Should I even bother?

[Anonymous]

Over 7 years ago, I lost my job and had no income. I fell behind on all of my credit cards. I had a Wells Fargo credit card, Chase Slate, Sears which was Citi Bank, etc. I went into collections with each and every single one of them.

I got back on my feet with enough income to start paying them about 3 years later, but I was told that at that point, I would be better off not paying them because they would all fall off of my credit report in another 4 years versus trying to pay them off and them staying on my credit for 10 years from my last payments.

So 7 years past from my first late payments and everything has fallen off. My scores are TU: 749, EQ: 751, EX: 769. I know they will go up once I pay off a $4000 balance on my Capital One credit card.

My oldest credit card is over 3 years old which is a secured credit card with Capital One with a $500 limit and $0 balance. After that I've been approved for a Capital One Quicksilver with a $11k limit and a $4407 balance, Amex with a $2k limit and $0 balance, Discover with a $4200 limit and $0 balance, PayPal/Synchrony Bank with a $5k limit and $0 balance.

My question is, will I ever get approved for another credit card with Chase, Citi or Wells Fargo? I would like to start rebuilding my credit with cards from major banks, just not sure if I should bother since I never paid off their rather high balances.

Thank you all in advance!

[K-in-Boston]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on your hard work rebuilding! The answer to your question is going to depend on each lender, as they will all have different criteria. It seems like some people have no problems getting back in with Capital One while ink is still drying on their court documents, but there are others that seem to take a long time to forgive.

[imaximous]

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@Anonymouswrote:
Over 7 years ago, I lost my job and had no income. I fell behind on all of my credit cards. I had a Wells Fargo credit card, Chase Slate, Sears which was Citi Bank, etc. I went into collections with each and every single one of them.

I got back on my feet with enough income to start paying them about 3 years later, but I was told that at that point, I would be better off not paying them because they would all fall off of my credit report in another 4 years versus trying to pay them off and them staying on my credit for 10 years from my last payments.

So 7 years past from my first late payments and everything has fallen off. My scores are TU: 749, EQ: 751, EX: 769. I know they will go up once I pay off a $4000 balance on my Capital One credit card.

My oldest credit card is over 3 years old which is a secured credit card with Capital One with a $500 limit and $0 balance. After that I've been approved for a Capital One Quicksilver with a $11k limit and a $4407 balance, Amex with a $2k limit and $0 balance, Discover with a $4200 limit and $0 balance, PayPal/Synchrony Bank with a $5k limit and $0 balance.

My question is, will I ever get approved for another credit card with Chase, Citi or Wells Fargo? I would like to start rebuilding my credit with cards from major banks, just not sure if I should bother since I never paid off their rather high balances.

Thank you all in advance!

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There's really only one way to find out. You have to apply. 

You could start by using their pre-qual pages to see if there may be something waiting for you. You might be pleasantly surprised.

But before you go on an app spree, figure out what type of rewards you're looking for and focus on that first. Personally, out of the 3 banks you mentioned, I have zero interest in Wells Fargo. They just have nothing appealing. Neither does Citi to me. My top choice would be Chase, and you could check this link to start https://www.chase.com/prequalified

If nothing comes up, it doesn't mean anything. You could still get approved without having an offer. Again, you're gonna have to try and find out for yourself. No amount of data or reading here is ever going to be 100% accurate in determining whether you'll get a card or not. Best of luck!

[DeeBee78]

Chase will forgive an unpaid balance, but they have a long memory. I know my mom burned them for thousands back in the late 90’s, but she was able to get two large limit cards from them a few years ago. 

[Anonymous]

I honestly dont like Citi, i feel a bit cheated on thier double cash card, as its advertised as 1 percent on purchases, 1 percent on payments, but its NOT. Its 1 percent on purchases AFTER payments are deducted/the billing cycle. So to get the most rewards, you literally have to wait for the bill to come due and pay interest if you want to get the "double" cash back you are advertised. They do seem pretty lenient though, so if you wanted to get back in with them you might not have any issues.

Wells Fargo I detest, their banking practices are straight up con artisty, my parents constantly had thier card "hacked" untill they purchased the premium account security pachage offered by wells fargo. After that, the hacking mysteriously stopped. They where even in the news recently for creating millions of fake accounts to meet quotas and a whole internal review/crackdown/resignations have taken place. With those crackdowns, they will probbaly be the hardest to get back into.

Chase i have heard is a very cautious lender, it could go either way. With the way your current cards are though, it wouldnt hurt to try. YOu might want to try to get in under a cobranded card like Amazons Chase Visa, its pretty nice to begin with.

[NRB525]

Regarding Citi Double Cash, you get 1% on the charge, and 1% when you pay the bill. That bill is due by a due date after the statement, but that does not mean you have to pay any interest. If you end up paying interest, it means in a prior month you did not pay at least the statement balance by the payment due date.

[Meanmchine]

With Chase, Im 7+ years from my chargeoff date and Im still on their blacklist. With
Chase tho, you can recon a denial and hopefully you have a good story to tell

Good luck

[HeavenOhio]

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@NRB525wrote:
Regarding Citi Double Cash, you get 1% on the charge, and 1% when you pay the bill. That bill is due by a due date after the statement, but that does not mean you have to pay any interest. If you end up paying interest, it means in a prior month you did not pay at least the statement balance by the payment due date.

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Just to add, if you redeem your rewards as a statement credit, that doesn't count as a "payment," and you don't get the second 1% on that amount. To get the full value of your rewards, it's better to redeem your rewards into a bank account and pay your credit card bill the way you would otherwise.

Also, when you get the second 1% depends on when you pay. If you pay before your statement cuts, you'll be rewarded during that period. Pay the statement balance after the statement cuts, and you'll be rewarded then. Drag your payments over several statement periods, and your rewards will be dragged out.

[Anonymous]

@Meanmchine
Do you mind me asking how much you owed that you're on their blacklist? I owed them about $8k when I was sent to collections. Also, is it still showing on your credit report?

I want to apply for the Chase Freedom Unlimited because of their 0% interest for 15 months being that I plan to move across the country in June. That would be very helpful because I don't like paying interest.

[Meanmchine]

It was about $1200 or so if I remember correctly. It fell off last spring,  I applied last May and was denied after recon. Only reason given was bad prior relationship.

Whats funny is that I had 2 old closed positive Chase accounts still showing