My Personal Experience with Credit Coaching (Repair)

[Darwin Crawford]

BP - Hope 2017 is going well for you.  

I wanted to sit down, and type this out to share with the community, and give some insight to my own, very recent journey with what a lot of people call credit repair, but I'm going to call credit coaching.  

backtrack 6 months - I had taken about 20 months out of the professional world to help out my family, and as you can imagine, taken a financial punch to the nose. Savings down, etc. To get this done, I went totally Dave Ramsey - paid cash, cut up cards, the whole bit. It worked, but once I got into the REI game, and pulled credit, it was ugly. mid 500's to low 600's across all 3 scores, with almost zero trade lines. Ugh. Only upshot is that my cars, bikes, tools, etc are all paid off.

Now - couple things - 1) not a lawyer, no legal advice given 2) not a credit repair person, no advice given 3) I tend to tell it like it is, so be aware.  

Because of a firmly held belief in local economics, and doing business within the community whenever possible, I talked to friends and neighbors, and found out that a good friend of mine through my gym (yea, I'm a crossfit guy, sorry!) runs what he calls a credit coaching service.  Two of my friends had used him after the big bang of 2008, and had great things to say.  Coach also works with lots of the professional athletes that hang in scottsdale.  

Again - I don't know what your situation is, but mine basically consisted of 1 collection account for $178 from a medical bill, and one credit card that I loaned to an ex-girlfriend, who missed a couple payments, and scant history/trade lines.  Lesson learned.  

Cue in the Coach.  I'm a believer in coaching.  I have a coach for fitness, who makes me do some really, really hard $hit in the name of staying fit.  I've thrown up from working out.  Multiple times.  I used to whine, now I just get it done, and guess what?  I'm stronger and faster than I was in college, and I'm pushing 35.  Oddly enough, I've had more professional success when fit than when not fit.  As we say, "stronger people are just more useful and harder to kill". 

As a side bonus, when you are a landlord, and come in at 5'11" and 195lbs, evictions go smoother as well...

Credit coach hit on a lot of the same things in his plan structure.  He gave me important dates, payment ratios, and a host of other useful info, and his "gal friday" helped me put it into a cohesive plan, with phone reminders, dates, amounts, etc.  When to pay, what to pay, what accounts to open and when, etc.  We got a game plan together, with measured goals, a system of accountability (HUGE) and monthly coaching/check-up calls. 

Did it suck at first?  Yes.  Nothing like rolling into your bank and having to put down a deposit to get a secured card with a limit like a college kid.  In your mid-30's.  Humbling, slightly humiliating, kind of like watching a pretty girl lift more than you, which happens in my world.  Suck it up and deal, buttercup.  Embrace the pain.  

However - like coach said, scores went down more at first (uber painful to watch), but are now up, up, and up.  I have set the goal of 700+ across the board for 2/1/2017, and guess what? I hit it a month early.  With the way it's going now, assuming no catastrophes, and debt paid down, I'll be 740+ by 7/1/2017.  

What did this cost me? I paid an initial "membership fee" of $300, which is good for life. Dispute letters, per round, were $65, and I wound up sending 4 rounds of them. Total paid was $560.00. If you're in REI, and can do any basic math, this cost is absurdly, almost comically low. Caveat this with something though - its a coaching plan, NOT a fix. You could hire the best coach in the world, but if you slack off, you'll still wind up fat and losing the game.

Credit scores used to seem like BS to me, some silly formula for judging how the over-leveraged Joneses of the world are going to make their next boat payment on their Visa card, but it turns out its a (kinda) simple game, and basic rules, followed religiously, will help you a lot.  

Cheers to a kick-*** 2017!