Chase Recon/Tips/Hope?

[Anonymous]

Thanks in advance for reading and your input.  I'm looking for tips for hopefully getting a recon w/ Chase or some input as to a different card to try for next...

History:

Filed for ch7 10/2008, discharged 1/2009

IIB - Chase (Auto Lease), Amex (no balance), BoA (credit card), Cap1 (credit card, no/very low balance)

Current Scores:

TU-735  Eq-736  Exp-? (haven't checked it)

Since before bk - student loans with Sallie Mae (now Navient) w/ best rate possible, never late, never missed, one of the loans paid off 7 years early, another loan is slated to be paid off 9 years early, assuming I pay it off this year as planned.  (I pay an extra ~200 on them every month)

CC since discharge: I've never had a secured card, I got a Cap1 card about 3 months out with a $500 limit and 7.9% rate (yeah, that low, and is still that low), it's since had automatic CLI a few times and is up to $5500 now and has been converted to a Quicksilver card.  I got a BestBuy credit card about a year or so after that with a $500 limit, they have since done auto increases and it is up to $2900, after that I applied for a few more and got the decline, so I waited it out, at about the 4 year mark I got a card from Barclays with a $1000 limit, through automatic CLI that one is up to $5500 now as well.

Other loans since discharge: 4/2009 - Toyota Financial  60mo@10% for a new car, I refi'd with someone else about 6 months later and got sub-4% with a 48mo term and paid it off in about 3 years.  4/2011 - I was approved for a mortgage w/ BoA at whatever the going rate was and bought a house 7/2011.  1/2014 - Auto loan w/ Chase with my wife on it as well (she had no credit and had only been working ~3 months, they wouldn't give it to her, so I was added as co-applicant, approved for 2.9% for 60mo) , 4/2014 - Auto loan w/ Harbor One (local credit union) 2.9% by myself, I over pay my auto loan, I've already knocked 2 months off the back end in over payment.

No late payments or anything since bk, credit report reflects that as well, everything is kosher with accounts reporting from before then.

So I applied for the Chase United Explorer card, figured it had been over 8 years since discharge, my record was clean otherwise, haven't had a single credit inquiry in over 2 years, utilization is always 15-20% or less (I pay statement balance monthly) and I got the denial, due to chapter 7 bankruptcy on the letter in the mail, no other reason.  They pulled Experian and the Experian score was taken to account and put through the 'chase calculator' they gave me a score of 701.

I called for a recon, first person told me ch7 is why, try back in 2 years.  

I called back for a second recon, the lady was much nicer, I was put on hold, questions were asked (never about the bankruptcy) mostly housing related the first time, then she came back and asked some income related questions, how much (our combined is over $175k) where it came from (full time, both of us), how long I had been at my current job (just over 5 years), who accounted for how much of the income(75% me, 25% wife), etc.  and came back and again said it was only being denied to the ch7 and that I should try back again in 2 years.  

I called for a 3rd recon, I got a different person, and it was the same story as the first one, no effort, have a nice day,

I was polite to all of them.  I'm starting to think that the lease that I burned them on is the reason they are denying me recon over and over, but they never brought it up or mentioned it to be the reason why.  Is it worth continuously going for the recon at this point or am I just wasting my breath?

Thanks again for reading and you input!

[Anonymous]

Welcome to MyFICO

Unfortunately I think at this point that you are going to have to accept the denial.  You have reconned 3 times and I like your persistence as too many people give up at the first denial but you're getting the same answer over and over.  It probably is a combination of the BK and the lease (just because they don't mention it doesn't mean that it's not an issue).  If I were you I'd wait 6 months/year and try again possibly with a different card to start with Chase.  The United card has a minimum $5K starting limit so you might have different luck with the Freedom cards for example.  Once you establish a positive payment with them, the approvals start to flow.  I wish you good luck and hope that you stick around in the forums.

[Anonymous]

If you have a banking relationship with Chase, make sure to scope out the "offers for you" section on your login.  If the checkbox is green, it is a pretty strong preapproval and some folks with more recent BKs got in that way versus cold apping.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Irish!  That is what my assumption was as well, I'm thinking because of their 5/24 rule that I would try for something else for now to get a card from one of the 'prime' banks or whatever you want to call them and wait it out the 2 years, let the inquiries fall back to zero and try again.  The second person suggested waiting out until the ch7 fell off and trying for a different card then.  I was targeting that card mainly for the miles, since I have to book my own flights when I travel for work and 99% of the time it's United, so it would be the most beneficial for me. 

I'm considering giving Amex a shot, they were IIB, but I had a $0 balance, the account was just closed, followed by Citi, the BoA.  I figure Amex will say no, and it seems recon with them is slim to none, I have tried getting Citi to convert my Best Buy Visa with them to a regular Citi card and they won't do that, but suggested applying for a regular card since I have been in good standing with them since they took over 3-4 years ago, and even though BoA was IIB, figure they might be an option since I have a long standing relationship with them (over 10 years) and a mortgage with them that has been in good standing.

Thanks ABCD - I'll give that a shot and see if there is anything there!