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I just received a letter from american express saying I'm pre-selected to apply for AMEX Green.. My FICO Transunion is 698, Experian Plus is 639, Equifax is 638.I have about 68,000 in Student Loan Debt. I have a paid CO from Verizon for Final Bill discrepancy. That became a paid CO in June 2012. I have a a few lates with Chase and FPB from back in 2006, 2007 and one 30 day in 2010 with Express Charge. I've been vehemently working to have the CO taken off for the past 10 months and have had no success. I send a letter a week to Verizon. The other lates I've given up on becuase they either say they wont remove or don't respond to letters. The Chase was closed and will fall off next year and the FPB (oldest account 7.4 years) will have the late fall off next year as well. I also opened up a secured BOA card in December 12' for $400.00. I havent missed a payment. Plan to go unsecured in September 2013.
With that being said I was kind of surprised AMEX reached out to me. I applied online with the code provided in the letter, and within 15 seconds I was approved for the AMEX Green. Does that sound surprising to anyone?
On a side note, First Premier Bank is the WORST company to deal with once you have graduated from bad credit and are looking to get CLI's. The only thing they did was lower my interest rate to 11.9% . They charge 6.00 monthly servicing fees, annual fee, and the BEST is the 25% CLI fee. They only give CLI's once a year, and $200 is their MAX. What a joke. I've been a customer for 7.4 years and they wont budge on CLI fee or caps on CLI. I havent missed a payment in 6 years!!! The only reason I keep the account is because they are my oldest account and keep my average at a decent number. Otherwise, I'd dump them. They have no plan for customers who build their credit over time.
As of right now, I have a BOA secured( $400), A FPB ( $550), A Express Charge ($250), and now an AMEX Green (not sure of the limit yet). Any advice on where to go next? Maybe sit and garden for a while? let my BOA unsecure before applying somewhere else? I have 3 inquiries on my report as of now. Verizon, BOA and AMEX.
Personally, I would not apply for American Express given those scores. Even though they are FAKOs, I do not feel that you'd be approved at this time. Although, if you have a high income, or a great deal of investments, you might have a chance.
I stand corrected!
Congrats and welcome to the Amex family!
If you have money at hand, you can always increase the deposit on your BOA card. Beware, its an hard inquiry if you want to add money. Then you can cancel the FPB card. It is your longest tradeline, but it will remain on your credit report after termination so don't worry about AAOA.
What is your income? Your situation isn't as bad as it seems. Although its a collection, its already paid. And I'll assume that the amount isn't really high because I have verizon too. You can explain the collection during recon. On the other hand, the lates will kill you though.
Apply for the generic cards aimed at the general population, i.e. Chase freedom, Discover IT (heavily promoted right now), etc.
Also, if you're opted in for preapprovals, try the shopping cart trick for comenity cards.
If you're content with your lineup, head to the garden. Haha