Amex F/R Master Thread

[daganster]

I canceled two cards, since it would be difficult to prove my income, and I'm left with the Gold Amex.
On the other hand, my wife, whom still has 3 Credit Cards with Amex, could prove her income it's just a pain in the rear end.
any suggestions, ideas, comments please let me know; I'm not sure if I should just close them all or maybe fight.

[al613]

No points to fight. you will probably loose either by loosing the accounts or having credit lines reduced. Both reflect negativly on your credit score. Also, if Amex closes your accounts and not you, you might not be able to open new Amex for a year or two or more. When you close yourself, no blackmarks anywhere and in couple month you can be deriable new customer.

[bens]

I got my wife through the financial review with ease... It all depends on what flagged your account and how you deal with them.

They dont want to hear you arguing how you make $500,000 but have no documents to prove it.... just be honest nad say you made a mistake in your app.

In my wife's case she applied for a business starwood and wrote she earns $150,000....

I told them its a brand new business, she just graduated school and has no tax returns, or any of the other paperwork on anything. they said "OK fax in a copy of your bank statement" I said it will only show a balance of $4,000, they said it was fine.

done deal!

[al613]

I also have a friend who said that he just came from overseas, no W2 for last few years etc. They have limited his "no limit" Gold Amex to $700 credit a month and let him have it. Can work, but risky.

[mancunian]

is there a reason no one posted this link? http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/2537

They dont want to hear you arguing how you make $500,000 but have no documents to prove it.... just be honest nad say you made a mistake in your app.

thats real honest

[steve2]

They dont want to hear you arguing how you make $500,000 but have no documents to prove it.... just be honest nad say you made a mistake in your app.

In my wife's case she applied for a business starwood and wrote she earns $150,000....

 Thats part of the problem although there are those right out of school that do get very nice 6 figure jobs, most dont and that triggers the Red Flag that things arent on the up & up. A yr ago or so it wouldnt have mattered

[bens]

is there a reason no one posted this link? http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/2537

thats real honest

Dans post is about how to avoid the review, this thread is about what if it happened already!

Although Dan says to close you AMEX account, my experience showed me that it can be easy to fight.

Everyone has different financial situations, depending on your situation, you can decide to fight or not. 

[al613]

Dans post is about how to avoid the review, this thread is about what if it happened already!
Although Dan says to close you AMEX account, my experience showed me that it can be easy to fight.
Everyone has different financial situations, depending on your situation, you can decide to fight or not. 

Dan's post is completly correct and current. There is only one reason you should fight it - if your credit is so bad, that you would not get new Amex in couple month. Otherwise, it's not worth the risk of blackmark on your credit report.

[daganster]

I closed all of my accounts thus I'm going to close my wife's accounts.
Just approved for my third chase CC with a 25,000 credit line.

[flyer11204]

the best lie is thr truth! send in the tax fourms ad they'll give you a small limit

[daganster]

I closed my amex accounts proceeding a Financial review.
Does anyone know how long do I have to wait in order to reapply for an amex?

[Dan]

I closed my amex accounts proceeding a Financial review.
Does anyone know how long do I have to wait in order to reapply for an amex?

Try after a few months.

[txtmax4]

Hey Dan,

On August 12th, 2007 under the topic "American Express Financial Review-What Is It And How To Avoid It…" you wrote:

-NEVER utilize over 50% of the credit line of any of your AMEX cards.
If you have a Starwood card with a $10,000 limit, never have a balance of over $4,999, even if you pay it off every month on time.

My question #1 is:
What about if you use more than 50% of your CL and pay it off before the statement closes?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You also wrote:

What if you do get hit with a financial review?
Immediately call up AMEX and ask to close down every one of your accounts.

My question #2 is:

In my case, I requested a CL increase from 12K to 36K and was told that I won't get approved for the CL increase (or for that matter, any other CL increase requests) until I send back those papers, from that I understood, that (hopefully) they won't bother me as long as I don't try to higher my CL. So technically I'm FR'd but only for credit limit increase...
Now, in the event that they do go after me even without me pursuing the CL increase will I have a chance THEN to close down my account?
Or once they freeze my acct. I can no longer close it myself?

Thanks so much for all your help.

[Cholentfresser]

Why would you name your post "Question for Dan"? why don't you mention what you're talking about in the subject?
Also, there are many people out there on the forum with a ton of knowledge in credit cards etc., i'm sure someone can help you aside from Dan. Dan is a busy person... (if Dan wants to answer, he'll chose to.)
 

[txtmax4]

I only trust dan

[Cholentfresser]

I only trust dan

if you write "a question for dan", no one will try to answer your questions. Dan might answer if he has a chance.
if you don't write "a question for dan", people will try to help you. Dan might just be the one, if he has a chance...

Whatever floats your boat...

[moish]

I only trust dan

awwww.... so touching

[Dan]

I only trust dan

awwww.... so touching

You guys are too funny 

There are plenty of qualified people on this forum to answer questions, no need to call me out, lol.

If your credit limit is $10,000 I would recommend paying off the credit card multiple times per month so that you are never actually over 50%.  But you should also not prepay so that you have a large prepayment credit.

Asking for financial info to get a CL increase is not the same as a F/R.  You'll still have a chance to close down the accounts yourself if you are FR'ed.

[Cholentfresser]

You guys are too funny 

There are plenty of qualified people on this forum to answer questions, no need to call me out, lol.

ahhah

[SuperFlyer]

ahhah

Apparently (from good source), logging in online very often to check your statement/balance with amex isn't a good thing, as they keep track of it (no the customer support don't know about it), but it shows to them that you are nervous about it.