Should I try Amex Oasis program?

Anonymous · ‎02-19-2009

Generally, I have an excellent credit reporting history. The one time I knowingly screwed up (due to extenuating life circumstances) was with my Amex Gold. I had a $15K balance and was paying it down, but then went over 90 days without payment. They sent the account to NCO (Jan. '06) and I agreed to pay them $800 a month until the balance was paid off (7/07). Afterwards, I received an offer for an Optima card. At that point, I still had $7K in other debt I wanted to pay off and didn't understand what the Oasis program was or how it worked, so I never got the card. I didn't realize how much this would help me at the time. My question is, can I/should I call Amex and see if I can still get the Optima. The delinquency is reporting as two different items on my report (not sure why 2) with a status of Paid Charge-off.

The Optima offer did say it expires 9/2007. Will I still be able to get it? Is it worth trying? Will this fix the two bad Amex items on my CR? My payment history since this account went bad is perfect...however the only other problem is that I do have a Satisfied Judgment for a debt that I didn't even know about from NYS that I paid in full in Jan. '08.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?message.uid=441981#U441981

Will that affect my ability to do Oasis? My Equifax score is currently 682.

Thank you SO much for your help!

Message Edited by vabchgrl08 on 02-20-2009 11:11 AM

Message Edited by vabchgrl08 on 02-20-2009 11:12 AM

Red1Blue · ‎02-19-2009

Call and find out. It is worth it if they give you one.

manyquestions · ‎02-19-2009

@Red1Blue wrote:
Call and find out. It is worth it if they give you one.

+1

It does not hurt to try. If they say no, since your CO with them are paid, you could apply for a Green or Gold charge card. They seem to be tight with the revolving accounts and loose with the charge cards lately from what people have been posting for approvals. Getting a charge card, with the backdating to the original opening date of your membership, could be worthwhile if your original card was old and that date could add age to your reports. A few people have reported being able to get AMEX paid CO removed with goodwill letters and such. Some have disputed the old accounts because they were reporting strange amounts, and had them drop that way. Once AMEX has been paid, they don't seem to care that much if the old paid CO remains on your account. Of course, Your milage may vary.

Anonymous · ‎02-20-2009

Rememeber AMEX is a bit nutty though. I got a pre-approved green card (charge) e-mail and I app'd and was declined for not haveing enough credit history. Cost me a nice hit for nothing. So remember YMMV.

Anonymous · ‎02-20-2009

Thanks for the info.

I called Amex today and got the run around - they said apply for another card (which I'm afraid to do only b/c the judgment). I also called the guy I dealt with at NCO, who was always VERY nice and he said he would try to help me get another application for Optima and would call back in a few days. He looked up my account and remembered me from a few years ago. I know NCO is supposedly nasty but that was not my experience with them at all.

Now one other thing...I checked my original letter from NCO (dated May 2006 - not Jan like I previously thought) and I actually owed them $11,863. $8,129 of that had been on a flexible pay option and the rest was due immediately. The weird thing is, my credit report is showing 2 lines from Amex, one for $8,129 and one for $6,191 and says the first delinquency wasn't reported until 8/2006 on both and Date of Last payment is 12/2006 on both, when in fact I didn't stop paying until 7/2007. Why all the discrepancy? Is there anything I can/should do to deal with that? I assume the 2 lines hurt more than 1, and I'm not sure why it shows as 2 because it was all under the same account number?

Thanks again!

Message Edited by vabchgrl08 on 02-20-2009 11:20 AM

Message Edited by vabchgrl08 on 02-20-2009 11:26 AM

Red1Blue · ‎02-20-2009

See what NCO offers you first. If they can get you the approval letter then you are golden. As per your two lines you can call and talk to Amex Credit Reporting department. They have a department that exclusively deals with credit reporting issues. You can talk to them or send them a good will letter to remove the negative information and see what happens. I know NCO could be bad, but not when you are dealing with Amex account. They are very courteous and treat you with lot of respect. I have to give them a + for that.

Anonymous · ‎02-22-2009

Hopefully, I'll get a new Oasis offer, but if not, does anyone have the address of where you send the Oasis application? I still have the old application, but don't have the envelope with the address on it. An Amex rep said I could try to send it in to see if they'll still take it. He mentioned that it was likely in Salt Lake City, but he couldn't give me the address.

Also, if I can get Oasis, will it repair my negative TL or will it just start a new one? I feel like I've read posts and it seems to go both ways? If it's not going to affect my old tradeline, what's the advantage of Oasis over applying for a new card and then sending in a GW letter?

Thanks again!

Red1Blue · ‎02-22-2009

If you have old application, your best bet is to call the NCO and ask them for the address. I am sure they would gladly give it to you. Yes, they are located in Salt Lake City. I dont remember the address, it is been more than a year since I sent my app. Remember, it is handled by an entirely different group in Amex and the regular application processing CSR's would not know any thing about this app until your card account is posted. I hope you would get the card. It will help you a lot. Yes, once you get your oasis card, you can ask them to remove all the negative information your CR's. They have a seperate department that deal with credit agency reporting issues and you can deal with them directly. Good Luck.

Anonymous · ‎02-22-2009

Have you tried calling either of the following numbers? 800-879-4358 or 877-889-5892

Those are the numbers I used when paying off my old Amex debt and applying for the Optima. They should be able to give you the address to send the app to.

Good luck, and keep us posted.