Working on Penfed Recon

[oorhett]

Was feeling pretty good this week, Tried the Discover prequal site again and finally got an approval and ended up with my biggest SL ever $5000!  My NFCU cRewards Visa hit 91/3 and so I tried for the MoreRewards and got an instant approval w/ SL $3600 and then a $1000 CLI on the cRewards. So decided it was time again to give PenFed a try looking at the Penfed Datashare Thread seemed others with similar DP's were seeing approvals, App'd for the PCR visa and got instant decline. So sent a secure message and requested reconsideration.  received an email reply from them today: 

"Thank you for your response. In order for us to process your reconsideration

request, we request that you provide evidence of incorrect information found on

your credit report, or any new information that may not have been considered

during the initial review process. If possible, please provide any relevant

documentation along with your request for reconsideration." 

Not sure how to reply to this as there isn't incorrect information or new information. Anyone who has had success through a Recon have any suggestions for me? 

[Anonymous]

It would be helpful if you knew (and shared) the reason(s) for the denial. 

[RonM21]

More or less it comes down to you arguing your case for them approving you against what may be on the reports. So from there, I don't know if you have any derogs/negatives showing, etc. that could be scaring them away, as the poster above mentioned?

I've never had to recon with them, but I've dealt with Penfed in general. If you are still unsure from here, I would say if nothing else it wouldn't hurt to try your luck calling in to question it and maybe a CSR will have an underwriter look at the file for you.

[Jnbmom]

Yes what was the reasons for denial ? If the reasons were somewhat legit I doubt they will reconsider unless something is inaccurate.

[FinStar]

My guess would be the recent BK (although the discharge is shy over 1 year) + several new accounts since February of 2020 (not sure how things look inquiry wise).  But, please share the reasons they provided. 

[oorhett]

Thanks to those that have responded - Denial letter reads

Score 655

• Serious delinquency and public record or collection filed
  • Chap 7 BK 05/19 Discharged 09/19
• Length of time revolving accounts have been established 
  • Oldest Card was opened 04/20
  • 3 others opened 09/20, 2x 10/20
• Too many accounts with balances
  • One Credit card with a balance 3%, $41/$1500 (Total Cards $41/$3000)
  • Two Student loans ($10632/$12840)
    • #1 35% $925/$2625
    • #2 95%  $9707/$10215
• Proportion of loan balances to loan amounts too high
  • See above (Student loan #2?)

[FinStar]

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@oorhett wrote:

Thanks to those that have responded - Denial letter reads

Score 655

• Serious delinquency and public record or collection filed
  • Chap 7 BK 05/19 Discharged 09/19
• Length of time revolving accounts have been established 
  • Oldest Card was opened 04/20
  • 3 others opened 09/20, 2x 10/20
• Too many accounts with balances
  • One Credit card with a balance 3%, $41/$1500 (Total Cards $41/$3000)
  • Two Student loans ($10632/$12840)
    • #1 35% $925/$2625
    • #2 95%  $9707/$10215
• Proportion of loan balances to loan amounts too high
  • See above (Student loan #2?)

---

Thanks for sharing the reasons.  

Unfortunately, the top weighted factors appear to be the BK, the age of your new accounts + high ratio of balances (primarily the loans).  Since these appear to be accurate as of the time PenFed reviewed your application, it's doubtful they will reconsider their position @oorhett.

[RonM21]

---

@oorhett wrote:

Thanks to those that have responded - Denial letter reads

Score 655

• Serious delinquency and public record or collection filed
  • Chap 7 BK 05/19 Discharged 09/19
• Length of time revolving accounts have been established 
  • Oldest Card was opened 04/20
  • 3 others opened 09/20, 2x 10/20
• Too many accounts with balances
  • One Credit card with a balance 3%, $41/$1500 (Total Cards $41/$3000)
  • Two Student loans ($10632/$12840)
    • #1 35% $925/$2625
    • #2 95%  $9707/$10215
• Proportion of loan balances to loan amounts too high
  • See above (Student loan #2?)

---

Thanks for supplying the info. I believe this goes back to what @FinStar hinted at. I'm guessing the combo of the BK, the recent new accounts in Sept/Oct, and the #2 95% util debt loan debt is risky to them, unfortunately.  

Again, to the point I made earlier, if you already used a HP on this, and are out of other options, there is no harm in calling in to plead your case one final time, in hopes that maybe the decision could be looked into and reversed. At this point, you have nothing to lose. The decision would either still be a "no," or you could luck out and end up with a better outcome.  Just know that the prior is the more likely, based on the info you provided. Best of luck either way.

[RonM21]

---

@FinStar wrote:

---

---

Thanks for sharing the reasons.  

Unfortunately, the top weighted factors appear to be the BK, the age of your new accounts + high ratio of balances (primarily the loans).  Since these appear to be accurate as of the time PenFed reviewed your application, it's doubtful they will reconsider their position @oorhett.

---

@FinStar sorry we must've posted back to back, but at least we seem to have been pointing the OP in the same direction. Had I seen yours first mine would've just been a +1 

[oorhett]

Thank you for the explanations and suggestions!

So what would be the best way to respond to the email? Just give them a call on Monday or should I reply to the email in some way?

My plan would be to explain that yes my revolving accounts are fairly young but that in regards to the accounts with balances I only have one loan that has a high balance and this is a student loan that typically pays off slowly and has several years 5+ of on-time payments towards it.

Thoughts? 

Thank you!