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I was anxious and worried about my new credit cards hitting my reports, so I went crazy last night and Applied for Credit Cards with PenFed, Cap 1 Venture, Chase Sapphire, First Tech Credit Union, and an Auto Loan w/DCU, but I made some rookie mistakes I've been really busy with work and life, plus BofA was so generous I got sloppy and overconfident....
None of the Apps were approved instantly, and I got a call in the morning when I was dropping off my son at school from First Tech. I forgot that I put a fraud alert on my Experian like 8 years ago so they wanted to verify me. The rep was not an underwriter, but first asked about my address. Experian had my previous mailbox address as my home address and I couldn't remember the dang thing because the mailbox company just moved. I finally remembered part of the address but got part wrong. They asked me a ton of other questions:
After the call the rep said they would pass it on to Underwriting. An hour later I got a denial email.
I'm guessing I might be able to call and ask for a recon, but my whole presentation was so sloppy, I'm not sure if it will help. I can verify my income with bank statements and my home address is legit (just not on my report for some reason...it was on there when I checked some months ago). The company I work for is real. But admitedly everything sounded fishy over the phone, starting with me not knowing my address.
I'm thinking I need to get my latest reports and go over them with a microscope. I need to get my home address fixed on my report. I'm not sure how to delete my previous employer and how to get my current employer listed on my report since it is a very small family owned company. But I need to figure it out.
Next up is PenFed who emailed me asking for:
NOTARIZED COLORED COPIES OF THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS: DRIVER'S LICENSE, SOCIAL SECURITY CARD, AND A UTILITY REFLECTING THE ADDRESS ON FILE.
Additionally, you must contact a Member Service Representative by telephone at 800-247-5626 or 510-376-7328 from a Class A DSN phone line to establish your membership. Representatives are available 7 days a week during the following hours:
I'm not sure how you notarize a driver's license?? Also not sure what a Class A DSN phone line is. I'm going to try to call and ask before I call and actually provide any info. When I do call I will have my credit report and credit application sitting there so I have all the right answers ready.
I'm really kicking myself right now for potentially wasting all these HPs and maybe burning the opportunity with some of the best lenders, but this is a learing experience.
It may take awhile, but I'm planning to remove the fraud alerts and get all the addresses on my reports up to date, as well as hopefully updating my employment info. I'm still hoping I can come away with at least one or two approvals, but we'll see.... My EX Fico score 8 dropped from 805 to 785 from 3 recent inquiries (First Tech, Chase, & Cap 1) and my utiliztion increasing to 9% because I fogot to pay off my Barclays card last week.
I'm hoping I will look back at today a year from now and laugh, but right now I'm irritated with myself.
I'm wondering if I will have to get dealer financing because of self employment. I'm looking to get a Mercedes Sprinter Van and lease an Acura RDX. When I went to the Mercedes Dealer they suggested that with good scores they don't do POI. My bank statements look good, but I take every deduction available so tax returns won't help me.
I'd love any feedback and hopefully some of my story will help someone else.
Mamba out.
PenFed will have people to do that, especially since the Equifax debacle recently.
Sorry for the denial on First Tech. We live and learn.
For Chase do not call the back door. Call a front line CSR and tell them what happened. Once you have it unlocked. They should be able to re-run it for you.
Instant computer decisions are always better than the manual reviews IMHO.
I turned in all the Identity verifications documents to PenFed then called them as instructed. After a loooooong time on hold, I got a rep who then put me on hold again to look for the documents for a loooooooooong time...but he finally came back on the line with a $7500 "Conditional Approval". The conditional part is that because I put down self-employed I have to send in my last 2 years tax returns [cue scary music]. The rep said if I wasn't self employed I would have had to provide W2s. I actually haven't even finished my 2016s (got an extension)...so I may need to be a little less aggressive on my deductions....definitely puts me between a rock and a hard place. Pay more taxes vs. pay more borrowing costs.
I'm not sure this is going to fly, but we'll see. I'll report back soon!!
@Anonymous wrote:I actually haven't even finished my 2016s (got an extension)...so I may need to be a little less aggressive on my deductions....definitely puts me between a rock and a hard place. Pay more taxes vs. pay more borrowing costs.
I'm not sure this is going to fly, but we'll see. I'll report back soon!!
Good luck to ya! But aren't they looking for gross income anyway, not net? You may not need all the luck I'm tryin' to send ya
BurgeoningHope, thank you for the well wishes! I know the Credit App asks for gross income, but I'm guessing that if I showed a $200k gross income and $210k expenses (net operating loss) PenFed would take their ball and go home... ha ha
It would be interesting to know how much net income a self employed person needs to show in order to qualify for a $7500 credit card (with similar scores to mine).
I'm planning on playing it pretty safe since you never know if a 4506-T or a FR could be coming down the road.
Gmood1, forgot to mention I called Chase normal customer service number 800-493-3319 to ask them to get my application moving. I offered to send in ID verification if necessary, but they said I needed to talk to Lending dept (which was closed at the late hour I called). Unless you have any other ideas (maybe I called the wrong number or said the wrong thing), I guess I will try and call Lending dept tomorrow.
Thanks again for all the tips!
Capital One Venture card people called yesterday to verify I applied for a card (since I have the fraud alert). The rep said they couldn't give me an answer about approval, but that they "thought I would be fine". They said I could call today and find out the status. I called in today, the automated information said I would receive more information within 10 days...I pressed the number to speak to a representative. When I was connected to the rep she took my reference number and had to put me on hold quite a while she researched. When she returned she said she was pleased to announce I had been approved for $20k initial credit limit on a new Cap 1 Venture card, and that it would be arriving in the mail within 10 days!!! wooooo hoooo! Major progress! Thanks again for all the feedback everyone!
I'm still working on getting my Experian report fraud alert removed and the infromation updated. When I do, I'll call DCU, Chase, and maybe even recon with First Tech.
Thanks SlightlyRemoved and good luck with your credit projects! I sure didn't expect this much "excitement" [read "stress"] but it's definitely happening much faster than I expected.
I'll keep you guys updated!