fatbrit

Also, she may not be interested in her credit score (which I can understand), but she should certainly take some interest in her credit reports because of the spiraling problem of ID theft. You should read a copy of your credit report from all 3 bureaus at least once a year; there is no need to monitor your credit score. In addition, you should check your credit reports when anything strange happens on the credit front (e.g. a telephone call from a collection agency or lender you are not familiar with or a card issuer abruptly reducing your credit limit).

vetal

Be a member of credit unions, such as dcu.org, aacreditunion.org, communitycreditunion.org or any others those may be in your area. You would need sponsership or your employer may offer such memberships.

OR

apply for a secure credit card with any of the banks, such as citibank.

PHILLY2004

fatbrit,

You are dead on with the FICO score calculation. There is one thing that you may not have considered. If they run a balance then the card company probably will increase the credit line that would make the debt to revolving credit percentage better. That percentage change would increase the score.

fatbrit

Certainly would, and I agree with you 100% except for adding a few caveats around the idea:

I wouldn't run any CC above 20% of the max (if possible!) in the first 5 years of building your credit from new. If all goes well, you shouldn't actually *need* to run them @ more than 20% after the 5 years.

I wouldn't personally view a secured credit card as even being credit -- if you do, you've got the wrong end of the stick! The secured credit card is a silly game you have to play for a year or so on the path to reaching credit nirvana.

In my experience, the companies that are most likely to increase your credit limit substantially and quickly are the sub-prime ones. And I wouldn't suggest you go anywhere near them, even as a new credit borrower. As an example, I'm afraid I have a nasty habit of going for stupidly cheap financing when the idiots offer it. Wife demanded a proper European-style washing machine, and Sears were offering 0% financing for 1 year with no minimum payments at all. Took the offer and never used the card again. In the course of a single year, where I paid nothing till the very end for maximum gain, they virtually quadrupled my credit limit. By contrast, my AmEx limit has nearly but not quite tripled in three years.

Jacob24

James,


My wife has been in the states less than a year and already has a nice full time job, a new car in her name only, major credit card her name only, home depot card, and a department store card, and we just purchased another home with her name as co-borrower to build her credit even higher. We think her success was due to me placing her name on my own mortage, and added her to my credit cards as soon as she entered the country. She had never been in the united states before. Now, almost everyday she gets a pre-approved offer from several credit card companies, She just rips them up now as she has all she needs to establish great credit. The day she recieved her social security number i put her on most all my accounts and it has worked to perfection. she recieved her SS# really quick after we married on a K-1. Took about 2 weeks to get it after filing for it. This was not a problem at all. Put her on all of your accounts and she will have no problems.

fatbrit

Once the thrill of the pre-approved letters wears off, it may be a good idea to stop them since they are just ID theft sitting in your mail box waiting to happen. More info @ http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/protect.htm#Credit

Noorah101

Hi Jacob,

I agree, that adding an alien spouse to the USC's own credit cards, etc. is a great idea....as long as the USC him/herself has great credit! If the USC has poor credit, don't do it. It will just start the alien spouse out on the wrong foot.

Rene

fat

I also had problems getting credit when I first came to the US,I actually tried with capital one as I'd heard that they were more leniant,unfortunately they denied me for no credit history,undeterred I applied to chase(continental) as I had a frequent flier account with loads of miles in it, they approved me albeit with a $1000 credit limit, however I have been able to build that up to a $3000 limit in the following 2 years and now have a couple of store cards too, I still however find a stumbling block occasionally I recently applied for a motor insurance quote from a major player, my wife did the same and her quote was $450 cheaper, they noted that my credit history was not sufficient enough to give me a cheaper quote.

As it was we chose to buy insurance from someone who does'nt rate by credit scores out of principle.

Just Jenney

It doesn't matter if someone carries a revolving balance or not. It doesn't even matter how big someone's payment is. It depends on their payment history and how the account is handled in general.

I can't tell you how many times customers have complained to me about not getting credit limit increases. They point out how they always pay more than the minimum due, or pay in full each month.

My response: "But not everyone can afford to pay more than the minimum due. So just like we can't penalize those who can only pay the minimum due, we can't reward those who can pay more than their minimums or pay in full each month."

Also, you could have someone who makes large payments pretty consistently, but every few months that person also allows their balance to go overlimit or their payment posts late. When that happens, it usually means they're ineligible for a credit limit increase for several months. On the other hand, the person who pays their minimums each month, is never late and never goes overlimit is more likely to get a credit limit increase.

Speaking from personal experience, I've carried a large balance on my credit card for several years now, and I've just been trying to pay it off (slowly but surely). However, in the past two years I've gotten two credit limit increases which have raised my limit from $8000 to $13,500. I did not request these increases, just got notification of the change in the mail. As much as I would love to be a pay-in-full-each-month consumer, I simply can't afford it. But I DO pay my bills on time every month, and I have been rewarded accordingly.

Bottom line is, as far as your credit reporting goes, ultimately what matters is whether you PAY ON TIME. Whether you pay only the minimum, more than the minimum or the balance in full -- either way, as long as you pay at least the minimum ON TIME, that's what matters.

Fatbrit's (and mine, and some others') point is that you might as well pay in full (if you can) to avoid accumulating interest. The credit bureaus couldn't care less if you pay interest or not. They only care whether you've paid at least the minimum due on time or not.

~ Jenney

bazboy

AMEX were great when I moved to the US in '98. They gave me a US AMEX gold card with no problems as I was a UK customer. That way I quickly established a credit history. Within 6 months I had a rating that allowed me to get an ordinary credit card with a useable limit. Now my wife (US citizen) is jealous that my rating is better than hers!