AMEX lifetime ban?

[fastboat]

ok one more update....

i finally broke down and called amex after a few more denials.

i taked the collections department and they made it clear that they couldnt force me to pay any old charged off amount, but that if i did 'my likelyhood of being approved may go up'.

my question for the forum is this:

when I got my card cancled it was for a fairly modest amount, a few thousand dollars. the figure they say they have on their last bill on file is several times that amount, $13k and change. apparently the account was cancled so long ago that they dont have the records any more going back that far to show any activity on the account or when it was cancled, only the ballance about a decade after the fact. 

now the rep i spoke to said they i 'may be able to negotiate a settlement'.

does this mean if they agree to a settlement, that this is just as good as paying the balance off in full, or no?

any datapoints would be much appreciated

TIA

[Im-back]

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@fastboat wrote:

ok one more update....

i finally broke down and called amex after a few more denials.

i taked the collections department and they made it clear that they couldnt force me to pay any old charged off amount, but that if i did 'my likelyhood of being approved may go up'.

my question for the forum is this:

when I got my card cancled it was for a fairly modest amount, a few thousand dollars. the figure they say they have on their last bill on file is several times that amount, $13k and change. apparently the account was cancled so long ago that they dont have the records any more going back that far to show any activity on the account or when it was cancled, only the ballance about a decade after the fact. 

now the rep i spoke to said they i 'may be able to negotiate a settlement'.

does this mean if they agree to a settlement, that this is just as good as paying the balance off in full, or no?

any datapoints would be much appreciated

TIA

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It seems AMEX has chanced their underwriting standards. Back in the day if you burned AMEX you were out forever unless you made them 100% whole. Now there are tons of posts from people who say they burned AMEX in BK, never repaid, and after 5 or 6 years get a card. 

[fastboat]

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@Im-back wrote:

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It seems AMEX has chanced their underwriting standards. Back in the day if you burned AMEX you were out forever unless you made them 100% whole. Now there are tons of posts from people who say they burned AMEX in BK, never repaid, and after 5 or 6 years get a card. 

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That may be so, but i burned them 30 years ago and I'm still blacklisted. 

[Drifter73]

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@fastboat wrote:

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@Im-back wrote:

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It seems AMEX has chanced their underwriting standards. Back in the day if you burned AMEX you were out forever unless you made them 100% whole. Now there are tons of posts from people who say they burned AMEX in BK, never repaid, and after 5 or 6 years get a card. 

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That may be so, but i burned them 30 years ago and I'm still blacklisted. 

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Same here.. 30+ years and still blacklisted.

[simoncww]

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@learningcredit54 wrote:

If you want to have an idea if the past account is an issue with Amex do a soft pull application and see what pops up.There is a link floating around the forum -

EDITED TO LINK THREAD WITH SOFT PULL LINK

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Amex-Clearly-Saying-Soft-Pull-Pre-Qualify-Now/m-p/6590...

I did it last week for my father and past account history was the primary reason for denial. You will not waste a hard pull.

I had issues with Amex around 10-12 years ago for more than what they wrote off for you and this year I have been approved for a number of their cards both credit and charge. Although I know they havent completely forgotten the past as I have low SL and low international limits and low POT limit atleast I am back in the door.

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@learningcredit54, did you pay them back?

[NoMoreDebt]

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@simoncww wrote:

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@learningcredit54 wrote:

If you want to have an idea if the past account is an issue with Amex do a soft pull application and see what pops up.There is a link floating around the forum -

EDITED TO LINK THREAD WITH SOFT PULL LINK

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Amex-Clearly-Saying-Soft-Pull-Pre-Qualify-Now/m-p/6590...

I did it last week for my father and past account history was the primary reason for denial. You will not waste a hard pull.

I had issues with Amex around 10-12 years ago for more than what they wrote off for you and this year I have been approved for a number of their cards both credit and charge. Although I know they havent completely forgotten the past as I have low SL and low international limits and low POT limit atleast I am back in the door.

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@learningcredit54, did you pay them back?

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You are not likely to get an answer. This thread is over a year old and that member hasn't been on since April on this year.

[barca]

Even though this is an old thread - I feel I can contribute.

as someone who was blacklisted by AMEX.

I burnt AMEX about 3 cards during the 2009 financial crisis for about 15K.

i did not pay it back , one of cards went to judgement against me (about 5k).

When I apply like 7 years after the charge off - same message line "previous credit issue with Amex".

after 13 years - they finally  approved me for BCP with starting limit of 20K.

after a year of holding the BCP, the limit is now 75K (they asked I submit bank statement to increase to 100K)

about the same time last year I got the  Gold Card with 90K SUB

I just upgraded the Gold to Platinum with 125K SUB

my point is - this blacklist is totally luck and YMMV.

since there is no consistency in the number of years for blacklist or the amount owed in correlation to the ban.

my guess is when you default through any means e.g BK , charge off etc - there is a manual review notation on your record.

this is where the luck comes in. I believe it is manual review rather than automation.

if it was automation or computer - there will be consistency among everyone.

the manual reviewer can put 10 year ban, or say after creditor pays the balance or lifetime.

i must have been lucky - for couple of reasons :

I was a full time student.

there was a systemic fianancial crisis , even banks were in big trouble during the time I defaulted.

so I guess the manual reviewer just decided to give me like a 10 year ban without payment.

this is just my guess and opinion.

[simoncww]

@barca, thanks for the info.

[onstar]

Just to add another DP.
I burned Amex in the late 1990s. I got back with them in 2012, then I burned them for >$10K in 2017. Last month, I got back with them with the Plat and BCE.

[AzCreditGuy]

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@onstar wrote:
Just to add another DP.
I burned Amex in the late 1990s. I got back with them in 2012, then I burned them for >$10K in 2017. Last month, I got back with them with the Plat and BCE.

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I honestly dont know why anyone would want to get back with Amex, when there so many other cards out there with better accepatance after you have burned them. I have 4 cards from banks that I burned in 2008. 

For you to burn them 2 times and they let you back in, makes me feel GOOD when I told them to pound sand when they came back after 13yrs telling me if I paid my CO, I could get back in. To hell with them, I could care less since I have 8 cards and dont need or miss Amex.