Just denied for Chase Freedom

[jwheel113]

Hello,

I'm fairly new to this forum and haven't posted before but I've found this to be an excellent resource for information regarding personal credit.  This seemed to be an opportune time for me to share the experience I just had in applying for the Chase Freedom (a card I've been interested in for sometime).

I've been focused on rebuilding my credit for the better part of this year and have seen signficant improvement in the last few months.  I've been hesitant to apply for any new credit and finally, got the courage to apply for a Freedom after limit increases (without hard pulls) on both of my credit cards and paying down my utilization to 2%. My current cards are:

FNBO Visa $7500/ $192 opened 6/2004

Capital One MC $1,250/$0 opened 11/2009

Long story short, I have negatives on my reports resulting from late mortgage payments in 2007 & 2008 that eventually resulted in foreclosure in 2008. I cosigned on a mortgage with an immediate family member at 22 as a full-time college student because of my good credit.  The end of result of this was an important life lesson for me as I'm still dealing with the effects but it's always tough when dealing with family.

Anyway, my FICO scores have gone up dramatically in the last several months, and in November I pulled:

TU 707

EQ 674

(Both are likely a few points higher now due to increased credit limits and lower utilization).

I applied for the Freedom just a few hours ago and got the 7-10 day message.  I then preceded to call for recon and spoke to a nice lady who was willing to reconsider my app but after speaking for a few minutes she denied me because of the foreclosure and the associated negative info.  I believe I stated my case OK but probably could have done it better as I've never done this before.  I have no other negative info on my report and all negative information is at least 3 years & 7 months or older.

My question now is do I just accept defeat or is there a chance I can convince someone at Chase to give me a chance? I honestly believed the negative info was old enough and all the other positive info would have been enough to get approved through recon but the impression I got is this negative info is just too severe.

Sorry for the long rant.  Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Try again. I had to call them three times to get my freedom. First person said no way. 2nd person said can't because of chase policy. 3rd person said sure you're approved. So much for policy.

[jwheel113]

Thanks for the advice. Just wondering if there's a certain tactic to employ when calling or if it's more luck of the draw as to the CSR who takes your call?

[haulingthescoreup]

Hi, welcome to the forums!

Chase still asks the Three Questions of Death on applications:

Before completing the application, you should be able to answer "Yes" to the following statements by checking the boxes:

• Yes, my credit history is clear of bankruptcy.
• Yes, my credit history is clear of seriously delinquent accounts.
• Yes, I have NOT been denied credit by Chase within the last 6 months.

While some have gotten approvals, you will generally get shot down if you've answered No to any of these. A fairly recent foreclosure isn't a good omen for Chase, I'm afraid.

But do try recon; you'll never know if you don't.

eta: Sorry, hit Post too soon. Scores are only part of the approval process. The specifics of your reports definitely matter, too.

But congratulations on the good recovery that you've made so far!

eta again: sorry for all the edits. html and I aren't playing nicely together today.

[Anonymous]

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@jwheel113 wrote:

Thanks for the advice. Just wondering if there's a certain tactic to employ when calling or if it's more luck of the draw as to the CSR who takes your call?

---

IMO, it's the one I highlighted red, some CSR's really do like helping people and will go far beyond what other CSR's will do. I mean there is criteria you have to meet to be approved, but there is wiggle room, and if the CSR is new to the company, he/she may be scared to approve, or if it's an old cranky CSR that's been there for 25 years and is just tired of their job, to make it easier on themselves they will just say nope, sorry.

Then you get that one CSR who really cares about their job and people in general, and is more than willing to go out of their way to help you get approved any way they can.

Don't be sorry for the rant, that is what MyFico is here for.

BTW, Welcome to the Forums, hope to hear back that you reconed again and approved, keep us updated.

[Anonymous]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:

Hi, welcome to the forums!

Chase still asks the Three Questions of Death on applications:

Before completing the application, you should be able to answer "Yes" to the following statements by checking the boxes:

• Yes, my credit history is clear of bankruptcy.
• Yes, my credit history is clear of seriously delinquent accounts.
• Yes, I have NOT been denied credit by Chase within the last 6 months.

---

I never apped for a Chase Card, I had no idea about these questions.

Thanks HTSU, yet again, another thing I learned today  

[jwheel113]

Thanks to everyone for the information.  I made a second attempt at reconsideration and was denied again.  Oddly enough, I'm not 100% certain but I think it was the same woman I spoke to the first time. Chase pulled TU which I'm very surprised at.  I don't know my Exp FICO but I believe TU is my best score.  Being in IL, I would have bet anything they would have pulled Exp. I opened a Chase checking account a couple months ago and it was a soft pull on Exp.  I was recently given a CLI on my Capital One card from 750 to 1250 but according to the CSR, Capital One is still reporting a limit of 750 on my TU.  My statement closed yesterday and I know for a fact my Exp report is already reporting the new limit.  Anyway, I'm not sure that extra $500 would make any difference.  According to the CSR, I haven't established enough positive credit since the negative information was reported (3 years and 7 months ago).  I'm not sure I understand the logic if I have two revolving credit accounts with perfect payment history for a combined 9.5 years, a year old auto loan with perfect payments & a now paid off student loan account without a missed payment over a few years.  A little frustrated now but maybe I'll make another attempt tomorrow and hopefully get someone different although now, it sounds like they've put a notation on my account that I've already asked for reconsideration and been denied (twice).

[Anonymous]

There is probably a notation on your acct, but I'd say give it one more shot.

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Best of Luck!

[Chris123nTx]

I hate to say it, but I think it is unlikley that Chase will reconsider this. A foreclosure, as you have learned is a big deal. Chase is a prime card and while your 700ish scores are good, that foreclosed just over rules everything else. Keep working with what you have. Maybe pick up a walmart or other store visa or MasterCard to add another card to the mix. Good luck with it either way. The most valuable lesson many people have learned the hard way is to never ever ever co-sign anything for anybody. Like I have told my 22 year old daughter, I love her to much to ever put us in that position.

[jwheel113]

Yes, I have learned this and feel fortunate I've been able to get my scores to where they are now with these negative marks. After two failed recon attempts, my feeling is about the same as yours.  Chase seems unwilling to overlook the foreclosure. With that said, I may try again as it was said earlier, I really have nothing to lose at this point. BTW, your daughter is very fortunate.  That isn't a position anyone should be put into.