I've got a long history with BofA. Used to have small business checking with them (about $2-3M per year went through that), personal checking, home mortgage, HELOC, one CC and one MBNA CC that they took over. In 2007 I went back to grad school, in 2009 I graduated with a job offer from a bank that went into bankruptcy. Tried to keep up with CC payments but after 2 years of school and 2 years looking for full-time work, that was impossible. Important stats for the myFICO members, I was fortunate to get rid of the home and HELOC before going back to school, so no missed payments there. Both CCs charged off for about $2k each, settled in 2013. Closed both checking accounts in good standing.
I got back on sold financial footing and re-establishing my relationship with BofA is on my list of things to do. About 6 months ago, I was denied for a secured card. Pretty clear indicator I was on their black list for charging off the 2 CC. I tried again for a secured card in January and was denied again, but armed with knowledge from myFICO, reconned with a rep and got it approved. So, I don't know if that means I'm off the black list, but at least their giving me a chance with a secured card.
Here's the interesting part: I was just browsing around the BofA site logged into my new CC account. Under "tools and investing", I pulled up the CC Utilization link and in addition to the new CC, both of the older CC accounts also show up as zombies, reflecting exactly how they looked before they were charged off. I clicked on the Account Summary link and in addition to the CC accounts, my old personal & business checking accounts also showed up, reflecting the last balances before I closed them. All accounts show "last activity 6 years". Even though they were inactive accounts, they were still popping up.
So yes, BofA (and I'd guess all the large banks) have memories and most likely each time I call in, the rep will have the old info right at their finger tips, and no doubt I'll have to recon and explain anytime I want to apply for something new in the future. Interestingly, as I clicked on other links and went back to the those pages, those older zombie CC accounts were gone - gone from my view but no doubt still on their records. My past is my responsibility, but it's good to be armed with the best info possible.
Good to know you got back in with them with a recon. I never would have thought to try that with a blacklisted lender.
