High Charged off Discover Account from 10+ Yrs Ago, Keep getting Pre-Approval Letters, Should I?

[DNSense]

I had a rough time in my 20s with multiple cards going into collections. I paid off most, only one Paid baddie left on my report. My Fico's range from 686-730 now, I have a house, multiple CC's, I'm more or less reestablished credit wise. 

My old Discover charge off had a $7500 limit which ballooned to $12000+ with interest, fees, penalties, etc. Back then the debt was sold to a collection agency at one point and they made some attempts to collect, and I actually attempted to make contact to pay them through a lawyer to try to arrange a settlement, but the whole thing got convoluted, Discover and the agency seemed to lose track of the debt, no one ever got back to the other one, and now over 11 years have passed since the charge off.

Despite this, I am absolutely inundated with Discover pre-approval letters in the mail. One per week I guess, my wife as well. I'd like to apply for the card even though I'd probably never use it, but just to add to my available credit to help my profile. 

My questions are, do you think I'd be denied due to the old lost debt or is Discover forgiving? Also if I reconnect with Discover is there any risk of new negative things showing up on my credit report? I realize legally I'm out of the woods as the SOL has long passed for legal action, but I'm just wondering if applying will open up the door for it to haunt me somehow. 

I'd love any related advice, thanks.

[Changingmantra]

If it helps any - I was approved for a Discover with 8 year old BK, in which I included Discover.  My scores were in the mid 600's - received $1500 CL.

[enharu]

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@DNSense wrote:

I had a rough time in my 20s with multiple cards going into collections. I paid off most, only one Paid baddie left on my report. My Fico's range from 686-730 now, I have a house, multiple CC's, I'm more or less reestablished credit wise. 

My old Discover charge off had a $7500 limit which ballooned to $12000+ with interest, fees, penalties, etc. Back then the debt was sold to a collection agency at one point and they made some attempts to collect, and I actually attempted to make contact to pay them through a lawyer to try to arrange a settlement, but the whole thing got convoluted, Discover and the agency seemed to lose track of the debt, no one ever got back to the other one, and now over 11 years have passed since the charge off.

Despite this, I am absolutely inundated with Discover pre-approval letters in the mail. One per week I guess, my wife as well. I'd like to apply for the card even though I'd probably never use it, but just to add to my available credit to help my profile. 

My questions are, do you think I'd be denied due to the old lost debt or is Discover forgiving? Also if I reconnect with Discover is there any risk of new negative things showing up on my credit report? I realize legally I'm out of the woods as the SOL has long passed for legal action, but I'm just wondering if applying will open up the door for it to haunt me somehow. 

I'd love any related advice, thanks.

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Discover do maintain blacklists but they're generally a lot more forgiving compared to Chase and Amex.

You could always apply and see how it works out. It's hard for anyone to accurately guess anything.

[FinStar]

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@enharu wrote:

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@DNSense wrote:

I had a rough time in my 20s with multiple cards going into collections. I paid off most, only one Paid baddie left on my report. My Fico's range from 686-730 now, I have a house, multiple CC's, I'm more or less reestablished credit wise. 

My old Discover charge off had a $7500 limit which ballooned to $12000+ with interest, fees, penalties, etc. Back then the debt was sold to a collection agency at one point and they made some attempts to collect, and I actually attempted to make contact to pay them through a lawyer to try to arrange a settlement, but the whole thing got convoluted, Discover and the agency seemed to lose track of the debt, no one ever got back to the other one, and now over 11 years have passed since the charge off.

Despite this, I am absolutely inundated with Discover pre-approval letters in the mail. One per week I guess, my wife as well. I'd like to apply for the card even though I'd probably never use it, but just to add to my available credit to help my profile. 

My questions are, do you think I'd be denied due to the old lost debt or is Discover forgiving? Also if I reconnect with Discover is there any risk of new negative things showing up on my credit report? I realize legally I'm out of the woods as the SOL has long passed for legal action, but I'm just wondering if applying will open up the door for it to haunt me somehow. 

I'd love any related advice, thanks.

---

Discover do maintain blacklists but they're generally a lot more forgiving compared to Chase and Amex.

You could always apply and see how it works out. It's hard for anyone to accurately guess anything.

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+1

As enharu mentioned, it's going to be one of those YEMV situations when you apply, which is how you'll know if you're on any blacklist at all.

[Flyboy]

I also had a Discover card that went into collection and was charged off. This was about 13 years ago. I applied for a Discover It card about 2 weeks and was approved. The CL was lower than expected, but I'm not complaining. I say give it a try, they seem to be forgiving. As a plus, they give you the FICO score they used when you were approved and will give a score in your monthly statement.

[coldnmn]

I had one that was included in bankruptcy for several thousand dollars.  That was 15 years ago. They started me out at $1000.

[parkman]

OP, all signs here point to go for it!

I personally have a similar situation with Chase (minus getting pre-approval letters,) hopefully they're just as forgiving...