Hello,
Second time I've posted on the forum.
I was Pre approved for AMEX PRG, DELTA, and green. Needed to buy a delta flight so I figured i'd pull the trigger. They have a very good welcome offer right now. 50K miles with $150 statement credit. Application went pending.
Called today. They needed to verify my home address. Called my bank, did the check. Approved for 2K.
I'm so estatic right now. My FICO Experian is only 610. 6 new accounts in past year.
So there is hope for people on the rebuild journey.
A little background on my credit.
Started off in April 2017. Had a score of 545 Credit Karma on TU.
FICO couldnt process a score because no recent history
No active accounts since 2014.
Last account in 2014 was Capital one. $300 Limit which was charged off for failure to pay.
Charge off from 2010 for Paypal MC. $2.5K
One Student loan. Paid but with 2 120 day lates in 2011
Judgement on my record for the Paypal MC.
Chase credit card closed in 2010 . Never late $800 CL
Hyundai Car loan for 13K. 2009 Paid in full, Never late
About 8 collection accounts totaling about 10K
0 Inquires.
Started off with a US bank secured card in April 2017 $300.
Made on time payments for 4 months.
Added Credit one bank $300 in June 2017
Added Discover Secured $200 June 2017.
Added Capital one Secured card Sept 2017 $200 for $99 down.
Closed the US bank secured card in August 2017. Paid in Full
Got my girlfriend to agree to be a Joint account holder on a US bank flexperks Travel rewards.
Added that card August 2017 $4000 CL
Girlfriend also agreed to signing up for a Amex Delta card in August 2017, since I would be out of the country for work for a month.
Added me as an Authorized user. New Account August 2017 13K CL. ( now at 22K) I was the only one who used the card and made payments on it.
Collections
Started out with 8-9 Collection accounts depending on which report.
Disputed all of them. Slowly got 4-5 removed.
4 Remaining that wont remove.
2 - from 2011 totalling 3K
1-2015 for $678 from that Capital one charge off.
1-2016 Tmobile $1555. Collection company agreed to remove liability in writing for this one but wont remove it from my reports.
Charge Off's
Both charge off's have been removed from my report.
The collection account for 2.5K from Paypal MC. Removed
Judgement.
When the credit agencies changed policies, the judgement was removed.
It was for the 2.5K paypal MC.
Inquires.
9 on TU. ( 5 different companies, had to pull credit again for manual review)( Capital one has 3 HP on every report, all within 2 days)
7 on EQ ( same type deal, but a couple less since every company doesnt pull each report)
5- EX
Scores.
TU FICO 8 (9/26/2017) 626
EQ Credit Karma ( 10/28/2017) 647
EX- FICO (10/28/2017) 610. (credit.com has 626)
Utilization.
12% ( before CLI on AU amex (22K) & my new amex)
Cap 1 - $0
Cred 1 -$0
Discover -$24
US bank - $105
AMEX(AU) -$2796 ( paid in full yesterday before applying myself) ( CLI to 22K, 3 days ago)
ALL new accounts ( beside chase card from 2010) within the past 6 months.
totaling 6 without this new Amex approval.
AAoA is 3 months.
All my accounts since I started my rebuild journey in April 2017 have always been paid on time and in full. Going to keep it that way!
Amex Approval picture
https://thumb.ibb.co/if706R/IMG_1393.jpg
Wow that has to be one of the biggest suprise approvals from Amex ive ever read here. 2k at 600 fico. Thats incredible and good for you. Also your thoroughness on data points is just amazing. Youll give hope to many but i just would caution those with 600 scores to be careful, this seems more like the exception than the rule. Enjoy and best of luck as you continue your rebuild
I swear it was being an Authorized user on my girlfriends card and making payments. I spent 8K in two months on the card. Paid in full through my own login. I applied for the card the day before I asked her to apply and was denied. My scores really havent changed since then. Maybe 10 points.
About a month after being added, I got pre approvals for the amex PRG and green cards when I was barely hovering around 600 FICO.
I didnt need either of those cards so I didnt think about applying. I had to fly again for work, and delta had the cheapest flights and noticed on Delta's site that they had an offer for 50K miles and $150 statement credit.
Checked the prequal site and still only had the PRG and green cards showing. Logged into amex that night and paid the balance on her card. (3 grand). Next morning my flight search was on again, since I need to fly back to the states soon and Delta has a connecting flight for super cheap. Just figured I'd look one more time at the prequal site for **bleep**s and giggles. BAM the delta card showed up with a 16.74% APR, which is the lowest possible for the card. I was in shock thinking it was a mistake.
Really needed to book a flight, so that night I app'd through Delta's site since the offer was better then Amex's site. Pending status.
New accounts was closed last night. Called this morning, had to verify my home address with a bank account. Together we called my bank, verified it, and 30 seconds later the guy gave me my APR of 16.74% and a SL of $2000. He also told me I was able to get a CLI after 61 days.
Im still in shock, AMEX I believe really does track thier AU differently then other card companies and I really believe my useage and payments for those 2 months was what got me in.
First off, congrats! Your data points are top-notch as well, thank you on behalf of the entire community for that.
As for the AU status, it's been confirmed that American Express does not count any history as an AU whatsoever when making decisions on a primary account holder. (Long but useful data point in this regard: DW had been an AU on 3 of my Amex accounts for 13 years that had seen over $500k of charges. EX score was about 780, income in the 200s, average age of accounts was about 13 years, oldest account 27 years, 2 HP and 1 new revolving account in 2 years, no derogs ever in her life - approved for $2,000 on the EveryDay card. Fast-forward 14 months and that became a $32,000 card and she just got approved for a $23,700 Delta Gold from Amex.) All of their decisions are based on your Experian credit report, your Experian FICO 08 score, income, assets, internal scoring, "other factors known to them," etc... What is more likely is that the AU status on that card helped by fattening up your credit report with positive tradelines, reduced your overall utilization, and showed a high credit line. Not taking away from your great approval whatsoever, but they gave it to you based on you, not being on your girlfriend's account.
Now use it responsibly and set your calendar for 61 days to ask for a $6,000 credit line, then 181 days after that to ask for $18,000!
