Iâ??m in the process of working out a game plan to get all of my reports cleaned up and my scores higher and would appreciate any opinions / advice. My storyâ?¦ Iâ??ve pulled all of my credit reports and have a few questions before I get started. Also I would like to mention that I have read and searched and lurked on the board for the past few months trying to get prepared for this so hopefully you wonâ??t have to answer questions that have already been answered that I just couldn't find. Iâ??ve had 4 credit cards since 1993 and had been on time with all of them until late 1998 early 1999 when I had a financial meltdown. I had balances on all of the accounts. By the time I started catching up they were all at the limit or over the limit. I have since paid off 2 of the 4 old â??closed by credit grantorâ? accounts and am very close on a 3rd, all are listed with between 90-120 days past due on all reports. The 2 I am still paying on are listed in both the positive and negative accounts sections on 2 of my credit reports. I have 1 charge off that I have proof that I paid before the charge off date (letter and canceled check from the OC) so I thought that I would work first on the 90-120 days past due on the 2 paid and closed accounts and the charge off. I now have a Providian with a 23.99% that I am being â??goodâ? with to reestablish credit (and not pay too much interest), an FCNB card at $250 limit and as of last month new Cap1 with introductory 0% then 14.9% APR. For old accounts in the positive I also have 2 paid auto loans and another personal loan listed as paid never late from 1991-1995. Now for the questionsâ?¦ 1. My main problem is that Chase who is â??closed by credit grantorâ? and I am still making payments on (every month on time) has recently upped my APR to 22.99% on a 5.5k balance making the minimum payment almost as much as the finance charges, I called them to ask over the phone for a supervisor and a â??goodwill adjustmentâ? to my APR since I am paying them off (although slowly) and they told me that because of a recent review of all of their accounts they are not allowed to lower the APR and they would not let me speak to a supervisor. Has anyone ever used a goodwill letter to have your APR lowered? And if so does anyone have any good contacts at Chase, so I can address my letter directly to someone that could actually help me. I am making more than the minimum each month - as much as I can afford right now, but with the APR this high Iâ??m getting nowhere fast. Note: Iâ??m also working on another plan so if they donâ??t lower the APR I will try to get a loan though my credit union and pay it off, Iâ??m worried about getting approved for the loan with my scores though. Also Cap1 card does not have enough credit to do a balance transfer. 2. I have a 2 old credit card accounts (Bon Marche and another Dept store card) that are still reporting to the CRA as positive accounts and open as recently as this month. They were opened in 1992 and not used since 1997. They are reporting as paid in full never late without any activity/balance or payments for the last 5 years. Since they are both still open would it be wise to get new cards, purchase something on them and then return it within 30 â?? 60 days to show that the account is still in use and positive so it doesnâ??t fall off the reports? 3. Iâ??ve read on the board that it is much easier to get derogs off of a paid/closed account, do you have any special suggestions for getting the +120 off of the Chase account that I am still paying on and obviously have a hate/hate relationship with? I also have a Wachovia Visa (almost paid) that I am in the same boat with . Iâ??m worried that since my account is still in use at Chase and Wachovia that they will be able to validate the 120 days late with no problem. 4. I also had a FUSA visa account that I closed/paid in 1997 I had a 30 day late on it, itâ??s going to fall of the report in 6/2003. I was thinking of leaving this alone as it will fall off in a year and it is probably going to take much longer than that to get my worst derogs off my reports. Thank you in advance for any advice you might haveâ?¦ Lisa TU- 674 â?? not impressed since everyone says that it is wrong Havenâ??t got the others yet
As far as the two department store cards, you might want to call them and see if the accounts are actually still open. I have a Goodyear card that I NEVER used, but is still showing up on my credit report as open (although inactive). Nonetheless, positive accounts stay on your credit report for 10 years. So I wouldn't too concerned about them dropping off anyime soon.
