Cit Prestige - I should have stayed in the garden

[Winesnoblv]

I have been gardening in order to apply for the Citi Prestige later this year.   Two day ago, I noticed they were offering a 50,000 sub for $4,000 spent in the first 3 months.   Not sure if this was permenant or just a promo, I applied and was instantly declined.  I contacted their UW and was told they had no way of knowing why and to wait for the letter in 7 to 10 days.  I will attempt to recon after receiving the letter.

I currently have a Citi AAdvantage with cl of $13k and PLOC and have been banking, both personal and business, with CIti for 8 years.

[imaximous]

I'm surprised they wouldn't tell you why you were declined. I've been denied Citi cards a couple of times in the past, and they told me why over the phone (BK). They also said that I could ask for a second review, but it'd require another HP, and most likely, the outcome would be the same.
Since then, I've been able to get auto-approved for 3 Citi cards with the BK still on file. All your scores are better than mine, and I got the Prestige two months ago. I don't have any relationship with Citi other than the 3 credit cards.
Is there something else of concern on your file?

[coldfusion]

Your .sig mentions you've been gardening since 12/28.  How many cards did you apply for in Oct-Dec and what is your current utilization across all cards? 

[CreditCuriosity]

Suprised you were declined as well as once you are in with Citi and have good scores they can care less about new cards/Inquiries as I have had 30 new accounts in last 24 months and always get approved no problems with Citi..   They usually just list that reason if something else is bothering them being new accounts/inquiries as a generic excuse.  As long as they are making money off you the doors are wide open, at least for me.

[Winesnoblv]

I applied and was approved for the US Bank AR in Oct and the Wells Propel in Dec.  

I realize that the Prestige is harder to acquire than the AAdvantage, but I had a couple of new accounts the month prior to applying and received an instant online approval.

I will need to wait until I see the letter to know the actual reason.

[Winesnoblv]

Update

According to the letter, the reason for the decline was "Your total credit obligations, which include outstanding credit lines, are too high to meet our approval guidelines, when compared to your income."  

When I was approved for both the Addvantage MC and their PLOC, my total outstanding credit lines were higher than my income.  When I called I suggested they move some of my $13k cl on my Addvantage MC.  I then asked if this were due to strict underwriting for this card as opposed to others and she stated "it was the law that total your total credit can't be higher than your stated income."  If that were the case, I wouldn't have been approved for the Addvantage and sp cli late last year.  I thing it has to do with more strict underwriting for this card.  

[CreditCuriosity]

---

@Winesnoblv wrote:

Update

According to the letter, the reason for the decline was "Your total credit obligations, which include outstanding credit lines, are too high to meet our approval guidelines, when compared to your income."  

When I was approved for both the Addvantage MC and their PLOC, my total outstanding credit lines were higher than my income.  When I called I suggested they move some of my $13k cl on my Addvantage MC.  I then asked if this were due to strict underwriting for this card as opposed to others and she stated "it was the law that total your total credit can't be higher than your stated income."  If that were the case, I wouldn't have been approved for the Addvantage and sp cli late last year.  I thing it has to do with more strict underwriting for this card.  

---

sounds like a bs excuse to me as many many people including myself on this forum have many times their incomes.  So you owe alot or just have alot of credit?  Is your income also a higher income say or a lower tier income?

[Winesnoblv]

I tend to agree with you. 

I have approximately $90k in cls with 10% utilization in addition to a car lease (not sure they are looking at that).

I pif except for the cards with 0% intro for 12 to 15 months.  If they are going to give me free money, I will take advantage of it.

Total income is not as high as most, $65k. 

It was not a manual review, so maybe programmed uw criteria for this specific card is different.  

[Anonymous]

FYI - I have total credit lines exceeding $300k and my income is just over $200k. In December I applied for the Citi AA card and got declined due to prior relationship (I BK'ed in 2/2011 and they were included for over $250k). I called to recon and the senior underwriter took a look at the application and said I re-established well my scores were high, and offered me the AA Card with a $5,000 credit line. I told her that I was a bit worried because I have had the Costco card with them for the past 2-3 years and every time I ask for an increase it gets declined. She said that she would push the approval to $9,000. So the answer you were given is total BS. Id call back and just play the underwriter game (call until you find one that wants to approve you).

[Winesnoblv]

Thanks Sean.

I felt the same way about the reason for the decline so I contacted uw again today with the same negative result.  

When I asked how I was approved last year with a similar profile for the Citi AA MC (instant online approval for $10k) and I received a $3k sp cli a few months ago, she stated different cards had different criteria.  My guess is that with what the card offers and now the SUB, they only want individuals with six figure incomes that will be able to have large expenditures on the card.  

Just for kicks, I am going to wait 6 months and apply for the TY Premier.  If I am approved, I will cancel before the AF is due the following year since it will have little value to me.