What To Do If You Are Blacklisted In The ChexSystem?

 

If you have negative information on your ChexSystem report, it can seem very frustrating.

You are often unable to open a bank account at your desired financial institution and you might be turned down for other benefits as well.

 

 

If you find yourself in that situation, here are three things that you can do to help you through until the information has cleared from your report (usually around 5 years).

Tip #1: Ensure the bank gets correct information. If you have false information in your ChexSystem report, contact them to have it corrected or removed. Additionally, if the debt in the report does not state “paid in full”, then obtain a letter from the financial institution stating that it was indeed paid in full and present that letter to your new bank. Finally, it might help to add a personal statement to the ChexSystem report explaining the situation.

Tip #2: Search for a bank that does not use the ChexSystem as a screening for its new applicants. However, if you think you have found a good bank, call them up before applying and ask if they use the ChexSystem. If they do use it, you should not apply since it will add another inquiry into your ChexSystem report and you are likely to be declined.

Tip #3: Talk to your bank and ask if they have any “second chance” checking accounts that you could open.

Many banks will allow people with a negative history to open limited checking accounts while they reprove themselves.

 

 

Conclusion

While it is not pleasant to have negative items on your ChexSystem report, it is also not the end of the world. Now that you are aware what is in the report and how long they are able to maintain that information, you will better understand how to fix the situation. And even if you cannot remove the negative information from your report, there are banks around that will still give you a checking account – you just need to call around to find the ones that will work best for your situation.