Received new credit card in mail today from Chase, $10,000 limit

[Lindsay]

I received a new credit card from Chase today with a $10,000 limit. We have been delinquent on our account with $5000 limit since July! Their collectors call me 10x a day. When I talk to them, I tell them that we are unable to currently pay them. Obviously, I am not going to activate it or use it, but why would they send it? Our credit score is down to 520 and we are 90 days delinquent on all of our accounts except for mortgage and car. We plan on filing Chapter 7 the first week of November.

Either Chase is absolutely crazy, or this is some sort of a sneaky trick. Maybe they are thinking that we're going to file and they're trying to get us to max out this card so they can object and make us pay 30% interest for the next 20 years.

Has anyone else been seriously delinquent and received their credit limit upped and a brand new card sent? I know that a friend of ours filed BK on 3 different Discover cards and they gave him a new one within a year of discharge.

I'm wondering if they are trying to get me to transfer the delinquent balance on this card so it becomes non-dischargeable. These credit card companies have so many different tricks up their sleeves; I was just reading an AOL board filled with credit card horror stories and some of them are so awful. I don't ever want a credit card again!

[HeatherB]

Most pre-approved offers are like spam. They get a list of people and send them randomly. Chances are when they checked your name last, it came up with a nicer score. If you pay close attention the pre-approved offers usually state somewhere that it depends on your credit-worthiness and that if any changes were made to your credit report, they have the option of declining you the offer.

[Bandit]

They are probably just trying to get you to do a consolidation transfer thinking that will help. Don't be tempted. Or just to get you to apply so they can tell you NO.
I doubt they are thinking about making objections at this point.

I mean, that is how I would be thinking the same way you are but if you have not filed, well you know.......

Lindsay, I chuckled about the way you are thinking because that is how I was also recently when I got this silly offer from AMEX, AGAIN.

[Lindsay]

Heather, this isn't a preapproved offer, it's an actual credit card just like they send you when you apply. It has an activation sticker on it and terms of conditions leaflet and the privacy policy brochure. It's very strange and I'm almost certain its a trick of some sort, as why would they double our credit limit when we are deliquent by 90 days?

I wonder if creditors can tell by your credit report if you have assets or not or what your income is. We really don't other than a small amount of equity in our truck. I'm wondering if they know that we have no assets and are probably bankrupt and this is their way of trying to get us to roll our balance onto this new card so we won't be able to discharge it. It's extremely strange.

[HeatherB]

Oh! Sorry, I just assumed (I know, I know). That does sound a little fishy.

[magyar123]

Could be that your first and last names are very common and that their computer system mistakenly sent it to you, especially if on the same block where you live there is another person with the same name as yours. Just takes one processing clerk's data entry error.
Think of it this way: Assume your name is Jane Smith, and you live on 222 Whatever Street, but there is another Jane Smith on 232 Whatever Stree, and the card is supposed to be issued to the one on 232, but the data entry clerk mistakenly types 222 - you are getting that card.
In any case, shred the card.

[Lindsay]

We actually have a very unusual last name, my husband is a junior and the card has Jr. next to his name. I just put the card in the drawer and will not be activating it. I know that American Express sent me some sort of offer to get back into their good graces by rolling over the amount owed into a new card. But they just sent an offer, not an actual credit card. I bet when I call the activation number, there will be a shady collector on the other end trying to get me to make some sort of transfer deal. Chase has been the most creative collector so far, sending me lovely cards in gorgeous envelopes, wanting to help us out in our time of need. The next day after the beautiful greeting card arrived, they sent a letter saying that we could soon be sued and have the sheriff serve us and they hoped to help us avoid this "unpleasant experience."

[Bandit]

I get the kind of card offers you are talking about, with the card inside all the time. Just call the 800# & poof...magic money.
I have noticed I get them more frequently right after making a bigger purchase. Those companies have done this for years & watch patterns. You could be right Lindsay about your gutt feeling.
They do have patterns & watch patterns of our spending, who we pay what we pay, when we pay. .

I have never seen one that talks about the sherriff & unpleasant experience. Man, I hope my "loan OFFERS" do not turn like that.

[CindyLou]

once they roll ove your old balance with fees and alll the old card will almost fill up the new one!! Chase did that to me without my permission right before my discharge!!! Sent me a new card with double the credit line and transferred the old balance over with late fees, transfer fees, you name it fees, interested fees, crazy fees, etc etc.....Yes, it is a trick!! Does it say CHASE OPTION CARD??????

[jp2861]

If the terms are good, keep the card but don't activate it now. After you're discharged, try to activate it and see what happens.

[Cassiopeia]

If the terms are good, keep the card but don't activate it now. After you're discharged, try to activate it and see what happens.

LOL!

[Keebler]

Chase just bought my account from another bank and I think they're doing it to several right now.

There really shouldn't be a way to get a credit card in the mail without applying because I though it had been outlawed a while ago.

There's a chance that this card is being sent because an account you had with someone else has been transferred.

In my case, the account got transferred to Chase even though I hadn't paid since June. It left the other company as a closed account and now it's with Chase as a closed account -- with a lower interest rate and a higher credit line too!

If you had another account that got transferred to Chase and was still open, I think they'll send you new Chase cards and everything just like it was a new account.

Could that be it?

(Mine was transferred without any notice or warning! My first clue was when the first statement arrived.)

[leftyf]

Yeah, I know. Citi just sent me a credit card for $3,000.00 and I haven't paid on my $30,000 debt in 6+ months...strange? I think it was an old account that I never used. Scary stuff. I did wonder whether they were trying to tempt me...oh well, I kept it. I never called to activate it though and I don't plan to. It would be interesting to see if they activated it though.

[SinkingFast]

We actually have a very unusual last name, my husband is a junior and the card has Jr. next to his name. I just put the card in the drawer and will not be activating it. I know that American Express sent me some sort of offer to get back into their good graces by rolling over the amount owed into a new card. But they just sent an offer, not an actual credit card. I bet when I call the activation number, there will be a shady collector on the other end trying to get me to make some sort of transfer deal. Chase has been the most creative collector so far, sending me lovely cards in gorgeous envelopes, wanting to help us out in our time of need. The next day after the beautiful greeting card arrived, they sent a letter saying that we could soon be sued and have the sheriff serve us and they hoped to help us avoid this "unpleasant experience."

We got those too.

Our attny wanted to send notices to all addresses for our Creditors so I saved those and gave them to the attny.

Evidently it's a quite common technique. Sending out the nice "Greeting Card" type messages.

Is it supposed to make us feel better or more guilty???!!!

[kl030505]

We have not paid a dime to any of the credit cards since April of 2006. We get "pre-approved" credit card offers every single day. I just toss them, but I don't understand it at all. We have retained an attorney and will file CH 7 in the next few weeks, but I have no idea why they still send them. Every. Single. Day.