Credit Rating and Secured credit cards?

[Adrian-Danielle 12]

Guys, I've been in the states about 6 weeks and have received my SSN and a drivers license, and my wife and I would like to buy a house in New York next year, and I want to start building up my credit rating.

So I went to the bank and they refused to give me a secured credit card for $250 even though I have over $140k in the bank that I transferred over from Australia. (Banking with TD)

They said because that I am currently unemployed ( I'm looking after my 6month old daughter while my wife works as an Registered Nurse) that I don't have a regular income to pay off the credit card. Which is crazy as I have ample amount of money in the bank......

So we thought I can start looking for work but I will need a car to get to job sites (I'm an electrician) but we couldn't buy a car from a dealership because if you pay with cash they also do a credit check???

How do I get my credit rating up or started??

This credit score garbage is crazy....seem the US revolves around credit!

Edited July 22, 2013 by Adrian-Danielle

[JohnR! 5,495]

If you are new in the country chances are that you will have trouble getting credit anywhere for lack of credit history... It is a catch-22 situation.

In order to start building your credit you will need help from your wife.

If you don't qualify for a credit card, ask your wife to add you as an additional card holder to her current credit cards. If she has an AmEx that is an easy task and she can do it online. With Visa/MC is will depend on the issuer. Although she will be responsible for the payments, your credit score will benefit from the same pattern as hers, i.e. credit/debt ration, punctuality in making payments, etc. Charge as much as you can but make sure you pay off your charges so that you don't have to pay interest. You do not need to carry a balance in order to build good credit. That will help you build your own score and you should be able to get credit on your own in about 2 years.

If you need a car, you have two options. You can have your wife as a co-signer in the car loan, or if you want to go it alone, put a down payment equivalent to 50%+ of the value of the vehicle. If you are buying from a dealership you will probably need your wife to co-sign but if you buy from an independent used car lot you may be able to go it alone with a substantial down payment.

You will not be able to get a good credit rating in less that a couple of years but these are ways to go about it.

Good luck!

Edited July 22, 2013 by Gegel

[The Mean Lady 604]

Lots of new immigrants on VJ have had great success with capital one.

Here's their secured card:

http://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/secured-mastercard/?Log=1&EventType=Link&ComponentType=T&LOB=MTS%3A%3ALCTMMQC4S&PageName=Credit+Cards+Browse&PortletLocation=4%3B4-12-col%3B2-1&ComponentName=browseTable&ContentElement=57%3BSecured+MasterCard%3Csup%3E%26reg%3B%3C%2Fsup%3E&TargetLob=MTS%3A%3ALCTMMQC4S&TargetPageName=Secured+MasterCard+Details

They've started at VERY low amounts (like $50) and worked their way up.

Then you can move to something like this:

http://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/cash-rewards-for-newcomers/

[kayleighanddanny 7]

I'd suggest getting a secure credit card. It's kind of like a debit card- you put your own money on it and pay it back. It helps build your credit when you pay it back.

[The Mean Lady 604]

I'd suggest getting a secure credit card. It's kind of like a debit card- you put your own money on it and pay it back. It helps build your credit when you pay it back.

OP already stated they were denied a secured CC.

Edited July 22, 2013 by The Mean Lady

[kayleighanddanny 7]

Oops, my bad. Guess it's too early for me to read straight still.

[Adrian-Danielle 12]

Thanks for the replies guys, it seems that without steady income from employment I won't be granted a secured credit card regardless of savings I have in my account.

Adding myself to my wife's credit cards will not raise my credit score, it will only benefit hers if we pay on time.

I applied for the Capital One secured credit card online and was denied straight away as you have to tick an option of if you are employed/unemployed and subsequently i chose unemployed and was denied.

-Just a side note the bank branch manager told us you should only charge 10% of your credit card limit per month when you want to building credit and improve your FICO score, charging out everything on your cc actually hurts your FICO core, even if you pay ontime in full! They want to see you paying back the money you borrow not living off credit for everything.

As for buying a car, I don't want to finance the buying of the car and especially don't want to lease one, guess I can pay cash from a private sale but don't wan to buy a lemon!

[The Mean Lady 604]

I think you might be able have a co-signer on your credit card.

At least according to capital one:

http://www.capitalone.com/financial-education/life-events/immigration/

Read some of that.

Also, store cards are known for being pretty easy to get.

Attempt to get a walmart or target card or something similar.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Adding myself to my wife's credit cards will not raise my credit score, it will only benefit hers if we pay on time.

-Just a side note the bank branch manager told us you should only charge 10% of your credit card limit per month when you want to building credit and improve your FICO score, charging out everything on your cc actually hurts your FICO core, even if you pay ontime in full! They want to see you paying back the money you borrow not living off credit for everything.

Both statements are incorrect, but you should always do that which you consider best.

Good luck!

[The Mean Lady 604]

I could see how charging everything could hurt your score as your score is somewhat reflective of the percentage value of credit used vs credit open.

But it would depend on when they reported the score I guess.

If they were reporting it when you had just charged 5k to your card vs after you'd just paid 5k off lol

[Ozz777 23]

Thanks for the replies guys, it seems that without steady income from employment I won't be granted a secured credit card regardless of savings I have in my account.

Adding myself to my wife's credit cards will not raise my credit score, it will only benefit hers if we pay on time.

I applied for the Capital One secured credit card online and was denied straight away as you have to tick an option of if you are employed/unemployed and subsequently i chose unemployed and was denied.

-Just a side note the bank branch manager told us you should only charge 10% of your credit card limit per month when you want to building credit and improve your FICO score, charging out everything on your cc actually hurts your FICO core, even if you pay ontime in full! They want to see you paying back the money you borrow not living off credit for everything.

As for buying a car, I don't want to finance the buying of the car and especially don't want to lease one, guess I can pay cash from a private sale but don't wan to buy a lemon!

Kinda hard to hurt a fico score of zero. How much are you looking to spend on a used car? I'm assuming that being an electrician, you are somewhat mechanically inclined and should be able to spot a lemon, no? I've had good luck buying used cars through private sale, and that's usually the least expensive pensive way to go vs a dealer.

[pluis 2]

Consider doing business with a credit union if you can. They're much more willing to work with you than most banks (also, they're non-profits, so you don't get ripped off nearly as badly.

As an example: my husband (USC) and I (immigrant) recently moved to the US. He had been gone for 12 years and had no credit history. Since he comes back to go to grad school, he's unemployed. Since I've not found work yet, so am I. Yet, she credit union allowed us to put an amount aside (it becomes untouchable) and use that as the backing for a credit card. So, now we have a couple of thousand dollars in credit open.

Edited August 1, 2013 by pluis

[pddp 240]

You are actually allowed to use household income, not just individual income, in your credit card application. This just changed recently:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100720709

[Dave&Roza 748]

You are actually allowed to use household income, not just individual income, in your credit card application. This just changed recently:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100720709

My wife was denied a Macy's CC due to the lack of income. I talked to the rep on the phone and told him what her income was which was our joint income as reported to the IRS. He wanted her earned income to which I said zero. She was denied with a credit score of 730 and like the OP has lost of money in her name in the bank and in stocks. I thought it funny when she asked me about the whole thing as asked, "What if I have enough money to buy Macy's? What would they do then?" I had to ask her if she would really want to buy Macy's and she said, "Oh NO!"

So even if you manage to get a great credit score, some companies will deny you for no income. As far as purchasing a car, if you pay cash they could careless about your credit rating. They may still check, but how can they deny the sale when you are standing there with a cashier's check made out to the dealership in the amount of the car. I bought my last car used from a dealership with cash. The only issue I had was getting ahold of my insurance agent to get the insurance transferred over before leaving the dealership parking lot.

The best way to build credit is joint accounts with your wife and that $140K in the bank will take about 3-6 months to translate into a good credit score as your debt to equity ratio is very good. It took my wife about 3-6 months after I put her on all my investments as a joint owner and she began receiving those pre-approved offers. Now whether she can actually get a CC because of her lack on earned income, we do not know. We only know what Macy's policy is which is no worky, no credit card.

This will take some time,

Good luck,

Dave

[kzielu 1,149]

Guys, I've been in the states about 6 weeks and have received my SSN and a drivers license, and my wife and I would like to buy a house in New York next year, and I want to start building up my credit rating.

So I went to the bank and they refused to give me a secured credit card for $250 even though I have over $140k in the bank that I transferred over from Australia. (Banking with TD)

They said because that I am currently unemployed ( I'm looking after my 6month old daughter while my wife works as an Registered Nurse) that I don't have a regular income to pay off the credit card. Which is crazy as I have ample amount of money in the bank......

So we thought I can start looking for work but I will need a car to get to job sites (I'm an electrician) but we couldn't buy a car from a dealership because if you pay with cash they also do a credit check???

How do I get my credit rating up or started??

This credit score garbage is crazy....seem the US revolves around credit!

Does your wife has a decent score ? I skipped all the secured credit card #######, applied for regular credit card with my wife as a co-signer, got $3k limit right away. Year later applied for one on my own, meantime got Kohl's charge...

Year and half later got 0% APR loan for my wife's Highlander (she bought car for me when I came over since had no credit score) and another card from Chase with $7k limit...