Guys, I just got off the phone with Citibank. First of all, the lady freaks out because I sumbitted two applications. Anyway, she said one was declined and one was in progress. I asked her how in the world could my application be denied. I have a 731 FICO Equifax, and they pulled Equifax. She told me the reasons for my decline was that I had too many inquiries and I had too high a ratio on my exisiting accounts. Here we go with this loan that turned out to be a revolving account. Regardless my DTC ratio is 46% on Equifax and I have 5 inquiries. Are they serious? I tried to explain these things to her and she did not want to hear it. Is Citibank that unwiilling? I have a 731 FICO, have never had a derog, and have never been late on ANYTHING. What exactly are they looking for? What can I do, anything?
My guess: It looks to them like you have high balances, and are looking for more credit. That equals a person in trouble. If you have an explanation (what's the loan that looks like a revolving account? Were all the inquiries applications for more credit? If so, did you get it?) you can ask for a manual review of your application. They do that.
Breeze, I explained both things to them, and here are the explanations: I took out a home improvement loan with Conseco (god help me understand why I did that) for $7500. I did about $23,000 in home improvements, and only wanted to front $15,000. The construction company set me up with this "loan" that turns out to be a revolving account with a 16 digit account number. Citibank tells me it's a credit card as far as they are concerned, and so do the CRA's. It's actually the one thing holding my scores down in the mid 700's. I just got off the phone from lighting those guys up and thanking them for screwing my credit. The inquiries are easy, I am refinancing my house. She said that the inquiries are "unmatched". I said well, as soon as my new mortgage tradeline shows up, they will be matched. I offered loan documents and everything but she didn't care. I called again and the second person was also unwilling to care. Bottom line is that the second gal told me I have too many inquiries period. Nothing else matters. I asked her why have an elaborate scoring system, which she took the time to explain to me, if having a couple inquiries throws you off the horse immediately. She said no more than 2 inquiries in 6 months is tolerated. I know that I have read threads by doing searches on people who have gotten approved through Citi with more than 2 inquiries. This is amazing to me.
You just have to wait, then IMO. There are some people who know more "magic" than I do about Citi reconsiderations. Perhaps they will show up and give some advice. I hear Citi responds favorably to planet feedback (also known as PFB) - try searching for both terms together, maybe you will find some pointers. I imagine their 0% for a year is netting them a lot of applications, LOL.
Thanks for trying. I will try PFB. I am just so ticked right now, I might just say to hell with Citi. It's not the decline, it's the total unwillingness to listen, and the attitude of the reps to boot. Makes me wonder why I want a Citi card anyway!
OK, really weird stuff now. I did a search on Equifax inquiries. Seems as though I have 98 inquiries on my report in total. That is hards, softs and pulls by me for my Equifax Credit Watch program. Seems as though EU inquiries are soft based on what some threads say, is this true? I went to the inquiries tab under my score and only 6 are there. 4 of the 6 are older than 6 months, and the rep told me I had 8 in the last 6 months. She told me to fax the paper in, so I did. Does this sound right, or do the EU's count?
Maybe you've already done this, maybe not. It's nothing very sophisticated but works quite often. As I've said before, it's luck of the draw with CSRs. Why? Mostly not because one is meaner than the other, but because of inconsistent training (and knowledge). Bottom line: call back and speak with someone else to plead your case.
Re: Re: Citibank is a JOKE! I called twice and got the exact same line from the CSR. I am going to give them a few hours to get this fax and then see what happens.
Re: Re: Citibank is a JOKE! Each CSR is probably making a notation that you called for a reconsideration and was denied. So, the next CSR is warned as to why you're calling and will probably not override the initial decision. I recommend that you contact the Exec Offices with a well thought out and argued letter explaing why you think your inquiries shoudl not count against you in their decision. I would not try the credit department anymore.
Re: Re: Re: Citibank is a JOKE! Marci, thanks. I cannot understand how I could have been declined......not in a elistist view, just in a logical view. Oh well, I can live without it for sure. I just did a search though, and people were getting Citi Cards with ridiculous scores and numbers of inquiries.
Re: Re: Re: Citibank is a JOKE! All lenders are tightening up. The subprime experiment (which many of the oldtimers here are graduates of) largely failed and the industry is very hesitant to take on various credit risks. So, keep this in mind when you see all the archived posts of 605 scores getting multiple Citi cards. That window has passed for many, but don't worry, there wil be several windows open to you with your excellent scores. If you hang around, you'll see folks discussing those windows eventually.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Citibank is a JOKE! Sounds good Marci, thanks again. I will hang around. Maybe some of these inquiries will start to go away at some point.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Citibank is a JOKE! Just a thought, it seems to be much easier to get a Citibank USA (Travelocity, Hilton) card than a Citibank NA card. (Platinum Select, Dividend, etc.) Just from my experience...
Re: Re: Re: Re: Citibank is a JOKE! Yeah, that's a possibilty, but they are two entirely separate issuers. Citi USA is not as well structured as Citibank.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Citibank is a JOKE! Well, I plan to call in the morning to see if they got my fax. There is no way I have 8 inquiries on my Equifax in the last 6 months unless they are counting code EU.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Citibank is a JOKE! Whatever you faxed, you need to e-mail to "Citibank, NA" via palnetfeedback. You want the executive offices to reconsider you, not the credit department.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Citibank is a JOKE! Marci, which code to use. There is a selection like ATM Fees, Other, etc. Which one makes it go to the right deptartment. I don't see Application Dispute or anything like that.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Citibank is a JOKE! Just called, they want 48 more hours to review. Off to PFB I go.
