So after getting approved on recon last week for PenFed's American Express, 9K SL after a flat out denial, I started thinking today...I wonder if there's any way they might be able to extend me a personal loan to pay off my existing loan with Avant at an exorbitant 36% interest rate. I know, I know, horrible. But I will say, they granted me the loan in February when I was at a 605 score and no one else would touch me. I knew the positive effect it would have on my utilization to pay off credit card debt and combined with the fact I had my only collection removed shortly thereafter I thought, well, no problem, I'll be able to refi out of that loan with my new 680 score. Little did I know at that time that Avant only pulls a new credit report after 9 months. I felt stuck and frustrated.
Fast forward to today. I called PenFed this afternoon. I explained they just approved me last week for an Amex and that I was interested in a personal loan to pay off my high interest loan. I said I understood that it'll probably be a new HP, and I was fine with that (PS they used the same hard pull from 7/1). I just wanted to see if they could help me. We chatted for a minute. She put the request through the system. Immediate decline. Before telling me that I warned her that my student loans weren't reporting correctly so the system may reject me. She said I'm way ahead of you! I just put your application from declined to pending and I'm going to take this to a loan officer to see if they'll grant you an approval. I figured she'd have to get back with me tomorrow. Nope! 5 minutes later she came back with an approval for the full requested amount, $11K, no proof of income required, nothing! Less than half of my current interest rate, no origination fee or PPP. They're mailing a check out today and should have by Friday! I'm in absolute shock it was so easy and they are saving me $250/mth to boot!! I normally hate Monday's. And after the synchrony madness on Friday, I've been more than a little grumpy. But this has more than made up for it!
i can't thank MF members enough for being so generous in sharing your wisdom and data points. I am truly thankful!
Started rebuilding 8/2015. Current Fico 8 Scores 9/17: TU FICO: 698 (from 646 3/15/16) | EX FICO: 689 (from 617 3/15/16) | EQ FICO: 670 (from 614 3/15/16). Discover Miles: $10K | Amex PRG | Amex BCE $2K | Amex SPG $2K | Citi Aadvantage $7K | JetBlue Plus MC $3.9K | Walmart MC $3.5K | Marvel MC $5K | NFCU CashRewards $15K | CareCredit $12K | PenFed Amex $9K | USAA Limitless Visa Sig $6K | NFCU goRewards $20K | NFCU Amex $10.4K | NavCheck $13.5K | Blispay $4K | QS $9.5K | Pier 1 $21.1K | RH $20.7K | JCrew $16.8K | Wayfair $4.9K | Pottery Barn $19.5K | Discover IT $4.1K | Nord. Visa Sig $22K | USAA Visa Plat $2.5K | Neiman Marcus $6.4k | Amex Delta Reserve $1k | Saks $15K | VS $2.2K | Target $1K | Macy's $25K | Bloomies Amex $25K| West Elm $12.4K | PP Credit (Comenity) $4.4K
and thank you for the reminder, I'll definitely add my data points to the thread! I know that's such an invaluable resource!