Just thought I would share this - I filed BK (Chap 7) in 2002 - end of relationship, left with lots of debt...long story. Anyway, there were numerous credit cards and assorted bills in BK, not AMEX though. I never re-affirmed mort through BK, sold home I was living in at the time (for a loss). Mortgage Co was unable to get the deficiency balance (because they never submitted reaff papers to BK Court, so i was legally not responsible for the balance - off the hook for thousands).
Anyway, I started rebuilding almost immediately, had great Mom who signed for car, and made me AU on 2-3 accounts. Started with the usual suspects (First Premier, Orchard, etc) which are now cancelled. No late payments at all since the BK. By 2005, I was able to get new car and new mortgage in my own name. I was always denied by AMEX in the past, and last applied probably in 2006 or so. In June, 2007 my Mom passed away and she had a AMEX card (Green) since 2001. I called to cancel card, and they offered to let me keep the card and transfer it into my name, AND retain her account hx (never late, Mom had excellent credit). I said sure (thinking it would be denied), but to my surprise it was approved. Never late on Green, and set up a couple of recurring bills to make sure I used it every month. Maybe 6-8 mos ago, I started getting offers to upgrade to Platinum which I never did (fee is way to high) but I did opt for the Gold upgrade last month for the rewards (yes I know you can get rewards with the Green, but with my card you had to pay a fee anyway just to add the reward program and they gave me the bonus points with the upgrade).
Today, i was reading the forums and was thinking about apping to get a new card backdated to 2001 member date, to help AAOA, so I went ahead and did it and to my surprise was approved. You just never know with AMEX.
My FICO scores (as of 1/10) are as follows : EQ 701, TU 720...of course they checked EX, and I don't know that score. FAKO's on CS and CCT are 762 for all three bureaus. I had 12 INQ's on EX (I don't know how they are evaluated but 3-4 are from mort app in 5/2009, and another 3 are from car loan app in 11/07). I have numerous cards currently with avail credit of 48000 & utilization of 5% (give or take).
CC's: AMEX (4), Alliant Visa, PenFed AMEX, Pen Fed Promise, Citi (3), Chase (5), US Bank Cash+, Huntington Voice, Nasa Plat Cash Visa, Barclay's Visa, Discover IT, Cap One QS, BOA (2), BMW Visa, 5/3 Real Life Rewards MC; FNBO Amex; Comenity Visa/MC (3), Ebates Visa Siggy, Nordstrom Visa, Walmart MC, Sam's Club MC; A few assorted store cards.
Current Scores (09/2017): EQ My Fico: 786; TU MyFico: 799; EX (My Fico): 797
