Hello! It has been an eternity since I posted here but must extend a thank you for all the information and guidance. Over the past two years our credit has improved vastly - our FICO's have been raised from the 490 range to the 690 range on all three reports. For 16-24 months our reports have been clean and now our goal is to lower our overall utilization. It has been a slow road but things are finally on the upswing I think. We recently paid off one card and were granted a credit line increase on another Visa we have without even requesting it! My current question is regarding a goodwill letter. Here is the situation: We had a line of credit account (not a credit card but an actual line of credit with paper checks) with MBNA America. This account was opened in 1998 and paid in full in Sept. 2006. There are 10 "30 day lates" reporting from the 2002/2003 years. I plan to write a goodwill letter asking for the negative tradelines to be removed. We also have a Bank of America Visa Gold. Opened in Oct. of 2002 that has two "30 days late" (both in early 2005) and one "60 day late" in 2005. Our payment record since the lates has been perfect. While we still hold a balance on the card we have not had one late since 2005. The card was "closed by credit grantor" shortly before the BOA/MBNA merger took place. It seems many people had their accounts closed during this time. Despite the account being closed our payment record has been spotless with them for nearly two years and they are reporting that. I also plan to write a goodwill letter asking for the negative tradelines to be removed. I plan to lay it on thick and tell them I understand rebuilding credit relationships take time and one day I hope to be able to have my account reopened. Thought I would throw that in for good measure. My question is: since MBNA is now Bank of America (and when I log on to my BOA account I can see the closed/paid in full MBNA credit line and my Visa) is it okay to write one goodwill letter and ask for both accounts to be revised in the same letter? Or, is it best to write two separate letters? I feared asking for goodwill adjustments on two accounts in the same letter might appear greedy or quite simply, asking for too much. On the flip side I thought perhaps it might be best to just kill two birds with one stone and include both requests in the same letter. And a general question regarding goodwill letters. If the account has been in good standing for 16-24 months (no lates, paid over minimum monthly payment, paid early each month) is it okay to ask for a goodwill adjustment if you still carry a balance? Or is it better to pay the balance in full before asking for goodwill adjustment? All of the lates I hope to have removed are from 2005 or earlier (and most from the 2003/2002 range). I thank you kindly for any guidance or information you can provide!
First, I would write two letters, one for each account number. The reason is that it may be confusing with two account numbers, and therefore too much work for one indiviual. The second reason is the "luck" factor. In all of these situations, you are dealing with humans, and the possibilities are endless. You spread your risk a bit by breaking up the accounts into two letters. The main aspect of a "Goodwill Request" is to give them the answer to "what's in it for them". You need to come up with a solid answer to "why" they should do this. MBNA/BoA are very difficult to work with regarding CR reporting. So you must give them a good reason why they should remove these negatives (i.e. they made a mistake, customer goodwill, it was MBNA's fault, their website did not accept payment,you will be a bigger customer, and so on). There is nothing to lose by requesting a goodwill removal, just make sure it is a well written BUSINESS letter, not just a "Please" letter. As a further suggestion, BoA has a feature on their websites where you can request a credit reference letter. This tells you how THEY say they are reporting the TL. I would get copies of these for both accounts, you may find some discrepancies to use for disputes on your CRs. Good Luck
Thank you for your response. I will draft two letters instead of one. The more I thought about it after I posted I was leaning towards that course of action. I suppose two separate letters would lessen the chance of having any confusion. In my research I have learned MBNA/BOA is tough on goodwill but I thought I would give it a a shot. Had our credit not improved in the way it did over the past 16-24 months I wouldnt even try it. I feel though we have redeemed ourselves past a very rough patch. I have a very effective goodwill letter crafted and thus far had some good luck with it. Both Sears (store card), Citibank (Platinum Master Card) and Chase (Platinum Master Card) all accepted the letter and offered us goodwill. Granted, on those accounts there were only one or two lates but I still was so pleased. Other than the BOA/MBNA late marks our reports are now totally clean. Once we can lower our utilization a bit I know our scores will increase as our tradelines have longevity. We have a few other credit cards that have pristine history along with a paid in full auto loan and student loan without any lates or unfavorable remarks. I will compose the goodwill letter for the MBNA acct. today as that is paid in full. I am on the fence about sending the BOA Visa Gold one out until the account is paid in full (it may be another 3 months or so until that happens). All the other goodwill adjustments I got so far were on accounts that were paid in full. I was unsure if it was better to have the account totally paid before I asked for goodwill or if having a balance was okay. Currently the BOA Visa Gold is at about 70% utilization. Once I make the payment for this month that is due in mid-April we will be at approx. 50-55% utilization. Thank you so very much!
I recommend one step at a time, try for the paid account first, and try the second after you've paid this month's payment and you get below 50% utilization. Showing the balance reduction helps your case as a solid customer who is worhty of a goodwill measure. Good Luck!
Thank you so much for your insight and guidance! Hopefully I will have a positive post to make very soon with my progress!
