@RonM21 wrote:
@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
😁 it's all good @RonM21. Great minds think alike! 😜
OP, another thing to consider based on what @RonM21 mentioned upthread, there's a possibility you may receive a survey via email from PenFed. Just keep your eye out for it. If you do get one, you can respond in a concise statement (no long winded novel) why you want the card + the value of your PenFed relationship (consider future products from them), highlight your recent efforts to rebuild your credit, explain a bit about the loan balances, etc.
@oorhett wrote: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!
If it were me personally, I would call them. Reason being, based on the data provided on your reports, I feel that is enough info for them to feel confident in their decision from the online side of things.
So to change it up, me calling would give them an opportunity to speak with me personally, ask questions, hear my side, or even allow me to sway them if at all possible. Again, it would be a long shot. But it's the only shot.
@FinStar wrote:
@RonM21 wrote:
@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
😁 it's all good @RonM21. Great minds think alike! 😜
OP, another thing to consider based on what @RonM21 mentioned upthread, there's a possibility you may receive a survey via email from PenFed. Just keep your eye out for it. If you do get one, you can respond in a concise statement (no long winded novel) why you want the card + the value of your PenFed relationship (consider future products from them), highlight your recent efforts to rebuild your credit, explain a bit about the loan balances, etc.
@FinStar haha I'll roll with that! 
@oorhett I think @FinStar brings up a heck of a good point, and I literally hit myself in the head as I read it because I forgot about it. The survey!! When that email comes, be sure to respond to it as @FinStar mentioned above because Penfed is known to look at those surveys and react to them. They may reach out to you after-the-fact. They're known for doing that at times.
Spoken to two CSR's at Penfed the first was not so helpful so I called back again today and was able to speak to a much more helpful person. However, no luck getting them to have an underwriter look at my application - One thing he did mention though was that I should wait until 2 yrs post-Bankruptcy before applying for a better chance of approval. Not sure if this a known DP for PenFed but I hadn't seen that mentioned before in fact seeing those with under 2yrs getting approvals in the PenFed Datashare thread so YMMV or just another easy out for the CSR.
I do still plan to look for that survey and see where that may get me. Thanks!
