The infamous "American Express Blacklist"... that wasn't.

[Anonymous]

     With my bankruptcy finally gone from my credit report, my FICO jumped to 802 for Transunion, 802 for equifax and 783 for Experian....approximately an 80 point increase each. I had claimed Discover, Chase, Bank of America, Citibank and two American Express cards, one being the  American Express Gold Card, included in my bankruptcy.

     During the ten years since my bankruptcy I regained a Chase card $10,500, a Discover Card $7,500, Citibank $3700. After my bankruptcy dropped off my credit report I applied and was approved for a Bank of America Visa for $7,500 and most surprisingly, an American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card which is on its way. So at least in my particular case, I was not on any American Express Blacklist even though I included them in my bankruptcy.     

When all is said and done, I now have excellent credit, top tier credit cards and zero debt.  More importantly, I've learned a valuable lesson and will never dig myself in such a hole again. For now.....life is good.

[Shogun]

Congrats!  You've had very good success at rebuilding.

[RaiseMyScoreASAP]

I have two unpaid AMEX balances from 1994. Those were long ago sent to collections, charged off and don't appear on any report. However, AMEX knows exactly how much money, the account numbers and so on for those long ago cards. The response was that if I applied for any AMEX product I would be denied because of the long ago charged off debt. I can certainly understand that. The AMEX agent did tell me that if I pay in ful (the original amounts not 20 years of interest) then AMEX will consider your application as it would any other. Then your income, credit score etc will be used. I have yet to test this out because I have one collection that will drop off in about 18 months. I probably wouldn't ever consider applying for an AMEX until I got a pre-approved letter in the mail or I was really sure I would be approved. Being declined for credit makes you feel less of a person. I know that having credit extended is a privilege and that it has to be earned AND maintained. The only thing that hurts more than being declined is the letter. If the rejection letter lists 10 reasons why you are a POS then that makes me sad. Yet, I am determined. It's like when someone tells me my **bleep** stinks. It hurts, but I know it stinks.

[myjourney]

Congrats that's an amazing story 

[pizza1]

Wow!!! I can't wait to have Amex again. I didn't burn them in Bk, but in 2007/2008 hit a rough patch and my acct got sent to collections for $781. I paid it in full 6mo later. 6 mo after that I got I got a letter stating they wanted me back, and sent me an approval for the Optima card with backdating etc... I didn't take it. Fast forward 6 yrs to now.... Had a bk7 in August. Never burned Amex really, except that time and it was pif 6mo later, but now with bk showing in reports, I won't get them for 10 yrs

At what point during your rebuild (how many years out) did you get back in with citi, chase??? I've never had a discover card, but when you reaquire them????? Congrats to you, and it was a long recovery! Glad you're back in!!!!

[compassion101]

How much were the charge offs? Since they have fallen off already, would it really be worth it to pay them off in order to have an AMEX?

[sjt]

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@pizza1 wrote:
Wow!!! I can't wait to have Amex again. I didn't burn them in Bk, but in 2007/2008 hit a rough patch and my acct got sent to collections for $781. I paid it in full 6mo later. 6 mo after that I got I got a letter stating they wanted me back, and sent me an approval for the Optima card with backdating etc... I didn't take it. Fast forward 6 yrs to now.... Had a bk7 in August. Never burned Amex really, except that time and it was pif 6mo later, but now with bk showing in reports, I won't get them for 10 yrs

At what point during your rebuild (how many years out) did you get back in with citi, chase??? I've never had a discover card, but when you reaquire them????? Congrats to you, and it was a long recovery! Glad you're back in!!!!

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From reading this and other boards, generally folks get back with Chase, Citibank, and Amex around the 7 year mark. There are some that get in around 5-6 year mark. I think the main criteria these banks look at is how much credit you have established, payment pattern, and especially utilization ratio. I also think the average score is around the 700ish mark and these folks generally have a mortgage.