alexhb

Hey all,

Little background for you: I graduated college in 2012, while I was still in school I handled travel purchasing for my debate team (25k+ in spend every year for two years). I was getting targeted offers every week from Amex, Citi, Chase, Bank of America, US, Union, etc.

Right before I graduated I closed my oldest account, a generic Bank of America rewards card I opened when I was 18, because they refused to move to a no-fee card. Long story short, I went to Europe for two months and was disorganized and didn't make my final payment to BOA. The account was 3 months past due by the time I finally cleared it up in July 2012.

This January, I applied for MP Explorer card and was (unsurprisingly) denied because of the BofA debacle. Then this week, I received two targeted offers in the mail from Chase to apply for MP Explorer with 50k bonus miles after 2k spend, plus 5k for an additional cardholder and 10k after 25k spend. Each offer had a "invitation code" valid through early September.

Does it make sense for me to apply again? I had one hard inquiry in July for a new apartment, otherwise I have no inquiries since my last Explorer app. I have never been denied for a card after receiving a targeted offer (All of my current cards were targeted except Target :P), but that was before BofA. Is one year enough time to heal my credit?

alexhb

I currently have Chase Sapphire (5,000), Citi TY Premier (7,000), Target Red Card (2,000) and AmEx Zync (no stated limit, was PRG before requesting a downgrade). I understand CreditKarma is not perfectly accurate, but it is showing my TU score at 735/850 (down from peak of 785 in February 2012 but up from 660 in July 2012).

NewToRewards80

The app would be probably rejected due to recent baddie but you could always recon and explain the 3 month late and mention your good CSP usage. 65K offer have been targeted to many people and some have reported getting better one at branch.

rodsren

I think you have a chance. I have one 30 day late and one public record and chase at least moved 4lk freedom limit to a new BA with the 100k bonus offer from last Feb.

i suggest you Google 'chase visa reconsideration phone number' and perhaps call before you. apply and be very business like with them . You are young and have some credit already . The credit karma usually is lower than your average score for the 3 agencies. Due to the codes, etc. on your offer, chase may be using a Ctedit Repprt that possibly ( if you are lucky) does not have your BofA problem on it. If you want to make sure, I use a service for 29.05 a month ( many a free for fist 30 or 15 days , make sure you get one that has all 3 CR agencies AND scores. Creditreportecpert is the one I use. Darius at million mile secrets had an article on calling the chaser reconsideration line, it is spot on. If you can't find it PMesssge me and I will find it. I think these things said, your chances are a bit better than 50.50. Don't be afraid to play Russian roulette with the reconsideration line, if the person you are talking to is obviously not going to help , politely say you have to go and wait a minute and call back. It worked for me and now my BA balance is 127,000 and I waiting for a 2 for 1 Avios certificate ( BA visa being a chase product)

mnscout

You will not necessarily be denied, but what you should've done (and still might) was to fight the derag. Go to the BoA Twitter or FB page (explain what happened (be very polite and compliment them) and you do stand a good chance of those remarks being removed from credit reports. Good luck!

alexhb

Thanks for the tips guys. I just sent a direct message to @BOFA_help, let's hope something good comes of it. I never thought to call the reconsideration team before applying, or suggesting they take part of my Sapphire CL for the new card. I'll make a call later this week after I see how willing Bank of America is to work with me on the "baddie".

Are these offers basically sent to anyone with a MP account? I used to get a 2-3 letters a week offering me cards, but they've been few and far between since I moved from college. I was excited to start seeing offers again...

onthego15

These offers come from the marketing department, which knows nothing about your credit rating. And yes, these offers are common. And as others have advised you, do your best to get your credit report in better shape before you make any more applications.

sharka

Agree. These offers are sent without any guarantees of actually getting the card itself.
Data: I once got an offer in the mail for new Chase United Explorer card as I had closed the same card about 2 mths earlier. Thinking I have closed the card and getting this offer means a sure thing for getting United bonus again. I filled out the forms and mailed it out. About 2 weeks later received a letter in mail denied for already having the card already. Called to Recon but was told for new members only and wont budge on that even as I said I received a "prefilled" application in the mail saying I could get it.

rodsren

Re: wouldn’t budge on pre-filled app. Chase is tricky. If you have sapphire preferred (you state sapphire, so maybe you don’t) the MINIMUAL credit line on the preferred (an agent told me) was $5,000. In my experience, Chase does not like to deal with under 5K credit lines; so moving some over may or may not work. That would be last resort IMHO (but a resort nonetheless of course.) I guess you learned a lesson about being OCD about bill paying. Call immediately if a payment posts from a wrong account, is returned because other payments came in the same night, or you are late (recently I made a payment and it came out of the incorrect account and I didn’t notice it at the confirmation screen at Chase bill payment section), and thus there was not enough $ in the account and it was returned. I immediately sent a duplicate payment from the correct account, and once all was posted ok, I asked them for a one-time courtesy removal of the payment-rejected fee. Also, make sure your balances have been under 30-35% of total credit limit (my mortgage broker said under 10%) for at least a couple months before applying, as the utilization of credit is 35% of your credit score. Good luck with getting that 60-90 day thing removed at b of a. You may need to calla couple times and talk to different people just like the reconsideration lines. One person may be willing to bend where another will not. Finally, call during the day as often these companies have remote call centers in foreign locations, and in my experience these people are less willing to bend the rules to take off a late payment. Best of luck!

mnscout

Could you clerify it for me? Did you make a mistake or Chase?

oceandreamer

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but BofA is notoriously difficult and downright obstinate in refusing to remove any "legitimate" derogs from people's credit, regardless of reason. I know of at least 3 people with very good reasons (death in family, illness, etc...) that caused a 30 day late for them, and BofA simply would NOT remove them. At least one of them had substantial assets with them, too. Sooo....snowball's chance in hell, but good luck to the OP, nonetheless!

rodsren

trackpad on my MacBook Pro (that is my excuse anyways, but they give you a confirmation page and I am pretty sure I did it too quickly.) 95% I would say my mistake, but being pro active and replacing it immediately with the same 1,000 payment and they took off the bounced check fee, and said my interest rate would not increase. THANK GOD!

alexhb

Hey all - I know it's been almost a year since this post, but in case anyone is still interested in the outcome: I decided not to apply for the card and wait a few months. I have a small, free checking account at Chase, a few months ago I went into the branch to replace my damaged debit card. The banker I sat with said I was prescreened for Freedom and MileagePlus Explorer with a 70,000 bonus. I applied for the card with him and was approved for a 15K limit! I just saw the bonus hit my MP account - I'm glad I waited for my score to improve, and the extra 20,000 miles.

Thanks for your insights!