inquisitive40

Ok, from another thread I posted this question but decided to post on the main forum, the question is as follows:

QUOTE:

By getting a secured credit card in the immigrants name, will this build up credit faster than trying to clean up a low credit rating. Our credit is low due to a couple of outstanding payments (one we were trying to unsuccessfully contest and another is a little over $100 that we will pay soon, both total a little over $250) and also a deliquent student loan.

If I started a credit card with just my name, would my credit build faster than sorting out my SO's outstanding credit and doing it together?

We plan on starting to sort this out in a serious manner after paying all the USCIS filing fees.

BTW, Would having two bank accounts still affect the other's credit? i.e. A joint account and then a second bank account with only the credit free persons name and a credit card on it?
Anyone know which would work fastest?

END QUOTE:
Anyone have experience with this?

Patrick

Rete

You could so a search and find a wealth of information on this subject. It has been discussed in depth many times over the last six years.

Rete

inquisitive40

I did a search with "fresh credit" and "restoring credit" got very little, suppose I will do a search with just credit...
Patrick

Bluegrass Lass

How bout searching for 'fast credit' or 'improving credit' or 'joint credit'..some of those might help.

Noorah101

"Secured Credit"

http://britishexpats.com/forum/searc...der=descending

Rene

meauxna

Patrick, unfortunately (since they have so much influence in our lives) the 3 major credit reporting bureaus tell no one nuthin' about "how" credit scores are reached (think 'secret sauce' recipe).
There is *no way* to say that a secured card in your name will build credit faster than long-held-but-currently-delinquent cards in your wife's name (btw, you can be a joint account holder with her now, I don't think you have to wait to be married).

Major dings against your FICO (credit score) include not making payments on schedule (any payment, even small will help this), abandoning debt that goes to Collection (external) and, ironically enough, having too many accounts (each one is counted as 'you are in this much debt right now' even if you have a zero balance). Beware of accounts that you "think" are closed (by cutting up the card, writing a letter to the co and charging no more), as they may still be 'open' on your FICO.

If you have been denied credit, the Bureau giving that info to creditors must provide you with a free credit report. myfico.com will get you all 3 for less than $30 and going over my own recently was an eye opener (Bloomingdale's, go away!) even though my score was excellent, there were things there that do not belong and myfico also provides tips for cleaning the clutter off your report.

An excellent site for learning the ins & outs from a consumer-positive POV is www.clarkhoward.com Overall excellent consumer advice, and I don't make a move w/out checking my research there first.

Clark has also been talking a lot lately about refinancing student loan debt, as interest rates for these loans are very competitive right now and you will want to be sure to finance with a reputable company.

Have fun!

inquisitive40

Thank you so much for your excellent post.
I just got a 3-in-1 credit report from Equifax,,, DANG that shit goes back,, (I knew it was 7 years, but that covers a lot fo history), a lot of my wife's bad credit was with her ex-husband when they split up. There are a lot of "settled" accounts there. Also a screw up with BOA saying here account was closed after being 60 days delinquent, I was with her when she closed that account with them due to their Missouri/California different systems which was costing us a lot of money to transfer funds at the time. The only thing that comes to mind on this was a screw up with the DSL service which had been charging our account for several months after we moved even though we had cancelled the account. How can we prove a mess like that? BUT again the account was clear and in the black with BOA when we closed it.
Does all the old stuff still hit the score?
I know recently her present bank said that her credit was not too bad and would not take much to fix,, the question is "was that just sales talk for a secured credit card?"
Will go read on the excellent link you posted.
Thanks again
Patrick

meauxna

yeah, boggling a bit, isn't it. you'll want to pull the other 2 bureaus as well, either directly from them or thru myfico. All bureaus do not report the same way and mistakes can be on one and not others.

Any information that is incorrect must be cleared, if you offer proof (or sometimes only a dispute) to the bureau. I had some old stuff from my ex show up and merely wrote and told them we had been seperated on whatever date it was that pre-dated the entry on my credit report.
Individuals need to be really vigilant about their credit, and it is our responsibility to make sure the info in our reports is correct.

Old stuff does have a way of lingering, so again, always worth checking a couple of times per year. Interesting to see who's looking at you and stopping the junk mail and credit card offers if you want. Those pre approved cc apps are identity theft waiting to happen, IMO.

As to what the bank said, I couldn't guess. The FICO score is a finite, numbered piece of data (up to 850). I'd rather know my number than someone's editorial idea of it, if you know what I mean. I also encourage you to look for good card offers at clarkhoward.com. I think the site he promotes is cardweb.com for comparisons. BofA or your local bank is 'probably' not going to offer you a very good card. There are other things besides credit cards (think apartment rentals, utilities) that you can do to build your credit, and there have been some good posts in the entire alt.visa.us heirarchy that discuss it. Again, for many of these strategies, you do not need to be married to take advantage of your gal's *length of credit history* (important) and your imm. status is not a factor holding you back either. Get busy! <g>

inquisitive40

Well after going through all the credit reports and listing errors, I have entered disputes on accounts which were my SO's ex-husband responsibility to clear (as per her divorce). All we can do after that is wait for a response and see if it gets here score up enough to get an unsecured credit card.
Thanks for all the help, some great links and advice.
Thanks
Patrick