J J

I will be moving to Toronto from the U.S. in the next couple of
months. Today I spoke with Equifax in the United States to question
what will happen with my credit history once I relocate and establish
a S.I.N. in Canada. They informed me to contact Equifax Canada, which
I did.

Equifax Canada stated that my credit file will appear as if I have no
credit whatsoever. In my case, this is a really bad thing. They
recommended that I obtain my credit report from all three U.S. bureaus
prior to leaving, that way I can show it to any banks or creditors as
needed (perhaps for an auto loan, mortgage, etc.)

I took it a step further and called a few banks, and they said that
upon request, they will pull your U.S. credit report when needed.

Does anyone have any insight or experience with this? I find it
really hard to believe that Equifax Canada won't put a notation on a
credit report, indicating that there is a U.S. report available. I
would hate to throw many years of established credit away.

Thanks in advance.

Nick B.

Few banks will pull a US credit report for you, and only then if it's
absolutely necessary. They'll also charge you substantially for doing so.

"J J" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > I will be moving to Toronto from the U.S. in the next couple of
    > months. Today I spoke with Equifax in the United States to question
    > what will happen with my credit history once I relocate and establish
    > a S.I.N. in Canada. They informed me to contact Equifax Canada, which
    > I did.
    > Equifax Canada stated that my credit file will appear as if I have no
    > credit whatsoever. In my case, this is a really bad thing. They
    > recommended that I obtain my credit report from all three U.S. bureaus
    > prior to leaving, that way I can show it to any banks or creditors as
    > needed (perhaps for an auto loan, mortgage, etc.)
    > I took it a step further and called a few banks, and they said that
    > upon request, they will pull your U.S. credit report when needed.
    > Does anyone have any insight or experience with this? I find it
    > really hard to believe that Equifax Canada won't put a notation on a
    > credit report, indicating that there is a U.S. report available. I
    > would hate to throw many years of established credit away.
    > Thanks in advance.

Tam

On 16/3/04 17:51, in article [email protected], "Nick
B." <[email protected]> wrote:

    > Few banks will pull a US credit report for you, and only then if it's
    > absolutely necessary. They'll also charge you substantially for doing so.
    >
    > "J J" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
...

    >> Does anyone have any insight or experience with this? I find it
    >> really hard to believe that Equifax Canada won't put a notation on a
    >> credit report, indicating that there is a U.S. report available. I
    >> would hate to throw many years of established credit away.

American Express, Diners and some credit card issuers active in both the US
and Canada will transfer an account from one currency to the other on simple
request. If you don't already have an account with such an issuer in the US,
and you are creditworthy, get one now.

You can bypass some of the know-your-customer, anti-money-laundering and
credit report hassle by having the New York (or other US) rep office of a
Canadian bank introduce you to a branch in your destination city. If that's
no longer possible (I did that 35 years ago) you can still get the Canadian
bank and your US bank to liaise. Notwithstanding the centralisation of
credit decisions, bank managers can still work around the system (and get
you a credit card, mortgage, etc.) when they want to, assuming your
reputation is good enough.

I have never known this to be a real problem for people with decent credit
and good jobs.