Establishing credit!

[Big Papa Zone 93]

Bank accounts don't report to the credit reporting agencies unless you have a credit card with the bank or a loan through that bank. So adding her to your bank account does not establish any credit history. Direct deposit won't give her a credit history either. Please read my earlier post. Get her on your accounts which are of three different types...meaning an installment (car loan, mortgage, personal loan), a revolving (a credit card account), a department store. This doesn't mean that you have her apply for these. It means that you need to contact your lenders and credit card companies and ask them what paperwork you need to have her fill out so that she is added on to YOUR accounts. After this is done, and you have made about 6 months of payments, if you check her credit (from the 3 major credit reporting agencies) she will have an instant credit history without having to apply for anything. If your payments are on time and you only add her to 3 account types like I mentioned, her credit score in 6 months will be in the 700s meaning she will have an A credit score

You seem to know what you're talking about, so how long will it take me to get a decent score with just the store card and credit card?

[JillA 2]

I was just approved for a Capital One mastercard, small limit but a good start anyway! I even put myself down as a homemaker since I have yet to find a job and I was still approved.

[rheanick 42]

Start Slow

Add her to your bank account, have a Joint Bank account.

Add her to your credit cards, she will have a card in her own name.

Add her to the mortgage Loan, that way both name will appear on the credit report

Once you do these steps wait a couple of months or so then ask her to apply for a Mayc's store card, and make sure as with the credit cards you make your payment on time, better yet pay off the balance each month that way you don't have to pay finance charges.

Since she's working ask her to get direct deposit of her paycheck, before you know it, the bank itself will start sending out credit card offers.

My wife went from 0 to over 700+ credit score in less than a year following these steps.

Did all that except mortgage. Don't have one. Lats report Capital One came today saying she has no credit history. We have 2 credit cards together and cards in her name and has for over a year.

She does direct deposit and makes 30K plus. We'll try the manager and see what happens. I've had accounts there for 20 years. I'll threaten to pull themk if they don't come thru!

Why dont you try bank of America with their secured card?

It would be best if you are with your wife when she opens her account with BofA.

When i opened my account in bank of america, my husband was with me. On that same meeting, BofA asked me if i'm interested with a secured card.

[SWA2 1]

How does a immigrant go about establishing credit.

Looks like banks have put a stop to giving peeps credit cards easily.

I'm trying to get my wife a credit line of any kind. So far alls she gets for a reply when filing for a card is "No credit report".

She has a GOOD job as a CNA and makes about 30K a year.

Where can she start?

She has credit cards with my accounts but I guess that don't count!

I did what you did - put her name on my Visa account. After her card arrived she went to Macy's with a friend and presented her new card for a $20 purchase. The first thing they told her is they would give her 10% off if she applied for a Macy's card. My wife, little Miss Thrifty, immediately applied. A week or two later she goes to Kohl's and hands the clerk her Visa card. "15% off if you open a Kohl's account." Now she has a Kohl's card. A couple of months later I go to the Credit Union and they're printing out free credit reports for customers. I discover my wife has a credit rating of 720.

[Big Papa Zone 93]

Anyone wanting advice on this whole credit-building thing, might want to check this site out:

www.myfico.com

Loads of info here (including a good old forum!)

[kaffy 2]

Lats report Capital One came today saying she has no credit history. We have 2 credit cards together and cards in her name and has for over a year.

Did you add her as a supplementary card holder or a joint account holder?

If you added her properly as a joint account holder the credit will be reported in her name.

My husband has a credit card with Chase and he rang them up earlier this year to get me added on as a joint account holder. They sent me paperwork which requested my SSN, employment details, signatures, etc. This is different to adding a supplementary card holder which is usually done over the phone and does not require any paperwork.

It has been about 5 months and it shows up on my credit report. And since it's a long standing account, it improves my average credit history length which in turn improves my score.

Edited May 7, 2009 by kaffy

[trailmix 77]

Bank accounts don't report to the credit reporting agencies unless you have a credit card with the bank or a loan through that bank. So adding her to your bank account does not establish any credit history. Direct deposit won't give her a credit history either. Please read my earlier post. Get her on your accounts which are of three different types...meaning an installment (car loan, mortgage, personal loan), a revolving (a credit card account), a department store. This doesn't mean that you have her apply for these. It means that you need to contact your lenders and credit card companies and ask them what paperwork you need to have her fill out so that she is added on to YOUR accounts. After this is done, and you have made about 6 months of payments, if you check her credit (from the 3 major credit reporting agencies) she will have an instant credit history without having to apply for anything. If your payments are on time and you only add her to 3 account types like I mentioned, her credit score in 6 months will be in the 700s meaning she will have an A credit score

You seem to know what you're talking about, so how long will it take me to get a decent score with just the store card and credit card?

This is what we have - jointly - store card and 1 credit card. It took us less than a year to get an excellent credit score.

[rheanick 42]

Lats report Capital One came today saying she has no credit history. We have 2 credit cards together and cards in her name and has for over a year.

Did you add her as a supplementary card holder or a joint account holder?

If you added her properly as a joint account holder the credit will be reported in her name.

My husband has a credit card with Chase and he rang them up earlier this year to get me added on as a joint account holder. They sent me paperwork which requested my SSN, employment details, signatures, etc. This is different to adding a supplementary card holder which is usually done over the phone and does not require any paperwork.

It has been about 5 months and it shows up on my credit report. And since it's a long standing account, it improves my average credit history length which in turn improves my score.

Thanks for sharing this. This is a good advise.

[Yader&Sarah 0]

We went to a local place (St. Louis) that helps low to middle income people build assets and they also do credit counseling: Justine Petersen/here

It was a great way to learn about how to start from scratch for credit building, good advice for me too!

They said he needed three sources of credit.

They mentioned secured credit cards, they also have a credit builder program.

They suggested that I add him as a joint use (not authorized user) on one or two of my credit card accounts. Even if its just a store credit card. The important thing is to make monthly payments, and on time. So, for example, he's now on my gap card, and we have a balance of 80$ and we pay 10 a month. easy. I also put him on my citi card. And make sure you dont carry more than 2/3 of your credit limit.

If you have something like this in your community, definitely worth looking into. Very helpful. We are also going to do the first time home owner counseling, because I'm worried about how his credit/lack of and status will translate into buying a house together.

[SnME 3]

Pardon me for saying it, but ALL of you that responded to this thread are idiots... You ALL worship at the 'alter of FICO' and are 'slave to the lender' IMHO...

Does anybody here care to explain how paying interest for the 'priviledge' of borrowing money is the same thing as throwing money away or burning it? (you could have just saved up for the puchase and spent less)

Does anybody here care to explain how you CAN STILL BUY A HOME with NO credit history if you have a reasonable down payment, employment history and proof of timely rental payments... (It is called 'Manual Underwriting BTW...)

Does anybody here care to explain how you CAN STILL BUY A CAR with NO credit history if they hold the car title as collatoral???

CAN anyone here explain how good it is to go to sleep at night, KNOWING that you have NOTHING that can be 'repossessed' by the lender??

CAN anyone here explain how having an 'emergency fund' CAN and WILL prevent little 'bumps in the road' from causing grief???

Simple rules here people... LIVE on less than you earn, SAVE for a 'rainy day', and LAUGH at broke people that have not figured it out yet...

This stuff is in the Bible also... "Slave to the lender" and so on...

[kaffy 2]

Excuse me for being so ignorant but doesn't your FICO score affect the interest rate you get offered?

higher score = lower rate = less paid in interest = more money saved over time, and vice versa... or at least that's what I heard

[SnME 3]

Excuse me for being so ignorant but doesn't your FICO score affect the interest rate you get offered?

higher score = lower rate = less paid in interest = more money saved over time, and vice versa... or at least that's what I heard

Yes it does but you CAN still get a great rate with no FICO score if the lender does manual underwriting and you have the required down payment, employment history, etc.

I have not had to 'borrow' any money in about 10 years. I still have some of my old credit card statements and stuff and occasionally I look back at them and see how much I got charged in interest every month... Makes me sick to think about how much money I wasted on interest payments because I was not patient enough to save.

[DEDixon 39]

Pardon me for saying it, but ALL of you that responded to this thread are idiots... You ALL worship at the 'alter of FICO' and are 'slave to the lender' IMHO...

Does anybody here care to explain how paying interest for the 'priviledge' of borrowing money is the same thing as throwing money away or burning it? (you could have just saved up for the puchase and spent less)

Does anybody here care to explain how you CAN STILL BUY A HOME with NO credit history if you have a reasonable down payment, employment history and proof of timely rental payments... (It is called 'Manual Underwriting BTW...)

Does anybody here care to explain how you CAN STILL BUY A CAR with NO credit history if they hold the car title as collatoral???

CAN anyone here explain how good it is to go to sleep at night, KNOWING that you have NOTHING that can be 'repossessed' by the lender??

CAN anyone here explain how having an 'emergency fund' CAN and WILL prevent little 'bumps in the road' from causing grief???

Simple rules here people... LIVE on less than you earn, SAVE for a 'rainy day', and LAUGH at broke people that have not figured it out yet...

This stuff is in the Bible also... "Slave to the lender" and so on...

Though you didn't say it so nicely, I agree with you. I didn't know about the manual underwriting. I owe nothing to no one except for my mortgage. I have gotten carried away on the "emergency" fund, it used to be that 10K made me feel good, but I'm way passed 10K these days and I still feel a little insecure. I guess it is the current state of the economy.

I just don't know how a lot of people sleep with all the debt they have. When I see people driving a new car I don't see success or think they have lots of money, I see debt and a lose (new vehicles lose 40% of their value in first 4 years.... better to buy a high end 5 year old car... high end cars depreciate less).

With all that said, I don't necessarily think that those who posted on this thread are debt hogs. It seems they just want a good score for, I hope, a future home purchase, not a new car purchase or a flat screen TV purchase.

By the way, it is okay to finance the purchase of a 5 year old car, don't shy away from it. The reason is that starting with the 5th year, cars depreciate at a steady pace of around 3% to 4% a year. Supposing that you get a low interest rate on the used car, paying 7% interest and losing 3% to 4% in depreciation a year is a lot better than the alternative new car purchase. In the case of a new car purchase, you lose 10% per year on average (something like 15% first year, 12% second year, 10% and then 8%) all the while you are also paying payments and tires and higher insurance because the car is new. The worst thing about the new car scenario is that the "new-car-buying-folks," after they've lost the absolutely most they can in the first 4 years, get bored with the car, trade it in and encounter the lose all over again on another car. Imagine what all those lost dollars... car after care after car could be doing for your 401K plan or a savings plan or even family vacations filled with photos and memories that will last forever.

[featherB 1]

Pardon me for saying it, but ALL of you that responded to this thread are idiots... You ALL worship at the 'alter of FICO' and are 'slave to the lender' IMHO...

Does anybody here care to explain how paying interest for the 'priviledge' of borrowing money is the same thing as throwing money away or burning it? (you could have just saved up for the puchase and spent less)

Does anybody here care to explain how you CAN STILL BUY A HOME with NO credit history if you have a reasonable down payment, employment history and proof of timely rental payments... (It is called 'Manual Underwriting BTW...)

Does anybody here care to explain how you CAN STILL BUY A CAR with NO credit history if they hold the car title as collatoral???

CAN anyone here explain how good it is to go to sleep at night, KNOWING that you have NOTHING that can be 'repossessed' by the lender??

CAN anyone here explain how having an 'emergency fund' CAN and WILL prevent little 'bumps in the road' from causing grief???

Simple rules here people... LIVE on less than you earn, SAVE for a 'rainy day', and LAUGH at broke people that have not figured it out yet...

This stuff is in the Bible also... "Slave to the lender" and so on...

Pardon ME for saying, but credit and debt are not the same thing. Credit does not equal debt, and does not need to unless you are, um, a little lacking in self-discipline. I have a ton of available credit, no debt (other than my mortgage) and pay no interest (again, other than on my mortgage) to anyone. I didn't respond to this thread, but I would have done had I seen it earlier. And I don't consider myself an idiot, although you're more than welcome to.

There's a lot of misunderstanding about what it takes to build and maintain a good credit profile. And the belief that you need to spend money unnecessarily, pay interest and get yourself into debt seems to be a very common one. Sure, it's possible to buy a car or a house with or without the kind of credit profile that lenders like to see. But why would you want to, if you have the option to do otherwise? I think calling any new immigrant to the US who wants to start building up good credit an "idiot" is more than a little unnecessary, not to mention 100% wrong.

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

There's a lot of misunderstanding about what it takes to build and maintain a good credit profile. And the belief that you need to spend money unnecessarily, pay interest and get yourself into debt seems to be a very common one. Sure, it's possible to buy a car or a house with or without the kind of credit profile that lenders like to see. But why would you want to, if you have the option to do otherwise? I think calling any new immigrant to the US who wants to start building up good credit an "idiot" is more than a little unnecessary, not to mention 100% wrong.

This is interesting. I am very opposed to the idea of credit score/credit history. I just don't see why you have to show that you pay your 'debts' well in order to be a good citizen or a good consumer. IMO having debts makes you less of a good consumer than someone who never had debts, but apparently this is not the way it goes in this country.

Therefore, as an immigrant, I did get a credit card and use it once a month just to start building credit. Because let's face it, if I want to rent an apartment with no credit, it's going to be hard (well, as long as I am with my husband whose credit is excellent, that is fine) My credit card is currently the only thing that builds my credit history. We do not have a mortgage as we are renting our apartment. He has a credit card and a car loan.

My husband keeps saying me that I should get a car, with a loan, even though I could pay probably it entirely with my savings. He says that if I don't do that, it will take me forever to get a good credit score. On the other hand, I am opposed to paying interests for (almost) nothing. Is he right? If I keep doing it only with my credit card, how long will it take to have good credit? And if I take a loan for a car, how long?