topic Re: How long until I can get Amex? in Rebuilding Your Credit

How long until I can get Amex?

Generalsource1 — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 01:56:01 GMT

It's been a long time dream to get a Amex card but with my current situation it's probably impossible at the moment , all 3 credit bureaus are reporting from 540-560 is is my situation

A repo that was from a credit union and they still have my account, I tried to do a PTD but they wouldn’t do it since they have their own in-house collections, so I figure it’s probably just better to pay them and be in good standing with them , I pulled a annual credit report and found 1st cash central I think it's a payday loan $984,

2nd grain technology $1,036

3rd merrick bank balance left $157 but it's not in collections I am currently paying as agreed ,

4th Petal card and the balance $1,309 and the account is 60 days past due but Petal recently emailed me and said "We can work with you to pay off your account for only 40% of what you currently owe.Your total balance is $1,309.73.

Your pay off offer is $523.89.

When you complete the pay off offer, we will waive your remaining balance, close your account, and report it as “closed at customer request” to the credit bureaus." Is there a way to pay them and get the 60 days late removed too?
5th is "possible" finance unsecured account with $900 balance that's in collections

6th knight ADJ bureau with balance of $948 that's in collections from RC Wiley 7th is from Midland credit management its collections and the balance is $832 , these are all of the accounts. Any info or input is greatly appreciated!

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

Jeffster1 — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 02:30:38 GMT

@Generalsource1 wrote:
It's been a long time dream to get a Amex card but with my current situation it's probably impossible at the moment , all 3 credit bureaus are reporting from 540-560 is is my situation
A repo that was from a credit union and they still have my account, I tried to do a PTD but they wouldn’t do it since they have their own in-house collections, so I figure it’s probably just better to pay them and be in good standing with them , I pulled a annual credit report and found 1st cash central I think it's a payday loan $984,
2nd grain technology $1,036
3rd merrick bank balance left $157 but it's not in collections I am currently paying as agreed ,
4th Petal card and the balance $1,309 and the account is 60 days past due but Petal recently emailed me and said "We can work with you to pay off your account for only 40% of what you currently owe.Your total balance is $1,309.73.
Your pay off offer is $523.89.
When you complete the pay off offer, we will waive your remaining balance, close your account, and report it as “closed at customer request” to the credit bureaus." Is there a way to pay them and get the 60 days late removed too?
5th is "possible" finance unsecured account with $900 balance that's in collections
6th knight ADJ bureau with balance of $948 that's in collections from RC Wiley 7th is from Midland credit management its collections and the balance is $832 , these are all of the accounts. Any info or input is greatly appreciated!

My brutal advice is that you need to focus and do some serious work on getting your financial house in order, and ONLY after that should you even think about getting another credit card, Amex or otherwise. Forget about Amex for now.

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

TRC_WA — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 03:49:46 GMT

@Generalsource1 wrote:
It's been a long time dream to get a Amex card but with my current situation it's probably impossible at the moment , all 3 credit bureaus are reporting from 540-560 is is my situation

Not probably... it's definitely.

My advice is the same as in the previous post.

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

GZG — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 04:06:10 GMT

@Generalsource1 wrote:
It's been a long time dream to get a Amex card

Pay off/settle all of your debt. Do try to help that Petal account from going 90 days late.

If you can't do that this very second, change your question and ask, how can I make enough money to pay off my debt? And once it's paid off, continue.

Once all of your debt is paid off and you have $0 balances on every collection and derogatory tradeline on your report, get some positive tradelines reporting if you don't have any.

Then try the prequal in 12 months and then every 3 months after that until you can squeak into Amex with a $1k BCP or something.

Might take 1 year, 2 years, 4-5 years, no idea. But just keep trying.

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

Epiki71 — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 04:02:32 GMT

@Jeffster1 wrote:
@Generalsource1 wrote:
It's been a long time dream to get a Amex card but with my current situation it's probably impossible at the moment , all 3 credit bureaus are reporting from 540-560 is is my situation
A repo that was from a credit union and they still have my account, I tried to do a PTD but they wouldn’t do it since they have their own in-house collections, so I figure it’s probably just better to pay them and be in good standing with them , I pulled a annual credit report and found 1st cash central I think it's a payday loan $984,
2nd grain technology $1,036
3rd merrick bank balance left $157 but it's not in collections I am currently paying as agreed ,
4th Petal card and the balance $1,309 and the account is 60 days past due but Petal recently emailed me and said "We can work with you to pay off your account for only 40% of what you currently owe.Your total balance is $1,309.73.
Your pay off offer is $523.89.
When you complete the pay off offer, we will waive your remaining balance, close your account, and report it as “closed at customer request” to the credit bureaus." Is there a way to pay them and get the 60 days late removed too?
5th is "possible" finance unsecured account with $900 balance that's in collections
6th knight ADJ bureau with balance of $948 that's in collections from RC Wiley 7th is from Midland credit management its collections and the balance is $832 , these are all of the accounts. Any info or input is greatly appreciated!
My brutal advice is that you need to focus and do some serious work on getting your financial house in order, and ONLY after that should you even think about getting another credit card, Amex or otherwise. Forget about Amex for now.

I second this Op.

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

Generalsource1 — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 04:22:08 GMT

@Jeffster1 @Thanks for your input I will start doing that

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

Generalsource1 — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 04:24:11 GMT

@TRC_WA lol yes I know Forsure at this point in time they'll probably put me on a block list if I applied with Amex in my current situation, but I'm just 23 years old so just trying to get as much advice as possible, and hopefully one day I can get in with Amex

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

markbeiser — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 04:25:20 GMT

Unfortunately you are looking at a multi year timeline since most of your negatives appear to be recent.
An AmEx credit card is something you can start thinking about when your scores are close to 700, ideally over.
Charge cards can be had with slightly lower scores, but for either, you will need some age on your negatives, and at least a couple of years of demonstrated responsible use of credit.

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

Generalsource1 — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 04:30:27 GMT

@GZG thank you for your detailed advice , I do have still a U.S. bank CC that's in good standing and also merrick bank cc that's still good standing us bank and merrick each have less than 1k in Credit limit , also a capital one with $300 credit limit Lol😂 but 0 balance , so I will just probably stay with those and keep a low balance while I pay the rest off, I do have money in savings and I can pay all the debt owed ASAP, I got in contact with all creditors thru email yesterday and petal got back to me and they said they can actually delete the lates and report the account as " closed at customer request ", so I will make a payment to them Monday then start paying the rest , thanks again for your input

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

Jeffster1 — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 04:33:56 GMT

@Generalsource1 wrote:
@Jeffster1 @Thanks for your input I will start doing that

You can do it. So many of us on here have been through our own financial challenges/disasters. And, of that group, many of us have either gotten into Amex for the first time, or have gotten back in after we got back on our feet. It will just take patience, focus and determination. You can do it if you set your mind to it.

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

Generalsource1 — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 04:34:00 GMT

I hope not that long if I pay them all off and get some collections removed through PFD and authorized user on my dads Amex do you think I can possibly be above 650 within a year or two ? I appreciate your advice

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

Generalsource1 — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 04:36:07 GMT

Thanks @Jeffster1 I really hope that one day I can too , I was too financially irresponsible when I was younger and it just hit me , I've made a mess and I take responsibility and will fix it as soon as possible, thanks for your motivating words

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

Jeffster1 — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 05:09:41 GMT

@Generalsource1 wrote:
Thanks @Jeffster1 I really hope that one day I can too , I was too financially irresponsible when I was younger and it just hit me , I've made a mess and I take responsibility and will fix it as soon as possible, thanks for your motivating words

@Generalsource1 It sounds like you are in the right mindset, and that is great.

To at least give you something positive to go on...your path to Amex (despite taking a lot of work and patience) will not be nearly as lengthy as it is for those who have burned Amex in some way. Burning Amex can lengthen the wait from a few years to decades.

My own experience is different from yours but I'm hoping there is some take-away. I ended up in high credit card debt, but managed for years to fool myself into believing all was well. I was treading water, just barely keeping ahead of my bills. No savings other than a large 401K, untouchable as I was too young, Admittedly, I stayed just ahead and avoided lates; chargeoffs and collections. But I had no quality of life as I kept "robbing Peter to pay Paul." One of my many cards was a high-balance card with a large credit union. I had set up a monthly bill pay from my bank. I paid absolutely no attention (clearly my fault) to what was going on. I iwould go to a shared branch ro make supplemental payments. I then got lazy and my payments were not keeping up with the minimum I was now really scraping by and even though everything else was on time, I ignored what was going on with that account.

Affer a while, instead of sending me to collections, they sued me. Huge wake up call. I realized then and there I had no future if I kept doing what I was doing. A few days later, I filed Chapter 13. I ended up paying back 100 percent of my claims and emerged after 3.5 years.

i included Amex in my bankruptcy. I guess the point of my story is that while I was paying back my debts, and for about a year after my discharge, I accepted that I would probably never have an Amex again. Amex was the last thing on my mind. I patiently rebuilt my credit. 61 months after filing BK, I was approved for an Amex.

What helped me the most was that I remained focused on the journey and not the "goal." As they say around here, "It's a marathon. Not a sprint."

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

Bmom — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 04:56:21 GMT

What is it that you find so appealing about Amex? Any goal is a good goal if it fixes your situation, just be careful.

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

Bmom — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 05:09:19 GMT

@Generalsource1 wrote:

A repo that was from a credit union: How much?

1st cash central loan $984

2nd grain technology $1,036

3rd merrick bank balance left $157 : pay in full

4th Petal card and the balance $1,309: settlement might not be a bad idea

5th is "possible" finance unsecured account with $900 balance that's in collections

6th knight ADJ bureau with balance of $948 that's in collections from RC Wiley
7th is from Midland credit management its collections and the balance is $832: do they pay or settle for delete, or are they the difficult one?

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

Generalsource1 — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 05:13:55 GMT

@Jeffster1 Wow sorry that you had to file for bk , but also congratulations on staying focused and committed to fixing your situation and not giving up , that definitely gives me hope! I'm happy you got back on track with with your finances and with Amex!, I've never really cared for credit when I was younger and I was reckless, because I always thought "cash is king" I own a business and thankfully I am good and have a good income, but CREDIT is super important, I've realized from my father and many other successful friends, they all say they wouldn't be where they're at without the banks money, I would've been able to scale my business a lot faster and bigger if I had banks money, everything I have is paid cash , but then again I'm only 23 years old ( 24 soon ) so maybe this all happened for a reason , maybe if I would have had all the banks money I would've blown it and been in a deeper hole if I didn't have the experience I have now, so from now on I'm going to be more financially responsible and I'm going to be thoroughly committed to keeping my credit in line. , again I really appreciate your input and advice , I feel like without this forum I wouldn't have started this journey, ( I've been a lurker for a while) thanks again my friend

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

Jeffster1 — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 05:16:28 GMT

@Generalsource1 wrote:
@Jeffster1 Wow sorry that you had to file for bk , but also congratulations on staying focused and committed to fixing your situation and not giving up , that definitely gives me hope! I'm happy you got back on track with with your finances and with Amex!, I've never really cared for credit when I was younger and I was reckless, because I always thought "cash is king" I own a business and thankfully I am good and have a good income, but CREDIT is super important, I've realized from my father and many other successful friends, they all say they wouldn't be where they're at without the banks money, I would've been able to scale my business a lot faster and bigger if I had banks money, everything I have is paid cash , but then again I'm only 23 years old ( 24 soon ) so maybe this all happened for a reason , maybe if I would have had all the banks money I would've blown it and been in a deeper hole if I didn't have the experience I have now, so from now on I'm going to be more financially responsible and I'm going to be thoroughly committed to keeping my credit in line. , again I really appreciate your input and advice , I feel like without this forum I wouldn't have started this journey, ( I've been a lurker for a while) thanks again my friend

@Generalsource1 I can tell that you have what it takes. You can do it, and you will. You got this.

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

Generalsource1 — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 05:18:30 GMT

@Bmom Hello thanks for your reply! The repo is around $6,000 from a credit union the branch manager said they will also get me on their credit rebuilder program with a secured card after that's paid , they're actually a really good branch and all of my family members have accounts with them , i will definitely pay them in full because I do want to get back in with them.

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

Generalsource1 — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 05:20:24 GMT

Thank you for your time! and motivation I will keep this thread updated on my progress.

Re: How long until I can get Amex?

Bmom — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 05:24:22 GMT

I saw your other post. You're in a position to pay, settle and ask for pay for deletes, with your savings which is fantastic. Getting those paid, closed, and to stop reporting monthly will help a lot. As will time and distance from the bad trade lines. Hopefully you can get the others to delete! I'd definitely pay off that petal to get it from going 90 days past due. Good luck!