Interesting REI Visa experience.

Anonymous · ‎09-17-2011

Hello everyone. I've been following this board for about a month now. I have since gained invaluable knowledge.

I wanted to give those who are interested in the REI Visa an overview of my experience. I am a huge fan of REI, I have joyfully spent thousands of dollars purchasing outdoor equipment from them. After receiving, what appeared to be, a preapproval offer from U.S. Bank for the REI Visa, I jumped on it. I used the offer code provided to me in the letter and proceeded to apply online. Once I hit the submit button, I was instantly denied. The letter would come in 7-10 days.

I am fairly new to the credit game. I have one one credit card with a $2000 limit through Chase, an amazon visa. I also have a car installment, which has never been late, a mortgage, never late and 2 paid off student loans, which were never late. My scores are in the high 600's/low 700's. My Transunion fako Score is 702. AAoA is 3.5 years.

Learning of the recon methods refered to in these very forums, I used a back door number and called U.S. Bank. I spoke to a CSR/ underwriter who states they only needed to confirm my address. Once I confirmed, the CSR stated I was approved and would receive my card in 7-10 days. AWESOME!!!. About 5 days had passed and a letter from U.S. Bank arrived. There was no hard item in it. It was another denial Letter. This time it stated that I was denied "due to too many inquiries using your ssn". Really? The only credit I have applied for in the past 2 years were my Amazon Visa and MY MORTGAGE THROUGH U.S. BANK. U.S. Bank pulled Transunion, I live in Florida.

I promptly aquired a copy online thinking there has to be a mistake. To my astonishment, the only hard pulls documented were my mortgage inquiries, which are over 12 months old, and my application for an REI Visa through U.S. Bank. Another backdoor call was warranted. This time the underwriter stated he didn't see why I was denied and that my application was going to be forwarded for review. He also stated I should have an answer within 5 business days. I figures some.of you would enjoy hearing about my odd experience. I will keep you updated on the final answer, and credit limit. Does anyone know what could have triggered this?

Thanks.for your help. I typed this in html due to compatability problems with my droidx and rich text.

(Hi Forher, I edited for paragraph breaks - hope that helps with the posting issues).

haulingthescoreup · ‎09-17-2011

@Anonymous wrote:
...It was another denial Letter. This time it stated that I was denied "due to too many inquiries using your ssn". Really? The only credit I have applied for in the past 2 years were my Amazon Visa and MY MORTGAGE THROUGH U.S. BANK. U.S. Bank pulled Transunion, I live in Florida.

I promptly aquired a copy online thinking there has to be a mistake. To my astonishment, the only hard pulls documented were my mortgage inquiries, which are over 12 months old, and my application for an REI Visa through U.S. Bank. Another backdoor call was warranted. This time the underwriter stated he didn't see why I was denied and that my application was going to be forwarded for review. He also stated I should have an answer within 5 business days. I figures some.of you would enjoy hearing about my odd experience. I will keep you updated on the final answer, and credit limit. Does anyone know what could have triggered this?

Mortgage inquiries, plural, right?

I'd say that your app got bounced by a computer that doesn't differentiate among inqs. Many people going for a mortgage (auto loans, too) have multiple inqs. The computer doesn't recognize that these weren't inqs for multiple CC apps.

It takes a human to look at it and realize that 5 mortgage or auto loan inqs doesn't mean that you were trying to buy 5 houses or 5 cars. That's why recon is the way to go. You need someone to actually look at it and see what's what. (Sometimes you have to gently lead the human through the process and point out that multiple inqs are the norm for these.)

Anyone who has multiple inqs on their reports for recent mortgage or auto loan apps might want to be braced for this to happen. Even though they're "de-duped" for FICO scoring, the inqs are still there.

It's just what happens when a computer does the initial thumbs up - thumbs down on an app.

edited in a futile battle with html, trying to make the quote look purty

* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007

Uborrow-Upay · ‎09-17-2011

+1

HTSU, you rock!

Anonymous · ‎09-17-2011

Two inquiries from the same bank one on 4/7/2010 and the other on 1/5/2010. I had thought that hard pulls over 12 months didn't get counted. Now I know that TU keeps hards for 2 years!

fused · ‎09-17-2011

@Anonymous wrote:
Two inquiries from the same bank one on 4/7/2010 and the other on 1/5/2010. I had thought that hard pulls over 12 months didn't get counted. Now I know that TU keeps hards for 2 years!

Inqs stay on reports for up to two years, but only factor in FICO scoring for one year.

Anonymous · ‎09-19-2011

I made a new account and purchased SW from myfico. My EQ score is 736(Awesome!) This is a great start, As I am only 22 years old. It now turns out US Bank pulled EQ today. So far its an initial pull of TU and a follow up with EQ. Am I getting AMEXed? I have not looked at EX recently. Now that I know they are actively reconsidering, should I give them another call, or would that be imprudent?