Recon Citi Forward w/negative item

shiftomnimega · ‎08-27-2010

I've been denied a Citi Forward card for the following reasons:

 o   Your credit report shows one or more accounts recently
 past due.

 o   Your credit report shows too few credit references.

I requested the credit report they used (Experian) and also sent a letter to Citi for recon. However, I found out about this site so I attempted to recon over the telephone. No dice.

I challenged the 2nd count saying that I have a credit card with a 7 year history and a credit card with a 4 year history. The supervisor at Citi responded that some of my references are quite new. This is true since I opened a car loan and got a different card earlier this year. I also had to apply for a card my job issued me, but it doesn't appear on my report.

The first count is a little trickier and is a result of a dormant checking account I let fall into disuse while I was deployed. Someone reported an identical situation on rip off report. Since I thought it was bogus I refuted it, with the first collection agency. When I got another notice with another collection agency this year I paid it off. Mistake obviously. This was obviously a hang up for both the CSR and the Citi supervisor. The CSR pretty much told me they won't approve me with a collection blemish on my report and the supervisor echoed those statements in a little more detail explaining how I can dispute it.

The supervisor also told me something surprising. Apparently, they took my credit report and stuck it into a computer program and it tells them whether to accept or deny the application. Therefore, I would need to provide a brand new credit report in order to be reconsidered.

The charge was only $50 so I didn't think paying it off would matter. Rough lesson. Can anyone think of a way that I can successfully get reconsidered? The obvious way is to get the negative item removed, but since I already paid I imagine it would be difficult to get it removed.

Anonymous · ‎08-27-2010

The supervisor also told me something surprising. Apparently, they took my credit report and stuck it into a computer program and it tells them whether to accept or deny the application. Therefore, I would need to provide a brand new credit report in order to be reconsidered.

Yes I can attest to the truth in this statement. Most lenders use a third-party 'interface' which formats the reports from the different CRAs into a universal file format, so it can be analyzed to render a decision. This happens each time a report is pulled. This way they don't have to code three different ways (EQ, EX, TU) to do the same thing....since each of the CRA's does things differently. The raw report is also stored for manual reviews and compliance purposes, but the summary record is what is used for automated decisioning.

shiftomnimega · ‎08-27-2010

How do people reconsider by calling in? If I can't get human intervention it would be difficult to get accepted without getting that negative item removed.