I know someone who had a charge off from both of these banks. One, he settled. The other, I have no idea how he did or did not resolve it. Providian sent him a preapproved visa gold with a 1k limit. I told him not to apply for it, but he did anyway. Of course they told him they regretted to inform him that at this time, they couldn't grant him the card. That should be illegal, shouldn't it? I didn't see anything in that letter stating that you couldn't have aprior delinquent account with them.
No it's not illegal, those preapproval offers are just lists of names that the banks get from the credit agencies, if you fit general description, like no recent BK etc, they sent them out in mass mailings, it is not until you apply that they run another report and check their internal records.
I believe it is illegal, in the sense the only reason the consumer agreed to allow them to pull a credit report, is because they misrepresented to him that approval is possible, depending on his credit worthiness; While he would still be denied, even w/ a 900 FICO score and a $1,000,000 annual income. This is true for all companies who shitlist past delinquent customers, use it as sufficient denial criteria and still make pre-approval solicitations to these people. But the fact it may be deemed illegal still doesn't mean the customer will be able to prove the amount of damage caused, to the satisfaction of the court. Saar
