NEW CANADIANS TO US & US CREDIT

[MapleLeafBaby 1]

I'm thinking that it will take time to build credit in the US.

Do they look at your short history in US as undesirable when it comes to loans etc?

I have a good credit history and no debts. I'm having problems with my Canadian car loan. Do you think I can try applying for a car loan as soon as I arrive in the US? I may not be able to work for a while, but I have a lot of investments and savings.

What has everyone else's experience been? We are worried that if my fiance has to co-sign, it may affect his/our ability to qualify for another mortgage as his credit may be over extended?

I know it's hard to speculate, but I am wondering how they treat new Canadians to the US.

Thanks

[JillA 2]

Unfortunately, obtaining US credit is difficult for us Canadians. Check out this recent thread about this topic:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=178662

Most banks and credit card companies will not look up your Canadian credit history, even though they can.

[MapleLeafBaby 1]

Unfortunately, obtaining US credit is difficult for us Canadians. Check out this recent thread about this topic:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=178662

Most banks and credit card companies will not look up your Canadian credit history, even though they can.

Thanks Jill

Has anyone heard of the US currency account TD offers with a credit card attached to it? I wonder if that would be a good idea to start? TD is now in the US and have branches everywhere in Jersey and PA. Wonder if this would be a good start for me?

[DeadPoolX 9]

I'd recommend getting a copy of your Canadian credit report. Maybe that won't help, but if you can present that to American banks, they might consider it. It's certainly worth a shot. You're no worse off if it doesn't work.

[thetreble 19]

I'm having problems with my Canadian car loan. Do you think I can try applying for a car loan as soon as I arrive in the US? I may not be able to work for a while, but I have a lot of investments and savings.

What has everyone else's experience been? We are worried that if my fiance has to co-sign, it may affect his/our ability to qualify for another mortgage as his credit may be over extended?

Thanks

I arrived in December 2006. We bought a new car in Dec. 2007, after I had been working for a few months, and they refused to put me on the car loan. You have to take baby steps to get to big credit purchases.

Same with the mortgage, it was hell to get me on it even though I have a good job and have been working in the US for a year and a half. If you are new to the country, you most likely won't qualify for big financing like that. If they will take your canadian credit history that may help but as Jill said, not many seem to want to do this.

[Emancipation 2]

I got a MC from Navy Federal a few months after I arrived (unsecured). I"ve been here 2 years now and they have been sending me preapproved car loan offers (Navy Fed.) for about 6 months now. So my timeline is about 1.5 yrs of good credit payments on my card.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Unfortunately, obtaining US credit is difficult for us Canadians. Check out this recent thread about this topic:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=178662

Most banks and credit card companies will not look up your Canadian credit history, even though they can.

Thanks Jill

Has anyone heard of the US currency account TD offers with a credit card attached to it? I wonder if that would be a good idea to start? TD is now in the US and have branches everywhere in Jersey and PA. Wonder if this would be a good start for me?

I was aware of it ...yes TDCanadatrust has that US currency card and account - designed for those who travell frequently in the US and don't want to have the hassle of the conversions all the time - can't remember all details now.

the TD bank in the US isn't close to it's Canadian name sake - I can't walk in to there and use my Cdn TD bank card or access my account or anything else in Canada- not likely to help you out at all. Sorry - that's kind of sucky.

My thread pretty says it all above...JillA had some helpful comments...for sure to grab your Cdn credit report before leaving, it may or may not help you in future, but more likely NOT - especially in troubled economic times - the banks here are just NOT going to risk things too much until it all calms down.

[warlord 73]

First thing I did was buy a car and was put on the "High Risk Loan", after a few months I was able to renegotiate with my bank for a much lower rate. So it sucked, but it worked...

[thetreble 19]

First thing I did was buy a car and was put on the "High Risk Loan", after a few months I was able to renegotiate with my bank for a much lower rate. So it sucked, but it worked...

Yeah but when was this? Pre-economic melt down? The banks are retracting people's credit, not giving it out in abundance to any one who has a name and a social. That is what they were doing 5 years ago and what got them into trouble in the first place.

[childress_london 3]

I got a MC from Navy Federal a few months after I arrived (unsecured). I"ve been here 2 years now and they have been sending me preapproved car loan offers (Navy Fed.) for about 6 months now. So my timeline is about 1.5 yrs of good credit payments on my card.

That's because Navy Federal trusts it's customers. My ex screwed over my credit rating by not paying the mortgage on the house and nobody would give me a loan for a new car except for Navy Federal. They have always been good as far as giving loans.

[trailmix 77]

Here is what I have found out so far.

As far as the TD Canada goes - and their American funds account - it is really just for Canadians who want to have American dollars in the bank for whatever reason. You can't even get a debit card with it - so basically if you are in the U.S. and want access to that money - that's just too bad. Now as you mentioned, having a TD U.S. dollar Visa card might help - you could just pay that with the funds (I know this because I had that account and when we went to move I discovered we would have like no access - not helpful). As far as the relationship with TD in the U.S - I did talk to their mortgage department about 2 months ago and they told me that yes, they would check our Canadian credit history if need be.

Here is what I would recommend as far as establishing credit:

- Before you leave Canada do two things at least (like now) - apply for a Canadian American Express Card and apply for a JCPenney card - the Penney's card is easy to get. Neither of these will help your U.S. credit rating yet - however as soon as you move you can change your Penney's card over to your SSN from you SIN and that's a good start. With American Express you will be able to do the global transfer and get a U.S. card as soon as you move or just before (remember to call them with your SSN when you get it).

- If you are serious about needing a mortgage or other large-ish loan when you get to the States - you may want to look at the RBC Centura account - I have written about that in other threads. We just got preapproved for a mortgage with them - we were not approved by ING Direct because we did not have 2 years of credit history in the U.S. (we don't have quite 1 year yet). As treble mentioned - getting credit now is tough - this is not two years ago when they were handing money out.

If you are not working when you apply for a loan it is doubtful that they will even want to see your credit - they just won't care - no work - not interested.

For the RBC - to apply for a mortgage (may be different for other types of loans) you must have 1 month of pay stubs to show them.

[bauser 0]

I'd just like to clarify something for TD Canada Trust customers (cause I'm one of them and went through the same thing):

I recently opened a Borderless Plan, which is a US Dollar Account. All monthly fees are waived if you keep a monthly balance over $3,000 USD. The reason I did this was to provide a stopgap measure before I can open a bank account in the US. You get a slightly better rate on money conversion, which makes a big difference when exchanging several thousand dollars at a time. I was with a financial rep at the time and she advised me NOT to open a US Dollar Visa card, because it won't help build any credit in the US. So all I have is access to my money in American dollars. It's easy to convert money from my CDN chequing/savings accounts via EasyWeb.

Some people in this thread have said that the money is hard to access, but that is dependent on your final destination. Right on their Branch Locator page, there is this note:

Please Note: TD Canada Trust customers have FEE FREE access to more than 2,500 TD Canada Trust ABMs, and PLUS Network FEE FREE access at 750 TD Banknorth ABMs, 750 Commerce ABMs and 975 Presto! ABMs located at Publix Super Markets.

So it is certainly possible to get fee-free access to your accounts from those locations (e.g., New England, New York, and most of the northeast). Assuming you withdraw money from a Borderless Plan, there won't be any fees at all because you get unlimited no-fee withdrawals.

Edited March 13, 2009 by bauser

[trailmix 77]

So it is certainly possible to get fee-free access to your accounts from those locations (e.g., New England, New York, and most of the northeast). Assuming you withdraw money from a Borderless Plan, there won't be any fees at all because you get unlimited no-fee withdrawals.

Yes it's good they have more ATM's where you can use your Canadian debit card etc (plus I never found a debit machine that won't accept any Canadian debit card) - however - when I mentioned that it is hard to access your money with the Borderless account - that is because you do not get a debit card with that account - so the gazillion ATM's are nice, but with no card you can really only....look at them

Edited March 13, 2009 by trailmix

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Unfortunately, obtaining US credit is difficult for us Canadians. Check out this recent thread about this topic:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=178662

Most banks and credit card companies will not look up your Canadian credit history, even though they can.

Thanks Jill

Has anyone heard of the US currency account TD offers with a credit card attached to it? I wonder if that would be a good idea to start? TD is now in the US and have branches everywhere in Jersey and PA. Wonder if this would be a good start for me?

I was aware of it ...yes TDCanadatrust has that US currency card and account - designed for those who travell frequently in the US and don't want to have the hassle of the conversions all the time - can't remember all details now.

the TD bank in the US isn't close to it's Canadian name sake - I can't walk in to there and use my Cdn TD bank card or access my account or anything else in Canada- not likely to help you out at all. Sorry - that's kind of sucky.

My thread pretty says it all above...JillA had some helpful comments...for sure to grab your Cdn credit report before leaving, it may or may not help you in future, but more likely NOT - especially in troubled economic times - the banks here are just NOT going to risk things too much until it all calms down.

Based on my (waaaaaaaaaaaay dated; it was Canada Trust at the time I availed of it) experience, it would be a good start (as you would have a US$ credit card, and don't have to worry about conversion-rates when paying off balance). I don't know if you can make the US$ account the primary account accessed by the ATM card (couldn't in 1993/4), but if so you will be able to do W/D's (but not balance inquirys--it also works in reverse, I can W/D money in C$ from a Canadian ATM with my BofA card, but it won't do balance inqury or deposit); good question if using the Canuck ATM card at a US branch TD bank will be a "no extra fee clobber" access.

[warlord 73]

First thing I did was buy a car and was put on the "High Risk Loan", after a few months I was able to renegotiate with my bank for a much lower rate. So it sucked, but it worked...

Yeah but when was this? Pre-economic melt down? The banks are retracting people's credit, not giving it out in abundance to any one who has a name and a social. That is what they were doing 5 years ago and what got them into trouble in the first place.

Good point, it was well over 10 years ago...