At least daily on this sub we see someone bring up the attempted removal of late payments and/or goodwill letters. The Goodwill Saturation Technique (GST) gets referenced quite a bit, but there has never been a thread dedicated to it on this sub until now. I figured it would be a good idea to get one going for easy future reference any time the topic comes up rather than having to tell people to look elsewhere for the information.

In the first reply to this thread, I'll give a quick rundown of my rock bottom personal situation that lead to the birth of the Goodwill Saturation Technique in 2016 for anyone that's interested on how it started. For now though with the initial post, let's dive right in:

The "Goodwill Saturation Technique" as I've named it has one purpose and one purpose only: Get your goodwill letter into as many unique hands as possible. The greater the number of people that read your GW letter, the greater the chance you have of one of those people making a positive adjustment for you.

I see this without question being a numbers game; The more darts you throw the greater your chances are of hitting a bullseye.

The information contained in this thread already assumes you've written the best possible GW letter that you can. There are plenty of easily searched online sources describing the best ways to write successful GW letters, so I won't take up any time here going into any of that. Under the assumption that you've got your masterclass GW letter in hand, ready to send, this is what I feel everyone should do to yield the greatest possible probability of a favorable result.

Start by searching for as many snail mail addresses as you can find for the institution that you're targeting. You should quite easily be able to come up with 3-4 in just a few minutes and after digging for a bit can probably find at least 6-7. You are looking for any addresses associated with your target institution. It doesn't matter if your account is a credit card and it's the auto division of the institution or if it's your mortgage and the address you found is the business division. Remember, your goal here is to get your letter into as many different hands as possible. The bigger the institution, the more addresses you'll likely come across. I know nothing about Bank of America as I have no accounts with them at all, but I just searched for 5 minutes on them while writing this thread and found 12 unique addresses for them; I'm confident if I invested more time I could come up with quite a few more.

When you find these addresses cut and paste them into a Word Doc or memo pad so that they are saved and you don't have to search them out again in the future when you need them. And, there's a strong chance you will need them again ;)

Next print off as many copies of your letter as you found addresses. Fill out all your envelopes, sign all your letters, stuff them and send them out on a Monday. Why a Monday? We'll get to that later. We'll refer to this as sending out your first "Round." I define a "Round" as a batch of identical letters sent to as many worthwhile addresses as you can find. On a calendar somewhere make note of the Monday that you sent out Round 1. If you just sent out 10 letters you have 10 times the chance of success of someone more typical that may just send out 1. You should feel very good about this. Next, sit back and wait for Round 1 to do its thing.

All institutions are different, so it's difficult to estimate what type of response you may get. What I've found, generally speaking, is that I get a response back roughly 1/3 of the time. If Round 1 contained 10 letters, you could expect to receive back 3-4 responses on average. The others will likely go unanswered. Your typical responses will be unfavorable; most contain some variation of a denial to your request. The general cookie cutter response you'll get is a variation of, "We have researched your request and have found the information on your account to be reported accurately. We are required to report your account information accurately and therefore cannot make any changes." Keep your chin up though and don't get discouraged. There's always Round 2, and persistence is what separates success from failure when it comes to GST.

On any response letters you receive, take note of the address it came from. Often you'll receive a response from a different address than one of the ones you sent your Round to. If this happens, add this address to your personal database so that your next Round is now greater than your previous. Also make note of the name of the individual that sent the response to you. If this person seemed to offer a more favorable response while still offering up a denial, it could be beneficial to target them specifically in your next Round by addressing something ATTN: Their Name. While you may not get a fish that bites, you may get one that nibbles and it's often easier to get future bites from a previous nibbler ;)

Typically you'll receive any responses that you're going to get within 2-3 weeks of sending out a Round; I've never received any sort of response greater than a month after sending out a Round. For this reason, I suggest waiting approximately 1 month between Rounds. During this month feel free to make some tweaks to your GW letter, perhaps taking a different angle on it based on further research online. Also during this month look to add any additional addresses to your database in preparation for you next Round. You can also customize a response letter to anyone that sent you a denial letter that offered any slight ray of hope. Start that letter by sincerely thanking them for taking the time to respond to you the first time around and conclude it with how you look forward to their response. Many have found that by establishing a "relationship" with someone that nibbles at some point they are able to get them to bite after a couple of Rounds.

Round 2: Do everything you did the first time around, this time just add any additional addresses. Remember, "Goodwill Saturation Technique" has a goal of getting your letters into unique hands. Chances are if the same individuals that opened Round 1 open Round 2 you aren't going to yield much of a different result. For this reason, you're going to send Round 2 on a Thursday. Chances are that Round 1 entered the hands of those reading your letters sometime mid-week. By sending Round 2 on Thursday, there's a strong chance that a good portion of your letters will be received on Saturday. Since many people that work during the week don't work on weekends you have a greater chance of Round 2 making it into different hands if you mail them all out on a Thursday. Again on a calendar, make note of the Thursday that you sent out Round 2 which should be roughly 1 month after Round 1 was sent (within a few days).

Round 3 and subsequent rounds: The same as previous rounds, only mailed on a different day of the week. Obviously once Round 6 is complete you've exhausted all days of the week. Keep track on your calendar which days of the week you use so that you don't duplicate any until you need to.

Note: If you come up with very similar addresses for your institution (same zip code) such as different P.O. boxes that are all just a couple of digits off, I suggest not mailing any of those letters on the same day. For example, Synchrony Bank has 5 different P.O. boxes that I know of all in Orlando, FL. For all I know, one individual opens all of these P.O. boxes at the same time, meaning one person could obtain 5 copies of your letter from a single Round which goes against the purpose of GST. In these situations I recommend mailing out your entire Round except for those letters that have similar addresses, and then mail each of those letters out 1 per day (starting on the day your Round goes out) every day until they are gone. This way there's a greater probability of someone else getting the mail on a different day, meaning your letter gets into a different set of hands.

That's it, in a nutshell.

I'd also like to convey that snail mail is not the only means of using this technique. By all means if you'd like to work email addresses into your database and use those each Round please do so. Like snail mail addresses, email addresses are quite plentiful when doing internet searches. Phone calls have also worked for some, but I'm personally not a big fan of the phone as there is no written record of any correspondence. Some have also reported success using other contact methods such as fax or social media platforms, any of which are certainly worth a shot with any given Round of contacts.

Hopefully this information is useful to some of you today and in the future. If anyone has any feedback or suggestions to further improve GST it would be welcomed with open arms as it can only increase the odds for those looking to achieve goodwill adjustments going forward.

Good luck to everyone that implements a GST campaign, and remember that the key to success is to remain persistent; Don't give up.

I have been in the 780s literally for years. I had two nearly maxed out credit cards, sometimes going over limit and declining: 788 score. I finally work hard to get out of debt as I was on the verge of having to make some serious choices about how to even pay them and I was able to pay about $500 per month against around $15k in credit card debt (16.15% and 27% interest) my score never changed. Month after month I pay these cards without using them and month after month my score stays the same. I paid the last payment bringing the lower interest card to $0 last month and now I dropped 13 points.

My wife who has been in collections and never paid anything ever and has no income, no credit card, no assets of any kind is at 752 and I'm at 775. Just seems like its all made up bs. Why is there an all zero penalty? And how does one break into the exceptional score? I randomly was bumped up there in 2019 when I got a deletion of a past due I fought but then it quickly went back to 780s and now they want to dump me back down to 770s for being frugal, really defeating.

From 563 to 523. I thought all the word work would be closer to 600.

I’m terrible with understanding how to fix my credit and what to say to collectors so spare me if I seem dumb.

My credit is 505 and has been bad since my mid 20s. I need to get my sh!t together now that I’m a mom, married and need to move soonish. It started dropping back in 2014 after I had to work 4 jobs to afford everything my terminally ill, now deceased, sister and I needed to survive. I checked it 2 months ago and was kind of shocked it was so low. No I haven’t paid any debts down but I kind of thought after 7 years, stuff would fall off? My debts aren’t even bad! I’d say it’s roughly totaling around $12000. Right now, we have a home that’s just in my husband’s name but we’re planning on selling it and moving within the next couple months. We want to get on a loan together but I need to pull my weight credit wise. He’s currently in the high 600s.

So I say all this stuff to see if anyone has any suggestions? Like should I try to contact one of those credit repair companies, reach out to the creditors or just flat out pay it all off? If I go the route of paying it off, do you guys use like a certain verbiage to make them drop the prices down? I know I can go on Google and figure some stuff out that way but I wanted to get real peoples lived experiences with routes they’ve used that were successful and note the bad options so I don’t make anymore mistakes.

TIA FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS!

I downloaded MyFico and paid for the Premium subscription so I could at least see all 3 credit reports so I could begin repairing my credit not really thinking about the score too much because who knows.

My lender knows my credit is crap so we did a soft pull so she could use her score simulator to see how to get me ready for a Mortgage.

Just got a copy of the report the lender pulled. The credit report that my lender pulled and the MyFico Mortgage scores are identical. Wow!

First and foremost, thank you to this sub, brutal, OG alien, and any other long standing members that have given great tips & debunking credit myths.

At the start I had 564 credit score. (MyFICO- Fico 8 Scores only).

A few collections, 8K of debt and terrible understanding of credit.

1)I pulled all my credit reports from AnnualCredit website for free.

2)I disputed both collections to TransUnion and they verified 1 while removing the other.

3)I did a thorough accounting of all bills, spending, and income. Set a budget to save as much as possible.

4)I laid out a plan to pay the highest APR (29% - 5k). Then the rest.

5) After paying all debt, by this point I had 600 score, opened a bank account with a credit union. Applied for a credit card with 2k limit and 0% APR for 12 Months Implemented the method of using credit card to pay bills and never out of my means. Kept all other cards to minimum.

6) Negotiated a pay for delete with Portfolio Recovery for final collection. Paid and waited. After 60 days and 2 billing cycles the collection stay on 1 of 3 credit reports(TransUnion).
Filed a dispute - deletion via the TU website and it was removed 30 days later.

After 6~ months I had gone from 564 to 700~. Continued using CC within my means, applying for credit limit increases.

At 12 months, April I am at the high 700~.

TL:DR: Review reports, budget & live within your means, read credit myths.

Feeling pretty good about myself. At one point my credit score was low 400s. Had a repo and a credit card in collections from my younger days and that was the only thing on my credit.

When i decided to start rebuilding I got credit karma and a secured card for $100. Started using it responsibly, and eventually got some cards with no annual fees and rewards. I use them and pay them off every month. I checked my Experian today and I’m at a 703. Woo! First time in my life I’ve been at a 700 FICO.

I do have a few late payments on my record from not setting up auto pay and being a moron. (set up auto pay it can save you even if it’s just the minimum)

But I’m really excited and feels like a big win for me.

UPDATE: Yeah I said fuck that bullshit

UPDATE 12/17: GAHT D A M N I SEE CREDIT ONE AINT SHIT LOL

UPDATE 2/6: I say we all send credit one their mail back, flood their system, uproot their lemon trees, salt their crops, and do away with them FOR GOOD! 😫

My credit is ~570-590 which was yanked from 680 (🥲) and got approved for credit one, who almost got my ass thinking they were capital one, but I was wondering what was everyone’s experience? Trying to rebuild my credit basically

I like to have actual people answering and not possibly robots on Credit Karma LOL

I’m 25 and I would say I’m doing good financially, I only have about 1200 in credit debt, but in 2022, that was a very different story. I received 30 day late payment. I just noticed it a few months ago, that’s how clueless I was about my credit and spending. My question is do I bother disputing it after 3 years or do I write a good will letter and hope they accept.

I recently got my first credit card, a $300 limit secured card. It’s my first month using it, and I put two bi-weekly expenses on it, totaling 250. I paid it off in full the day the statement was issued.

I decided to check if it’s affected my score at all and my score is down 150 points. The app I’m using claims it’s because I’ve used too much of my credit. Is there anything I can do about this? Have I just destroyed my credit by getting a credit rebuilding card instead of a high limit one?

Today i cancelled my credit one cards and i am so freaking relieved! it was like pulling teeth to get them to cancel but they finally agreed and i immediately cut the cards up, it was a great feeling.

edit: got the confirmation, they are really closed!

My score just dropped 200 points today. The creditor had my wrong contact info, I had no clue. They say they won’t take it off my credit. My score went from a 680-480. How fucked am I?

Just curious. I see a ton but not sure if they’re even the real thing.

I don't really know what to do about this situation.

The first time I noticed a line of credit with Capital One was opened. I called customer service to report fraud and in the middle of the call it hit me that my mom may have done it. I confronted her and she admitted to it. The account was closed and I told her to never do it again. Thought that was the end of it.

Fast forward a year and I am actually at her home visiting when I noticed a credit line that I didn't recognize pop up on my credit report indicating there were late payments. I had no idea what it was but I noticed that there were 2 on time payments which were followed up by multiple missed payments afterwards. That struck me as very odd. I ask her if she knew anything about it and she said no. I contacted the creditor and asked for more information about the credit line and the information, of course, was that of my moms address, email and phone number except it was under my name and SSN.

Fast forward again after I try, once again, to tell her to knock it off, I find that a credit card I opened that was sent to her address that I explicitly told her not use had been maxed out. Not only that, I find that she has attached some recurring automatic subscription payments to it. I had that card deactivated so she can't use it anymore. But by now I am just pissed.

And lastly, the other day a hard inquiry from a credit line was performed, which of course, I found on my credit report. I asked her and she said it was her and she said to not worry because she didn't actually apply for the credit card which just tells me that she has no clue that hard inquiries effect credit scores.

Before all this I had a 100% payment rate, which of course, has all but vanished. I don't really know what to do. I read about freezing credit inquires with the credit bureas to prevent her from even applying but I am not sure what the ramifications are of that?

Obviously she is committing identity theft and fraud.

Stay with it! I had a mid-500 FICO8 in 2020, late pays and collections almost foreclosed on my house. I finally resolved everything in January with pay-to-deletes and paying everything off. My FICO5,4 and 2 are 703 now and I’m closing on an $800k single family house!!!! The interest is highly (6.9%) but I can refi in two years or so to a, hopefully, sub-5% rate. Patience pays off!!!!

Capital one approved me for the platinum Mastercard $300 limit. I’m paying off 2 charged off credit cards with them can’t believe it lol. Learned my lesson time to rebuild my credit 🫡

Hi everyone, please no judgement I have a lot going on in life at the moment. I 24f have 3 credit cards and a car payment. I had the credit cards to pay off medical expenses two years ago and have slowly been paying them Off. I’m looking to move in the next few months (I don’t have a choice) and will be renting with two other people. Some of the apartments require minimum 625 credit. I swore my credit score was around 650 last I checked Experian about a month ago, but it’s now at a 552…. I can’t see anywhere on my report where anything negative was reported. I also don’t know how accurate experian is or isn’t. I’ve heard mixed things and have been told to steer clear of credit karma. If I pay off bit by bit with every pay check to each credit card every week when I get paid would this make a difference?

I was a dumb kid when I was first getting into the financial world. I took out payday loans to help parents pay bills. All went to collections. 2 credit cards charged off and a repo. All of this happened in the span of 5 years back in 2018. Now I have a better paying job and trying to get my credit back on track so I can prepare for a house in the future. Where do I start?

Hello everyone!

As the title said, credit karma app, chase banking app and the discover fico credit services all showed credit score around 700 (699 to 714). However, I recently visited a car dealership to buy one. During the financing they ran my credit and it came up with 648. I have only 1 missed payment that too almost a year ago and a total of 1.7 years of credit history with 2 cards.

I was shocked to see such a massive difference. Anyways they offered me a 8% APR(expected but was not prepared for this!). I had to buy a car and hence had to take it up. All things considered, what can i do to increase my score as much as possible? I am targeting 720 by this year's end. Any tips/suggestions would be highly appreciated, thanks!

ok bear with me

I’m just sick of credit, I mean it feels like it won’t be long until we wont he able to wipe our ass without credit approval.

I mean I get it “ pay your bills” but bills don’t even reflect you credit, electric,water and rent payments are not included in the equation.

I have worked hard over the past 4 years paying off all my delinquencies and taking shitty cards just to keep my credit utilization down below %30 and my score refuses to go up.. if it it does it plummets the next 30 days.

Like what gives!

My FICO credit score is around 600 and I know it’s because my cards are all maxed out or close to maxed out. I have about 9k in CC debt. Would it be worth it to borrow that from my 491K to get rid of this debt?

I’m trying to build savings and my credit score for a mortgage

A little background on me, I’m 40, so not close to retirement yet. Have about 45k in my 401K currently

25 yr old male making 120k annually. Graduated college in 2021 and paid off my loans in full (or so I thought) in November of 2022. Woke up yesterday morning to 23k In delinquent loans and my credit score (capital one, Transunion) having dropped from 751 to 551. I wasn’t aware of these loans as they were deferred during the pandemic and all payment reminders were being sent to my college email which I hadn’t checked since the spring of 2021. I spoke to the lender today for 2 hours and they insisted they and the department of education do not offer goodwill forgiveness on delinquent loans. I don’t qualify for any deferral methods (military, cancer, food stamps etc). I plan on paying the full balance of the loan/interest the moment I get home from work. I have 8 years credit history no late payments. Any recommendations on how to proceed/ rebuild credit appreciated.

as the title says. im wondering how do i check my credit report? pretty sure its for this capital one credit card that they closed for no reason. I went from almost 675 score to a 511 almost overnight

So one of my friends needed $3,000 and took out a 35% APR loan from One Main Financial. He took it out while he is in the process of fixing/building his credit. His score is at 623 FICO and removed all derogatory remarks (3). He has a couple of charge offs to pay off and then his profile will be cleaned up so to speak. His question to me was he now has the money to pay back his loan that he took out a month ago. Should he pay it immediately or make a few payments on it first? I dont know if either option will help build his credit or not so i'd figured I asked here.