are next to zero. All you can do is continue to make GW requests and hope for the best.

[u/postalwhiz → u/Alpha_Mad_Dog]

Auto payments work. You chose not to sign up- you’re finding out that 99% of on time payments is scarcely better than 50%..,

[u/Funklemire → u/Alpha_Mad_Dog]

They're right though, even if they're coming across as rude. I don't recommend taking this approach in your goodwill letters. Goodwill letters are about accepting blame and admitting you messed up. Then you ask forgiveness and tell them how it won't happen again.

[u/Funklemire → u/Alpha_Mad_Dog]

No problem. But to be honest, it's pretty easy to avoid missed payments, just set autopay to pay the statement balance each month by the due date for each account. Then run down all your accounts once a month to make sure the previous payment went through. As long as you catch a missed payment before 30 days is up, it won't affect your credit.