Reopening Bank of America CC

[BornSupercharged]

Back in 2011 I had racked up a huge amount of debt, and as a result my wife forced me to close almost all of my credit cards.

Among the closed was a Bank of America American Express with a 9.9% APR and 15k limit. I had it open since 02/2007 , and it was closed 04/2011. 

Now that we see the light at the end of the tunnel (we are on track for being CC debt free in 03/2015), I have been more keen on monitoring my reports and FICO score. 

I have NEVER missed a payment, NEVER filed bankruptcy, NEVER had a repo - etc. I have zero baddies at all. But my utilization was basically 60%. 

I say "Was" because we just paid it down so I'm now at 12%, I only have 9800 on ONE card left, in my name that is. The remaining debt is all on cards in my wife's name solely, cards she has had for around 10yr that we did balance transfers to. To reiterate, all of that debt and my 9800 will be paid off by 03/2015. We did the BT's to hers for the 0% interest offers to help us get the principal balances down.

Cutting to the chase, I realized it would be beneficial to reopen my BoA AMEX because the APR and limit are nice. It's also the card that has my remaining 9800 balance. So I called into the 24/7  1-800 number for BoA CCs, and I spoke with a lady who informed me that you have two years from the date the card was closed, to request it be reopened. But when she saw I still had a balance, she said that's even better for me because it overrides the two year rule - she said that as long as the card has a balance, I can always request it to be reopened. 

I did request the reopening, but was denied - I am thinking its because none of the cards we just paid off (8 of them) have reported a 0 balance yet, so my utilization when BoA pulled my credit is still around 60%. She said to call back in after those cards have reported to the bureaus that they are paid off, and she also mentioned to ask to speak to someone in (I think she said) credit services. I know it was credit *something*. She said they're Mon-Fri only, but they'd be able to give me more information on why it gets declined, IF it gets declined again. She was really urging me to speak with them so I think she knows they have more control than she does, as all she could do is submit the request. I get the feeling they might be better able to actually make it happen. 

My customer service experience with BoA was amazing, she even saw today was my birthday and told me Happy Birthday! Haha. 

So anyway, I wanted to make this post because I did a search on Google and didnt find much in the way of "is it possible to reopen a bank of america credit card?". I got my answer directly and hopefully someone out there will find this information useful. 

[BornSupercharged]

Okay, corrected information by calling the backdoor number:

- 90 days, not 2 years

- There are exceptions where they'll manually review your request for re-opening the account and they have to get their manager's approval to reopen it.

My rep did it manually after being declined automatically twice. She came back after about 10minutes on hold and told me that my score itself would have allowed the account to be reopened, however my total debt was too high so they would be unable to reopen it. 

But perhaps it's for the best because I did switch from BoA checking over to a local credit union because I was tired of the "Big Banks" getting my money. So now that I have NFCU, USAA, DCU and my Texans CU credit cards, I don't really even need the BoA card. I just liked the design of it to be honest, and it was a 6yr old account which would've been nice to have for my AAoA, but since its closed it will be falling off in 4 years. 

So to those who are interested, yes its possible to get a BoA CC reopened past 90 days but prepare to sweet talk your rep and even with that, they're not going to go out of their way to risk reopening your account if you have high amount of debt (I'm sitting on $49k in CC debt at the moment). Best of luck to all who try!

[benamaster]

Which of the backdoor numbers worked best? I've tried a few and have got shot down on the over 90 day issue.

[gpfirestone]

BOA blacklists customers.  You may have been put on the blacklist which will also result in a blacklist for any FIA card.  If this is the case, no matter how many times or what you apply for you will always get an automatic denial as well as the message that you can speak to a special department who will then tell you it is a business decision.

[benamaster]

I requested to speak with a manager the other day and finally received a call back from one today. After reviewing the account for a few minutes they were able to reopen it after being closed since 2009. So it is possible to have it reopened as long as you're persistent. It probably helped that the account had perfect payment history and was always in good standing when it was open.

[Florian1980]

I have exactly the same problem :-(
I try to reopen a CC which I have closed by myself in 2011.

Yhey told me they cannot reopen that Card as the terms since the closure have been changed and I have to apply for a new Card.

I alreay have two other Cards with BofA in good standing with in total 12500 CL, but kindly want my old Card back as wel, as this is my oldest

account and would improve the oldest account part in my Credit history and this Card have much better APR for balance transfer, purchases and cash advances.

I already tryed to reopen that Card last year and they told me it's not possible as the account was closed more than 90 days ago.

Rhight now, one year later, I tryed again and actually, the're telling me that the terms have changed and no longer with the 90 days :-(

Whats true exactly?

This account was in very good standing, too.

Does anyone know if I have a chance? I talked to reps at the regular customer service and also with a credit analyst.

[FinStar]

Once the account is closed, it is closed for good.  BofA is one of the few lenders that have the 90-day "window" policy of reinstatement.  In very rare circumstances it is possible that they can reinstate an account beyond the 90-day window (i.e. error on their part).  Unfortunately, looks like you will need to reapply again.  T&C change frequently and most lenders today do not skirt the issue with violating the Card Act.