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APPROVED Amex PR Gold Card 7yrs post bk UPDATED DECLINED

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sal2009
Established Member

APPROVED Amex PR Gold Card 7yrs post bk UPDATED DECLINED

Hi all, 

 

I thought i would update you let you know details about American Express cards and my experience post bankrupty. 

 

I initially applied for the Amex Premier Rewards Gold Card a few days after my 7th yr anniversary of Ch7 bk.  I was promptly denied.  The reason given was not bk however as it has been in years past but rather "my previous account with American Express had been cancelled."

 

A couple days later, I called the Executive Office.  The woman who answered there wasn't rude but wasn't super friendly either.  She told me that it is the policy of American Express to not give credit to anyone who's account has been cancelled and they had to take a loss.  I asked if there was someone more senior or anyone else who could potentially review my case and make an exception.  She said she wished there could be but because of the new financial regulations, they would not be allowed to do this (uh huh, yea right). She stated emphatically, "There are NO exceptions."  I realized that she would be unable to get me to anyone who could help and that she had no desire to try to help.  

 

I then tried calling new accounts as i heard they may also be able to review my application for reconsideration.  I spoke to a man who I believe was based out of the country because of  his accent.  Regardless, he was friendly and told me they may have to do a hard pull again for the application (fyi...they never did one the first time).  He asked me if the amex account that had been defaulted was still on my credit report and stated that if it was, I would definately not be given a card.  I told him I had no negative items except for the bk that was still reporting and would be for another 3 years.  He said he would resubmit the application.

 

At about this same time (5 days or so post application), I figured I would email an executive at amex using a firstname.lastname@amex...i tried numerous times until i got a combination that worked (use ur imagination).  A few days later, I received a phone call from someone in the "Exexcutive Referrals" department who told me that the executive had received my email and that he had referred me to her.  That woman was extremely friendly and listened to me patiently.  After listening to me, she told me that she had sent my application on to their underwriters for further review, but that my application was still denied.

 

At this point, I asked her why it was so difficult to consider the big picture....I'm a physician with a high 6 figure salary, stable job for past 5 years with pretty much no chance of not paying and a high 6 figure amount in my savings.  I pointed out that I was applying for a charge card further limiting their risk because it gets paid in full.  I asked why would they want to throw away all the fees I could generate them when they wrote off my account for about $3000.  I also pointed out that they grant cards to people with charge off who they also take a loss on for the same amount...it just didn't make sense to me.

 

She then looked at my data in more detail and revealed that in the Amex system, it looks at you still having a recent bankruptcy at 7 yrs, 1 month...even tho i applied after the 7 yrs.....their computer system was seeing it as within 7 years.  She told me that she would wait another week or two (cause you can recon for 30 vs 60 days with amex on the same application) until my bk was clear of their computer system and then resend it and have it personally evaluated by some vp.

 

Well, I logged onto the status update amex site today...it had been saying "in progress" for the past two weeks after intially saying declined and now it says...."Approved....Congratulations! Your application has been approved and you should receive your new card within 7-10 days."  Woohoo!

 

So I would like to thank all you members who encouraged me to give it my best and keep trying.  Thank you...FICO needs people like you.  I would like to tell the naysayers that your neg attitudes are not helpful....some of you remind me of internet bullies.

 

So bottom line I think is that you can get approved with bk after 7 years 1/2 months if you did not include them...and if you did, you will ahve to jump throgh hoops.  And remember...there are ALWAYS exceptions.

 

All 3 FICOs are between 705 and 735.

Chase Sapphire Preferred: $10,000CL

Chase Freedom: $6,700

Citi Aadvantage Amex: $20,000

Citi Aadvantage Visa: $20,000

BMW Visa: $10,000

Chase Ink Bold:$5000

Capital One Visa: $1700

Chase Slate:$500

 

I'd like to update my story for everyone.  Apologies for not updating sooner but I have been tremendously busy and wanted to find out the end all before updating.

 

At the time of this last post, I had received notice via the check application status webpage that my application for the AMEX PR Gold Card was approved.  I was quite excited and the status stayed approved for about a week.  After a week, I became more concerned that I had not received my card and checked again (for about the 50th time) and the status had changed from "Approved" to "Declined."  At this point, I called the representative in the Executive Office who I had been talking to and she explained to me that Amex initially approved my card but when the bank rechecked it they saw that my bankruptcy discharge date was not over 7 yrs....There are two dates to your bankruptcy, a file date and a discharge date....and my application fell in between those dates.

 

The representative then suggested I apply after the discharge date and even suggested a particular month (1-2 months after the discharge date to be sure there were not problems).  She told me to call her again the after the next application as this would all be in her notes.

 

Fast forward to last month.....I applied for the same exact AMEX PR Gold Card, initially computer declined, called up the same representative.  She looked at my account and started to give me the usual response about previous account declined when I reminded her about my case and what had happened previously.....She looked in her notes and said, "oh yes, well if they overrided it before, then it shouldn't be a problem and I'll send this on."  I asked her if I should tell her about my income, job, etc again and she said no it was all in her notes.  The status on the AMEX site went to "in Progress."

 

Well, about a week later, she calls me back and said they wouldn't approve my card.  She said that while the underwriters had approved it, the bank would not.  I asked about what she had said during the previous application about the discharge date and why had the bank changed its story and she really didn't have an answer and I could tell that she felt sorry for both me and herself (since she had told me previously what the issue was).  She said she was impressed at how well I had repaired my credit as she had seen few people have several credit limits of $20,000 with a bk still reporting.  At this point this point, I asked her if I could ever have an amex card, and she gave the usual maybe you could apply after significant time has passed but I generally feeling I got from her was no.  And frankly, I have a significantly better credit profile than many Amex approvals.....if they aren't gonna give it to me now, I doubt they ever would.

 

For completeness sake, my utilization rate is 2%, AAOA is 6 yrs, total amount of credit over all cards is about $110,000.  My Amex was included in the bk for less than $5000 (a delta card).

 

So, if you included Amex IIB, you probably are out forever.

 

Amex:  You should change your no exceptions policy to things like this.  I could bring you lots of business/money but will be unable to.  Every other bank I applied to Chase, Citi, Barclays, etc.....could see my unique situation and understand that.

 

Please no comments about the moral/ethical ramifications about declaring bk and paying creditors back....these decisions are about making money for the company.

 

 

Message 1 of 18
17 REPLIES 17
amercnchopz34
Established Contributor

Re: APPROVED Amex PR Gold Card 7yrs post bk


@sal2009 wrote:

Hi all, 

 

I thought i would update you let you know details about American Express cards and my experience post bankrupty. 

 

I initially applied for the Amex Premier Rewards Gold Card a few days after my 7th yr anniversary of Ch7 bk.  I was promptly denied.  The reason given was not bk however as it has been in years past but rather "my previous account with American Express had been cancelled."

 

A couple days later, I called the Executive Office.  The woman who answered there wasn't rude but wasn't super friendly either.  She told me that it is the policy of American Express to not give credit to anyone who's account has been cancelled and they had to take a loss.  I asked if there was someone more senior or anyone else who could potentially review my case and make an exception.  She said she wished there could be but because of the new financial regulations, they would not be allowed to do this (uh huh, yea right). She stated emphatically, "There are NO exceptions."  I realized that she would be unable to get me to anyone who could help and that she had no desire to try to help.  

 

I then tried calling new accounts as i heard they may also be able to review my application for reconsideration.  I spoke to a man who I believe was based out of the country because of  his accent.  Regardless, he was friendly and told me they may have to do a hard pull again for the application (fyi...they never did one the first time).  He asked me if the amex account that had been defaulted was still on my credit report and stated that if it was, I would definately not be given a card.  I told him I had no negative items except for the bk that was still reporting and would be for another 3 years.  He said he would resubmit the application.

 

At about this same time (5 days or so post application), I figured I would email an executive at amex using a firstname.lastname@amex...i tried numerous times until i got a combination that worked (use ur imagination).  A few days later, I received a phone call from someone in the "Exexcutive Referrals" department who told me that the executive had received my email and that he had referred me to her.  That woman was extremely friendly and listened to me patiently.  After listening to me, she told me that she had sent my application on to their underwriters for further review, but that my application was still denied.

 

At this point, I asked her why it was so difficult to consider the big picture....I'm a physician with a high 6 figure salary, stable job for past 5 years with pretty much no chance of not paying and a high 6 figure amount in my savings.  I pointed out that I was applying for a charge card further limiting their risk because it gets paid in full.  I asked why would they want to throw away all the fees I could generate them when they wrote off my account for about $3000.  I also pointed out that they grant cards to people with charge off who they also take a loss on for the same amount...it just didn't make sense to me.

 

She then looked at my data in more detail and revealed that in the Amex system, it looks at you still having a recent bankruptcy at 7 yrs, 1 month...even tho i applied after the 7 yrs.....their computer system was seeing it as within 7 years.  She told me that she would wait another week or two (cause you can recon for 30 vs 60 days with amex on the same application) until my bk was clear of their computer system and then resend it and have it personally evaluated by some vp.

 

Well, I logged onto the status update amex site today...it had been saying "in progress" for the past two weeks after intially saying declined and now it says...."Approved....Congratulations! Your application has been approved and you should receive your new card within 7-10 days."  Woohoo!

 

So I would like to thank all you members who encouraged me to give it my best and keep trying.  Thank you...FICO needs people like you.  I would like to tell the naysayers that your neg attitudes are not helpful....some of you remind me of internet bullies.

 

So bottom line I think is that you can get approved with bk after 7 years 1/2 months if you did not include them...and if you did, you will ahve to jump throgh hoops.  And remember...there are ALWAYS exceptions.

 

All 3 FICOs are between 705 and 735.

Chase Sapphire Preferred: $10,000CL

Chase Freedom: $6,700

Citi Aadvantage Amex: $20,000

Citi Aadvantage Visa: $20,000

BMW Visa: $10,000

Chase Ink Bold:$5000

Capital One Visa: $1700

Chase Slate:$500

 

 


good  to here sal....... I will be 8 yrs post bk in june and will try for amex and discover and maybe 1 other prime card...not yet sure...congrats


Message 2 of 18
creditnocash
Valued Contributor

Re: APPROVED Amex PR Gold Card 7yrs post bk

congrats. thats great. treat amex well and they will treat you well. 

 

my mom is 8 1/2 years post bk (sched to fall off 6/14) and got denied =/ didnt call the exec office though. 

and her util was a little high for anyones liking. 

 



Current: Fico ScoresEQ~706 TU~719 EX 709 4/28/23

Inquiries (24 Months): EQ 0 TU 0 EX 0| Most Recent: A LONG WHILE
Over 12 Months:0


2023 Goals:
Buy A Home
Earn Cash Back

Amex Zync(Unicorn)
Chase Freedom$1500
Discover IT$7,400
Citi DC $10,000
Citizens Mastercard$7,000

Message 3 of 18
amercnchopz34
Established Contributor

Re: APPROVED Amex PR Gold Card 7yrs post bk


@amercnchopz34 wrote:

@sal2009 wrote:

Hi all, 

 

I thought i would update you let you know details about American Express cards and my experience post bankrupty. 

 

I initially applied for the Amex Premier Rewards Gold Card a few days after my 7th yr anniversary of Ch7 bk.  I was promptly denied.  The reason given was not bk however as it has been in years past but rather "my previous account with American Express had been cancelled."

 

A couple days later, I called the Executive Office.  The woman who answered there wasn't rude but wasn't super friendly either.  She told me that it is the policy of American Express to not give credit to anyone who's account has been cancelled and they had to take a loss.  I asked if there was someone more senior or anyone else who could potentially review my case and make an exception.  She said she wished there could be but because of the new financial regulations, they would not be allowed to do this (uh huh, yea right). She stated emphatically, "There are NO exceptions."  I realized that she would be unable to get me to anyone who could help and that she had no desire to try to help.  

 

I then tried calling new accounts as i heard they may also be able to review my application for reconsideration.  I spoke to a man who I believe was based out of the country because of  his accent.  Regardless, he was friendly and told me they may have to do a hard pull again for the application (fyi...they never did one the first time).  He asked me if the amex account that had been defaulted was still on my credit report and stated that if it was, I would definately not be given a card.  I told him I had no negative items except for the bk that was still reporting and would be for another 3 years.  He said he would resubmit the application.

 

At about this same time (5 days or so post application), I figured I would email an executive at amex using a firstname.lastname@amex...i tried numerous times until i got a combination that worked (use ur imagination).  A few days later, I received a phone call from someone in the "Exexcutive Referrals" department who told me that the executive had received my email and that he had referred me to her.  That woman was extremely friendly and listened to me patiently.  After listening to me, she told me that she had sent my application on to their underwriters for further review, but that my application was still denied.

 

At this point, I asked her why it was so difficult to consider the big picture....I'm a physician with a high 6 figure salary, stable job for past 5 years with pretty much no chance of not paying and a high 6 figure amount in my savings.  I pointed out that I was applying for a charge card further limiting their risk because it gets paid in full.  I asked why would they want to throw away all the fees I could generate them when they wrote off my account for about $3000.  I also pointed out that they grant cards to people with charge off who they also take a loss on for the same amount...it just didn't make sense to me.

 

She then looked at my data in more detail and revealed that in the Amex system, it looks at you still having a recent bankruptcy at 7 yrs, 1 month...even tho i applied after the 7 yrs.....their computer system was seeing it as within 7 years.  She told me that she would wait another week or two (cause you can recon for 30 vs 60 days with amex on the same application) until my bk was clear of their computer system and then resend it and have it personally evaluated by some vp.

 

Well, I logged onto the status update amex site today...it had been saying "in progress" for the past two weeks after intially saying declined and now it says...."Approved....Congratulations! Your application has been approved and you should receive your new card within 7-10 days."  Woohoo!

 

So I would like to thank all you members who encouraged me to give it my best and keep trying.  Thank you...FICO needs people like you.  I would like to tell the naysayers that your neg attitudes are not helpful....some of you remind me of internet bullies.

 

So bottom line I think is that you can get approved with bk after 7 years 1/2 months if you did not include them...and if you did, you will ahve to jump throgh hoops.  And remember...there are ALWAYS exceptions.

 

All 3 FICOs are between 705 and 735.

Chase Sapphire Preferred: $10,000CL

Chase Freedom: $6,700

Citi Aadvantage Amex: $20,000

Citi Aadvantage Visa: $20,000

BMW Visa: $10,000

Chase Ink Bold:$5000

Capital One Visa: $1700

Chase Slate:$500

 

 


good  to here sal....... I will be 8 yrs post bk in june and will try for amex and discover and maybe 1 other prime card...not yet sure...congrats


Just a little gun shy.....i would like to get the additional time if i app in December......but not sure if i would be approved.......


Message 4 of 18
amercnchopz34
Established Contributor

Re: APPROVED Amex PR Gold Card 7yrs post bk


@creditnocash wrote:

congrats. thats great. treat amex well and they will treat you well. 

 

my mom is 8 1/2 years post bk (sched to fall off 6/14) and got denied =/ didnt call the exec office though. 

and her util was a little high for anyones liking. 

 


Creitnocash.....what are on her reports,utli and cc cl's now


Message 5 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: APPROVED Amex PR Gold Card 7yrs post bk

That's a good card you got there, congrats

Message 6 of 18
creditnocash
Valued Contributor

Re: APPROVED Amex PR Gold Card 7yrs post bk


@amercnchopz34 wrote:

Creitnocash.....what are on her reports,utli and cc cl's now


80k annual income. 

5 inq in total(3 from new car) (before amex app) 

 

22k aval credit 12k used. (im getting her to slowly pay this down) 60% util. 

11 revolvers in total. 

 

2 leases 3 years completed and just got a new one so 1 month reported 35 left. 

about 49k in student debt. (two bachelors degrees) 

a personal installment loan 2 years old (paid now) perfect payment history. 

but!!!! she is fighting 2 med collections that she wasnt even aware she had. 

one is pif that said would delete. and other she is fighting because of some fiasco. about her doctor never auth labs to go to cali and it never got paid because he didnt auth. but no one informed her that she was charged. 

 



Current: Fico ScoresEQ~706 TU~719 EX 709 4/28/23

Inquiries (24 Months): EQ 0 TU 0 EX 0| Most Recent: A LONG WHILE
Over 12 Months:0


2023 Goals:
Buy A Home
Earn Cash Back

Amex Zync(Unicorn)
Chase Freedom$1500
Discover IT$7,400
Citi DC $10,000
Citizens Mastercard$7,000

Message 7 of 18
LS2982
Mega Contributor

Re: APPROVED Amex PR Gold Card 7yrs post bk


@sal2009 wrote:

Hi all, 

 

I thought i would update you let you know details about American Express cards and my experience post bankrupty. 

 

I initially applied for the Amex Premier Rewards Gold Card a few days after my 7th yr anniversary of Ch7 bk.  I was promptly denied.  The reason given was not bk however as it has been in years past but rather "my previous account with American Express had been cancelled."

 

A couple days later, I called the Executive Office.  The woman who answered there wasn't rude but wasn't super friendly either.  She told me that it is the policy of American Express to not give credit to anyone who's account has been cancelled and they had to take a loss.  I asked if there was someone more senior or anyone else who could potentially review my case and make an exception.  She said she wished there could be but because of the new financial regulations, they would not be allowed to do this (uh huh, yea right). She stated emphatically, "There are NO exceptions."  I realized that she would be unable to get me to anyone who could help and that she had no desire to try to help.  

 

I then tried calling new accounts as i heard they may also be able to review my application for reconsideration.  I spoke to a man who I believe was based out of the country because of  his accent.  Regardless, he was friendly and told me they may have to do a hard pull again for the application (fyi...they never did one the first time).  He asked me if the amex account that had been defaulted was still on my credit report and stated that if it was, I would definately not be given a card.  I told him I had no negative items except for the bk that was still reporting and would be for another 3 years.  He said he would resubmit the application.

 

At about this same time (5 days or so post application), I figured I would email an executive at amex using a firstname.lastname@amex...i tried numerous times until i got a combination that worked (use ur imagination).  A few days later, I received a phone call from someone in the "Exexcutive Referrals" department who told me that the executive had received my email and that he had referred me to her.  That woman was extremely friendly and listened to me patiently.  After listening to me, she told me that she had sent my application on to their underwriters for further review, but that my application was still denied.

 

At this point, I asked her why it was so difficult to consider the big picture....I'm a physician with a high 6 figure salary, stable job for past 5 years with pretty much no chance of not paying and a high 6 figure amount in my savings.  I pointed out that I was applying for a charge card further limiting their risk because it gets paid in full.  I asked why would they want to throw away all the fees I could generate them when they wrote off my account for about $3000.  I also pointed out that they grant cards to people with charge off who they also take a loss on for the same amount...it just didn't make sense to me.

 

She then looked at my data in more detail and revealed that in the Amex system, it looks at you still having a recent bankruptcy at 7 yrs, 1 month...even tho i applied after the 7 yrs.....their computer system was seeing it as within 7 years.  She told me that she would wait another week or two (cause you can recon for 30 vs 60 days with amex on the same application) until my bk was clear of their computer system and then resend it and have it personally evaluated by some vp.

 

Well, I logged onto the status update amex site today...it had been saying "in progress" for the past two weeks after intially saying declined and now it says...."Approved....Congratulations! Your application has been approved and you should receive your new card within 7-10 days."  Woohoo!

 

So I would like to thank all you members who encouraged me to give it my best and keep trying.  Thank you...FICO needs people like you.  I would like to tell the naysayers that your neg attitudes are not helpful....some of you remind me of internet bullies.

 

So bottom line I think is that you can get approved with bk after 7 years 1/2 months if you did not include them...and if you did, you will ahve to jump throgh hoops.  And remember...there are ALWAYS exceptions.

 

All 3 FICOs are between 705 and 735.

Chase Sapphire Preferred: $10,000CL

Chase Freedom: $6,700

Citi Aadvantage Amex: $20,000

Citi Aadvantage Visa: $20,000

BMW Visa: $10,000

Chase Ink Bold:$5000

Capital One Visa: $1700

Chase Slate:$500

 

 


CONGRATS!!!

 

Awesome story to success!!!!

 

Welcome back to the AMEX family!!!

 




EQ FICO 548 3/3/16
Message 8 of 18
youngandcreditwrthy
Senior Contributor

Re: APPROVED Amex PR Gold Card 7yrs post bk

Niiiiiccceeeee!!!!!!!!!

Just got my Amex BCE!!!:-)
Marriott PR$25k | BCE $24.5K |BankAmericard Visa $25k| BOA Better Bal $17.5k |Wmt Discover $12.5k | BR Visa $17.5k | Amex Delta Gold $10k | Discover IT $10k | Paypal Extras MC $15k | Amazon Store $10k|Smile Gen $7.25k | Dillard's $10k | West Elm $4k| Express $3.05K | Mypoints.com Visa $4.5k | Freedom Visa $1k| Amex Surpass $1k
Message 9 of 18
CreditChampion
Frequent Contributor

Re: APPROVED Amex PR Gold Card 7yrs post bk

Another AMEX sucess story with bankruptcy reporting!!! My dad has 1.5 years left on his Ch13 bankruptcy and I was also able to talk AMEX into giving him a chance. He was approved for Zync back in June after several recons(talking with executive offices and new accounts). He is also a doctor with a high six figure salary. Next up BCP in January after a nice solid payment history is built up with them. Just goes to show you if you talk to right people things can happenSmiley Happy

Fico Scores:800+Club

Marvel MC 25K AMEX BCE 18K AMEX Blue Sky 13.6K AMEX BCE 13.5K AMEX Zync
NPSL(AU) Citi Double Cash 14.5K PenFed Plat Rewards 14.5K Citi Forward 10.3k Discover it 9.5K Wells Fargo Cash Back 7.2K BankAmericard Better Balance $700 Chase Freedom $500 Capital One Quicksilver $6K Capital One Platinum (AU) $500 Capital One Secured Card (AU) $251(Closed) PenFed PLOC 14K
PenFed Promise 5K
Message 10 of 18
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