I was approved the other day for the Delta gold.
BR is 5 years 9 months old, discharge was 18 months ago and it doesn't fall off my report for another 16 months... maybe sooner with early deletion.
However, mine was a Ch 13... not a 7 which isn't looked upon as favorably.
@OnTheRebound wrote:Even though my wife is a very beautiful woman, Amex wanted nothing to do with her as long as her Chap. 7 was reporting. Once her BK completely disappeared from her reports they wanted her. Talk about shallow.
Edit: She was finally approved after three failed prior attempts, each citing BK. As of late, they seem more forgiving for BK cases.
Not sure what's shallow about it... file BK7 and burn your creditors 100%, pay the price in rebuilding and wait 10 years for your CR to be clear.
At least there is some reward in filing Ch 13... the satisfaction in paying back your debt in all or in part, an easy rebuild (IMHO) that didn't involve crap lenders and secured cards, and your CR is clear in 7 years instead of 10.
Worth the effort. Amex just approved me too... with my 13 still reporting for another year or so.
You hear all the time "lenders don't view BK7 and BK13 any different when it comes to credit applications." I call BS on that because they most certainly do. If you had to do business with someone with previous financial issues, would you rather deal with the one who at least made an effort to pay back some or all of their debt... or the one who burned everyone? 
@TRC_WA wrote:
@OnTheRebound wrote:Even though my wife is a very beautiful woman, Amex wanted nothing to do with her as long as her Chap. 7 was reporting. Once her BK completely disappeared from her reports they wanted her. Talk about shallow.
Edit: She was finally approved after three failed prior attempts, each citing BK. As of late, they seem more forgiving for BK cases.
Not sure what's shallow about it... file BK7 and burn your creditors 100%, pay the price in rebuilding and wait 10 years for your CR to be clear.
At least there is some reward in filing Ch 13... the satisfaction in paying back your debt in all or in part, an easy rebuild (IMHO) that didn't involve crap lenders and secured cards, and your CR is clear in 7 years instead of 10.
Worth the effort. Amex just approved me too... with my 13 still reporting for another year or so.
Worth the effort, yes but not always possible. Sometimes life throws you lemons that aren't good for making lemonade. Each situation is different and should be viewed separately.
To the OP, I was just approved for AMEX Everyday with a BK7 from 01/07 still showing. My record has been spotless since that unfortunate but unavoidable event. I've never had a secured card and the worst lender was WaMu. Everyone travels a different route. Proceed slowly with clear goals in mind.
@TRC_WA wrote:
@OnTheRebound wrote:Even though my wife is a very beautiful woman, Amex wanted nothing to do with her as long as her Chap. 7 was reporting. Once her BK completely disappeared from her reports they wanted her. Talk about shallow.
Edit: She was finally approved after three failed prior attempts, each citing BK. As of late, they seem more forgiving for BK cases.
Not sure what's shallow about it... file BK7 and burn your creditors 100%, pay the price in rebuilding and wait 10 years for your CR to be clear.
At least there is some reward in filing Ch 13... the satisfaction in paying back your debt in all or in part, an easy rebuild (IMHO) that didn't involve crap lenders and secured cards, and your CR is clear in 7 years instead of 10.
Worth the effort. Amex just approved me too... with my 13 still reporting for another year or so.
You hear all the time "lenders don't view BK7 and BK13 any different when it comes to credit applications." I call BS on that because they most certainly do. If you had to do business with someone with previous financial issues, would you rather deal with the one who at least made an effort to pay back some or all of their debt... or the one who burned everyone?
Sorry you didn't take my post as a joke like it was intended. And I'm glad you are making good on your debts. However, that is not always possible. Sometimes it's better to just wipe the slate clean and start fresh and not make the same mistakes again. After all, BK laws were designed to give people a second chance. But in my opinion that privilege should be granted one time only to get it right. It just irks me when I read about people filing 2 and 3 times.
In my wife's case it was a "life happens" event that was beyond our control. She never burned Amex. She became a member in 2010 when she was finally approved but not before the BK fell off her reports. Since then, I do think Amex has relaxed their UW standards in regards to BK, scores and derogs to be competitive.
@OnTheRebound wrote:
Sorry you didn't take my post as a joke like it was intended. And I'm glad you are making good on your debts. However, that is not always possible. Sometimes it's better to just wipe the slate clean and start fresh and not make the same mistakes again. After all, BK laws were designed to give people a second chance. But in my opinion that privilege should be granted one time only to get it right. It just irks me when I read about people filing 2 and 3 times.
In my wife's case it was a "life happens" event that was beyond our control. She never burned Amex. She became a member in 2010 when she was finally approved but not before the BK fell off her reports. Since then, I do think Amex has relaxed their UW standards in regards to BK, scores and derogs to be competitive.
My bad, I didn't catch the sarcasm. I guess it's due to all the "I filed BK7 and now nobody will give me credit" threads that I read all the time...
I agree about being irked seeing people file 2-3 times... I am also of the opinion that once is enough of a chance to get thing right. Honestly though what irks me more is seeing lenders like NFCU handing out $15k-$25k CC's and LOC to people with recent Ch 7's despite the fact their profiles don't show other cards anywhere near those limits. I'm like "really?" I dunno... maybe I'm just jealous a bit that my BECU doesn't hand out CC's and LOC's like candy.
I just opened my first AmEx and Discover this week... and also got a nice Barclay Sallie Mae after having an Apple for 16 months. None of them were included in m BK13 so I managed to get in the door before things fell off my report. I'd agree they've relaxed their UW standards. If you had asked me 18 months ago at discharge I'd have assumed I'd never get these cards until my reports were clean... which won't happen till April 2016... maybe sooner with early deletion.
Best wishes.