CaptainABCD

You can always push a payment from your bank bill pay. True but why would I care? Based on past data, that lender usually posts charges in 2-3 days so I had expected to have plenty of time to send a payment in before statement cut. In this case, the first pending charge "fell off" and the new charge posted basically 1 day later so just bad timing but I don't care about 5 or 10 points anymore.

My one remaining unpaid state tax lien (not mine but that's another story) was dropped 4/16. TU FICO8 went from 708 to 760 per CCT. Finally 100% clean reports, although this past month my high utilization on one card was 28% instead of $3 because authorized user's charge cleared before they'd let me pay it off. So next month I should have the cleanest profile ever.

Ah, found the thread. Guess most MPX folks switching to C$R now, which I don't have due to lol/24.

That's unfortunate, but thanks for the update. I monitor FT but usually only the CC forums and not the UA forums. Will have to bounce over there and track the DPs down. Reddit was saying last week that it was still 5X but as slow as Amex is in posting rewards, it's hard to be timely.

Amex Platinum + MPX gets you 5X MRs plus 0.5 UA miles per dollar.

So you're getting 60K MR in exchange for just posting up a new account? Sounds like a pretty rocking deal to me -- also surprising that they jammed the offer down your throat this quickly. Guess Schwab Amex Platinum is on deck for March 2019 for you, now?

If you have a Discover card acquired in the past year, you can get a free EQ from them just by using their prequalify tool. They don't allow more than 1 card every 12 months, so just using the prequalify tool should deny you (SP inquiry) and show you your current EQ.

FWIW Amex has been letting people in with smaller starting limits of $500, $1000 or $2000. They may not give you a 61 day 3X CLI with the smaller limits because it's their version of the "Credit Steps" program but those do get a CLI at 6 months (typically 2X). I cold apped for BCP in November with no prequals and got $2000 and they 3X CLI'd me at 61 days to $6000 so my $2000 wasn't part of credit steps but my FICO EX was pretty low at approval (701).

I burned Chase with a CO product that was picked up by them days before it went DOFD and I never even knew they had it. Think it was somewhere in the 2007-2008 range. Last year they green checkmark approved me for CF and CFU so I snagged CFU -- $500 toy limit. Sits at $500 now, will be 1 year in May 2018. At this point, no more green checkmarks even though I am back in with every bank with decent limits (Amex $6K, Citi $7K). I am not holding out any hope for Chase especially considering I've banked with them since 1997, had multiple business checking accounts with them as well for 20 years (millions in revenue annually), etc. If they ever give me a green checkmark for CSP I'll snag it but honestly they're not all that much more special to me. I wouldn't get more than 1.5cpp with URs anyway since all my travel expenses ($40,000 a year) are non-airfare, non-hotel travel spend. I've moved on from them, and if they decide to change their mind, that's fine, but I don't really care.

$103,174 per household -- I assume this includes mortgages, auto loans? If so, doesn't sound all that horrifying. Average household income is $80,000 or so, a debt level of 1.25x HHI isn't that terrifying.

How did private individuals incur actual losses if this was fraud?

Awesome -- are you just putting all airfare on CSR or some loyalty card? I book a lot of travel for myself, family and even friends, so Platinum at 6.25% through Schwab is a no-brainer since I also never redeem loyalty miles because when I travel myself, I travel cattle cargo class. But 6.25% on $40,000+ a year in airfare is a no-brainer.

Did you snag the Schwab Platinum yet?

If you DV them how do you expect to negotiate a PFD if you've blocked them from continued collection activity? I don't like the DV as much as everyone else unless it's obviously not my debt or I know they have no claim to collect. PRA is professional, one of the most successful CAs in history -- and they're also known to sue and win lawsuits. It's not a typical JDB, but one with some knowledge of the law and how to use it to their advantage. I never had any actual interaction with them myself but I have had friends who did as well as data points online. Lots of PFD that worked but you have to saturate them with requests for it. Some folks tracked down the president's email address and PFD negotiated with him.

PRA will eventually accept PFD with relentless attempts. Email, fax, USPS them PFD requests. Make sure you have enough cash to cover the full amount in case they do want to sure. They're junk collectors but generally will just accept a PFD to get their 900% return on purchasing the debt cheap.