CITI Forward - more processing + called back door line + need advice

[Anonymous]

I have been dumb recently.  I applied for the Captial One Cash Rewards card, Im not sure which version I havent gotten it in the mail yet, and I was approved with a $2k CL.  I have been rebuilding my credit for about 3 years now with 2 FIrst premier cards and 1 orchard bank, totaling $1200 in credit (never late).  My equifax and experian CS are ~665 and TU is 686.  For some reason I felt the need to try to apply for the CITI Fwd card and received the "need more processing" prompt.  I called the backline # and the computer prompt said "unfortunately, blah blah blah."  So I spoke to someone and they said they could not approve me because I "had a current delinquent account and a paid or unpaid collection."  So I asked if I had a previous collection would that make me ineligible for this card, she said "well it has to be paid."  I have 2 old collections on my credit report, one for a dentist bill that I had no idea about because they were mailing me bills to the wrong address and never called me.  I paid it; of course right after I knew about it which was when it posted to my CR.  And a Verizon wireless phone that my mother opened in my name and social; again of which I had no clue.  I was living at school at the time but her house was my permanent address.  When I filed a fraud case through Verizons fraud department, they said denied me because the "person who opened this account has the same address as you."  I couldnt dispute that, so a laywer told me it was best to just pay it.  So I paid it.  Both are listed on my experian CR (which is what they use) and both are listed as paid.  Verizon 4/1/09 and dental bill 10/1/10.   I have no currently delinquent accounts.

 I am a medical student and my schools loans are currently deferred however, at one point in time aroudn the end of 2010, I was behind on my school loans because I assumed that they knew I was in school, but apparently I was supposed to fax Sallie Mae an in-school deferment form to let them know.  So some of my loans (all closed or transferred accounts now because I consolidated) have 30 and 60 day delinquent on them; but these arent current delinquents.  

She told me to fax them my credit report to show I dont have any current delinquent accounts or unpaid collections.  Which I dont.  Or do I?  The collections are paid and the school loans were current before being consolidated.   Is there any way I can get a positive recon?

Also, I have freecreditreport.com, can I just fax them that report?  They gave me a number to experian to gain a credit report, but its the same thing right?

Thanks for any help I can get.  

[Revelate]

The freecreditreport isn't quite the same, I'd simply pull it from annualcreditreport.com and send them that.  It's free and basically the gold standard these days.

I wouldn't worry too much about this, there's nothing stupid at taking a shot at a decent card when your scores have improved out of the rebuilding stage... the inquiry damage is small to insignificant if you're not applying for a mortgage or possible auto loan in short order.

Congrats on the excellent C1 approval though, and well done on managing your credit profile to date.

[Anonymous]

Thank you! the only issue is that I pulled that report already and it seems I cannot access it again if Ive already seen it?  Is there a way I can go back and print a previously "seen" report? or Am I just going to have to pay experian for a new one?  

also Im mildly new to this, can you tell me what you mean by "excellent C1 approval?"

[Revelate]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you! the only issue is that I pulled that report already and it seems I cannot access it again if Ive already seen it?  Is there a way I can go back and print a previously "seen" report? or Am I just going to have to pay experian for a new one?  

---

Did you save it off?  I save all mine in PDF format with the bureau and date associated with the pull.  It *might* be in your browser cache, but worst case you pay 8 bucks for a new report if I recall Experian's pricing structure.  The time investment to find it, if it's even there in your history, isn't worth it compared to the cost in my opinion.  I hate searching browser caches and I work with that crap for a living still.

If they want an actual Experian report and are willing to play let's make a deal with it (i'm sort of baffled by this honestly but who knows with CSRs) I think you're pretty much stuck pulling the official one.  If it confirms what you think is there, I'd absolutely send it to them.  On the other hand it all depends how much you want this card, but for my money, I think it's worth knowing if there's something different than what I expect in a report, and the sooner the better.  It's worth paying for in my opinion regardless and the cost is trivial in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Thanks again, I didnt see it in my browser so I will go ahead and get another one. I edited my previous post to add this question, "also Im mildly new to this, can you tell me what you mean by "excellent C1 approval?"  

[Revelate]

Wierd.  I know I pulled my EX this year (a few months ago in fact) via annualcreditreport but I got further in the interface than I was expecting.  I didn't go all the way through to Experian's site, and I know EX tracks last report check for their dispute process if nothing else.  

Try getting it through there as it's worth a try, maybe you can see the old version though I suspect it wouldn't be on there for more than a few months at most if so.  Though if it's been a while (3+ months) I think I'd want to get the absolute most current especially if the Citi is seeing something different than what was there previously.  They *probably* want a new report pulled too regardless if yours is more than a month out of date.

[Revelate]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you! the only issue is that I pulled that report already and it seems I cannot access it again if Ive already seen it?  Is there a way I can go back and print a previously "seen" report? or Am I just going to have to pay experian for a new one?  

also Im mildly new to this, can you tell me what you mean by "excellent C1 approval?"

---

My apologies, I now realize forum shorthand was a mistake  C1 = Capital One, one of a billion abbreviations that get used on this forum.

Regarding excellent: you more than doubled your credit limits with the one approval, from a lender that's notoriously difficult to get a good credit limit with. 

[navigatethis12]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you! the only issue is that I pulled that report already and it seems I cannot access it again if Ive already seen it?  Is there a way I can go back and print a previously "seen" report? or Am I just going to have to pay experian for a new one?  

also Im mildly new to this, can you tell me what you mean by "excellent C1 approval?"

---

If you are denied credit you can access your report for free.

Experian: http://www.experian.com/reportaccess

Equifax: https://aa.econsumer.equifax.com/aad/landing.ehtml

Transunion: https://disclosure.transunion.com/dc/disclosure/disclosure.jsp

[Anonymous]

for some reason the online verson of getting my experian report keeps asking me 4 verification questions about a mortgage and Ive never had on, and then they deny me.  So I had to do it by phone, which they say will take 10 business days to get here.  I guess the waiting game for all of this begins.    

Hopefully she really knows what shes talking about re: the "no 'current' delinquents and 'paid' collections"  because I hope this isnt all for not.

[crunching_numbers]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

for some reason the online verson of getting my experian report keeps asking me 4 verification questions about a mortgage and Ive never had on, and then they deny me.  So I had to do it by phone, which they say will take 10 business days to get here.  I guess the waiting game for all of this begins.    

Hopefully she really knows what shes talking about via the "no 'current' delinquents and 'paid' collections"  because I hope this isnt all fo not.

---

I would actually be a bit concerned about the contents of my CR's. If your mom used your info for one thing (cell), she might have used it for other things as well (CC's, utilities, ???).

Those verification questions can be tricky. Your answer if you have never had a mortgage is "none of the above".  The problem with those questions is that if there is a mistake on your CR, and you answer the question with the correct data, it will not match.  I had to correct several wrong addresses and a wrong DOB from my CR's so I would not have that problem again.