cwooloff

Hi All,

Apologies but I have a credit question and could not find the answer else where.

When I first arrived I read the wiki on establishing credit (great idea by the way) and am now at the secured credit card stage. The other day I signed up to experian to begin following my score and it shows a score in the low 700's which suprised me as I was expecting a very low score as the wiki predicts.

Whilst I have only been here on my green card since june - I have actually had my social secturity card since my first student visa back in 2003. I also have had a standard checking account since 2003 with Bank of America.

So my question is...is this score correct or am I missing something.

Cheers

Carl

Brit3964

It's probably right. I've just checked my credit rating and it came up in the 760's which surprised me. I had to use my cards more in the past year because of some medical bills from last year and having not been working for 6 months of this year through no fault of my own.

In years prior to 2008, it was usually in the low 700's. I suspect they might have changed the way they look at credit usage now because of The Crash in 2008. It now seems to be an advantage not to have a mortgage compared to previously. I don't have a mortgage and have more than a 10yr credit history here which might be helping too.

That said, my wife whose been in the USA since January of this year has a slightly higher score than me! Go figure that one.

Jscl

Sounds right to me too. The credit score seems to focus on what you do wrong more than what you do right, so even if you have a lack of history in some areas (US based loans, etc.) it sounds like you don't have bad history in anything.

This website claims to estimate your fica score, so you might want to give it a go. I just tried it, and it's in the ball park for me:
http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/...alculator.aspx

fatbrit

The score's neither here nor there.You will still be rejected for the best credit due to insufficient history.

Continue to build your history up slowly. Apply for a second credit card around 9-12 months after the first.

sir_eccles

But he is essentially saying he has 7 years of dormant history. My question would be what did the actual credit report list? If it lists your BoA account and nothing more then it probably is accurate. If it lists other accounts you don't recognize, you've got a problem.

fatbrit

The BoA account is irrelevant unless it's a credit line. It might give him an extra ounce of kudos with BoA underwriting, but it won't influence his credit score with anyone else since they won't even see it.

People obsess about their actual credit score; some go so far as to buy it. But it tells you absolutely nothing unless you're an underwriter or broker. Don't waste your money!

He has a history at the moment that would support another credit card application and will mean the utility companies aren't demanding deposits. But it would be unlikely to secure an "A paper" mortgage or an unsecured loan....despite it's high number. This is because underwriters use additional criteria for higher risk loans.

avanutria

I talked to a lender about a mortgage last year. I've had a credit card for over ten years and had a good history of payment and a high score.

Regardless of all that, the lender said my account lacked depth (because I only had one card and two student loans) and breadth (because I hadn't bought enough stuff over the years) and so I wouldn't be able to get a premium rate.

Bob

Score means nothing on its own, and it's easy enough to get.

It's the history that matters.

Having a bank account that's idle doesn't do anything for you either.

NatashaB

My husband's score is similar - about 700, but the only thing actually reporting to it is his DTE energy gas payments. Also when lenders pull his score it tells them that he is a non-resident alien and at that point they decide they will only finance him for the remainder of the length of his visa :confused

We leased a car through an expat leasing company, that doesn't seem to be reporting anything at present. He has just got a capital one secured card, hopefully that will help. As others have said, lack of history seems to be the problem even though his score is OK.

fatbrit

The secured card will work.

Use 20% (and no more) of the card's limit, and pay off in full at the end of every month. Don't apply for any more credit lines until you've done this for at least nine months. Then apply for a real credit card (even if they've already upgraded your present one) and follow the same regime.

NatashaB

Yep, I have no doubt it will work but the husband wants a truck RIGHT now

Carmax dealers have approved him for a 12k loan on a truck with 4.5k down, that is the only offer he's had so far. One of those 'we finance anyone' places offered him a 2 year lease but the terms were not to our satisfaction as they wanted us to pay the whole 2 years up front!

cwooloff

Thanks for the replys - The BoA account does not even show as (correctly pointed out) it has no credit limit. All the other accounts on my report are mine so no worries there.

Just going to keep plodding along with my secured card as have no big buys coming up.

Thanks again.