ODDS of getting back in with AMEX?? A good sign .... !!

[Joeysalaaa]

So I burned AMEX 8-9 years ago for about $9k total during a very bad divorce, and then medical issues. They sold one card ($8k) to an attorney who got a judgement, I set up payment arrnagments and paid it off about 1/2 then stopped due to more issues (this was 6-7 years ago). Stupid IK but life was very very different then. Not proud of it ! Oddly they didnt try to collect on the rest and sent it to a collection agency who I am presently trying to settle with -- left is about $3.5k (unless you guys do not think I should pay off?).

Here's whats interesing -- up until a year ago any prequal I tried declined me for "Past relationship or debt" something to that effect. NOW, it declined me a month and half ago for "FICO Score (658 at the pull), and high util reporting" -- this was before my score boost and fixing the remaining issues but i just got the reasons in mail. Is this a good sign?? I am going to try preqaul again in a few weeks -- present stats NOW:

EXP FICO8 770

INQs Low

UTIL 1% !

AAofA 16 years

2-3 accounts past year 

No derogs 

Income $250k+

Any advice on this one? I would LOVE to get back with AMEX but dont want to go in blindly !

Thank you !!

[SRT4kid93]

I have no personal experience with burning Amex, but from what I've read. They have one of the longest memories, especially when the debt is not paid back (or in your case not fully paid back)

it's not uncommon for people to be black listed for close to, or even over a decade. 

Lenders only need to give you 1 reason on why they denied you, even when there are multiple reasons. if you are no longer getting the "previous relationship reason code" that could be a good sign. Or it could simply mean  that your previous relationship is no longer the #1 reason behind your denial. It could still be in play, just not top of the list. 

Amex does soft pull denials, so you can continue to apply without any issues. Once they offer you the card, and give you the option to accept it. That's how you will know ur back in. 

[Metalcards]

Going on 20 years since I burned them. Still can't back on.

[MarkintheHV]

---

@Metalcards wrote:

Going on 20 years since I burned them. Still can't back on.

---

Go figure, I burned them back in 2011, and I got back in a couple of years ago.  AmEx can be unpredictable at times.

[CubanCheapSkate]

Didn't burn them but had BK in 2019 and prequal would show nothing until 2024 but I had to do the prequal from Delta's site to get an offer. After about 6 months of good history with the Delta card I then started seeing prequal's for other cards logged into the actual Amex site. Not sure if it mattered but I did create a SkyMiles account and included my membership number with the prequal app.