Bank account denied because of chexsystems score (but a clean report)

[jl4]

Hello my people,

We've run into a bit of an interesting issue. I bank with a local credit union, and have loads of products there (checking, savings, credit card, line of credit, auto loan) and as my partner and I start combining our finances, one of the tasks was to bring her into the fold and add her to my account(s) where necessary. 

So in order to do that, the credit union (BECU) has to pull ChexSystems. 

They did.

And they turned her down. He score was 0585, and their minimum was 0590 (ahah **bleep**!? 5 points? ) They gave us the response and it mentioned the reason for the score was (with my notes for context):

1. Current address change history (note: one change in 60 months)

2. No evidence of property ownership (note: we're renters, I've never owned property either)

3. No evidence of asset ownership (note: she's not the kind of person to own a boat or plane)
4. Non-derogatory public record history
5. Time since DDA inquiry activity (last inquiry before this event was March 2018)

Some other factoids:

- She's been with her current bank for a good 10 years

- There's nothing on her ChexSystems report besides the blob of info from LexisNexis

- BECU never turned me down and I don't have any of those things they mentioned, either, though I also don't have the LexisNexis blob.

What do we do? I'm stumped partially because LexisNexis doesn't even have info on my Chex report. Can we (she) dispute that section? 

I've seen in other threads the response of "go bank somewhere else." I mentioned the surface area I occupy with BECU because banking somewhere else is going to _add_ complexity in one column that we're trying to eliminate. 

Thoughts?

[Remedios]

Here are a couple of useful threads from others with similar experience as yours. 

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Personal-Finance/WTH-is-up-with-my-ChexSystems/m-p/5289348#M24623

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Personal-Finance/ChexSystems-Inquiries/m-p/5536979#M72115

[CreditCuriosity]

oh dont get me started with these people.. I bought a house and was penalized lol.. Other than that inquiries and been turned down by several CU's/Banks.. Long story short just sitting on my hands till i have lived at my new house for a year (shame on me for buying a house) and let some of the inquries age (while I was trying to figure out why i was being denied aka see house so tried a few local financial institutions).  No bad marks on my Chex's report at all other than inquiries and recently moving.  One messed up system IMO i understand if you write a bad check or what not, but moving really?  Inquiries fine i understand that to an extent.. Moving and Inquiries other than the obvious bad checks are the things they ding you on most on..   She will either have to find another place that doesnt use chex's or chill for awhile then try a later time basically.

Keep in mind I have approx 800 credit scores across the board as well..

[Remedios]

That first link CC is all about you lol

[jl4]

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@Remedios wrote:

Here are a couple of useful threads from others with similar experience as yours. 

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Personal-Finance/WTH-is-up-with-my-ChexSystems/m-p/5289348#M24623

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Personal-Finance/ChexSystems-Inquiries/m-p/5536979#M72115

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yeah I saw those. We're in a similar boat. We haven't even moved in over a year. Christ, I'm terrified to know what would happen if I was applying fresh, today. I'm pretty sure I don't even have enough info to score. 

We're going to pull her Lexis Nexis file to see what's up with the public record information. Fat chance it'll be anything useful, though. 

Also considering calling the corporate office and making a stink based on them taking the lazy way out (trusting a known flawed score), but I doubt that'll do much. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Remedios]

Chex seem terribly bothered by even a single address change

Out of curiosity, have you reached out to BECU to see if there is anything you could do directly with them to make them reverse the decision

Do you know what they meant by "Non-derogatory public record history"? 

I recently requested copy of LN report, and it was five  things on repeat for 150 pages, nothing was incorrect, but nothing in there, also. They seemed bothered I dont own a boat or a plane. Extra shrug. 

[Anonymous]

My friend was denied based on chexsystems when she applied online but was approved when she applied a few weeks later in the branch in Everett. Did you apply online?

[Anonymous]

Remedios ... great post! Often wondered about savings and you found the info! Appreciate it ...

[jl4]

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@Remedios wrote:

Chex seem terribly bothered by even a single address change

Out of curiosity, have you reached out to BECU to see if there is anything you could do directly with them to make them reverse the decision

Do you know what they meant by "Non-derogatory public record history"? 

I recently requested copy of LN report, and it was five  things on repeat for 150 pages, nothing was incorrect, but nothing in there, also. They seemed bothered I dont own a boat or a plane. Extra shrug. 

---

So the information I originally posted came directly from the summary BECU generated for us when we went in the branch (@SnowMountain you had asked about that). They decided exclusively based on the score (also from that same report). What I shared was verbatim the reasons for "why the score was the way it was." 

They have a hard policy (read: cut off) of 0590 and don't do "second-chance" style accounts so if it's below, it's a no-go. 

We'll find out in a week or two what's on her LN report. I'm not opposed to disputing its contents, either. 

We'll also likely go back in a month or two and try again; if they put up the same resistance, we'll ask to speak with a manager. I would think they could pull the entire file and see nothing derogatory on said file. Does that seem like a conversation that's worth having with them?

[Remedios]

I think that's a conversation worth having. There is nothing to lose by having it anyway. 

See what's in LN report first, tho. Maybe it's something a simple dispute will resolve.

I really hope it all works out for you!