moving and credit
 

Could anyone tell me how they went about establishing their credit after
they moved to the U.S? Any credit card companies that were willing to give
you a card straight away? My husband has been here over a year and still
can't seem to establish credit. Thanks for any help

Re: moving and credit
 

"ALC" wrote in message
news:SNpk9.912$wH.245@sccrnsc01...
    > Could anyone tell me how they went about establishing their credit after
    > they moved to the U.S? Any credit card companies that were willing to
give
    > you a card straight away? My husband has been here over a year and still
    > can't seem to establish credit. Thanks for any help

My USC husband had a Visa card from Compass Bank in Texas, at that time he
had an account with them for just over a year, and a business account with
them too (he was self-employed). They added my name to the accounts the day
after we married and gave me a joint c/card immediately (well ok, they
mailed it, but they approved it on the spot) with a credit limit over 5K but
under 10K. His accounts did not have a vast amount of money in them,
obviously there was enough to persuade them. That got me started. A couple
of months after that store & c/card offers started to appear in the mail.
If your credit rating is good you might try something similar if he is
finding it really hard to get started.

Re: moving and credit
 

Hi,

This came up a couple of months and I saved the thread because I knew I would need it when I moved over

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...threadid=88529

It has some very good advice

Patrick

Re: moving and credit
 

Hi,
I'm sure if you do a search on Google using things like
Credit...USA etc you'll find some old postings. There have been several threads on it over the last few months.
I haven't tried it yet but someone told me to go into one of the stores and buy a pair of socks (or the like) they will then try to sign you for a store card.
Next month go in and buy another pair of socks etc.
As long as you keep paying on time your credit rating will go up.
I also applied for our phone in my name which I managed to get, so I'm paying the phone bills (only 3 so far) but I'm assuming that may help.
I'm sure others on here will offer loads of tips, I'll also keep my eyes open for other responses as I'll be needing to get a car on credit soon.
One unusual posting I read once was from California.
As there seem to be many Japanese immigrants to that area car dealerships such as Honda, Nissan, are used to the circumstances and it seemed that getting a car on credit was quite easy, once that is done and you keep up the payments then future credit should be a lot easier.
I'm not sure how true the story was, but found it interesting all the same.

Good luck

Re: moving and credit
 

Hi,

I understand your problem: you can not get credit card because you you
do not have credit history and you do not have credit history because
you do not have credit cards - back to square one.

This is how I did it: sign up for the Department Store credit card (i.e.
Macy's, Nordstoms, etc... - preferably big store) and buy $20 item or
so, when a bill comes pay $10 only (do not pay full balance), always
keep very small amount on your balance - $10-$50 every month. You also
have to pay interests (try to keep your balance low and subsequently
your interests will be low). Credit companies do not report anything
unless there is an activity on your card. If you pay your balance in
full - there is no activity on your account (your started with 0 balance
and ended with 0 balance). Creditors would like to see how you are
managing your debt. Say if your debt is $1k, creditors wanna see how you
repay your debt. Creditors do not care if you pay your bills in full,
because this does not show that you are capable of managing a debt.
Afterall, if you pay your balances in full it is not a debt ;)

In one year (may be sooner) your husband will have a perfect credit
score. Do not apply for many credit cards, since credit banks perform
credit checks and if you have no credit they will reject you - all this
goes into your credit report. It takes years to remove those rejections
- rejections are bad, even credit checks have negative reflections.

Pay your bills on time and keep small balance on your card and soon your
husband will start receiving offers from various cc's.

You also may sign up for Chevron or Shell gas cards and start using
them. Remember: always keep small balance. After you establish good
credit then you can pay your balances in full.

Getting car loan is easy, if your credit is bad, you get higher interest
rates - it will cost you. Also do not buy anything you can not afford!
Think twice before getting into bad car loan or in any loan for that
matter. Loan banks use A.P.R. with Point systems, please investigate
thoroughly what is your downpayment and what is going to be your monthly
payment add to this insurance, taxes, maintenance, gas, toll, wear and
tear, parking (am I missing something?) and see if you can afford those
payments for years to come.

For a record: We recently bought a house in SF and my credit score was
almost 800. Our mortgage officer was very impressed, saying that if your
score is above 600, banks think that you "can walk on the water".
I came to the US as a student in 1996. My first cc was CitiBank.

Good luck,
joe



ALC wrote:
    > Could anyone tell me how they went about establishing their credit after
    > they moved to the U.S? Any credit card companies that were willing to give
    > you a card straight away? My husband has been here over a year and still
    > can't seem to establish credit. Thanks for any help

Re: moving and credit
 

ALC wrote:
    > Could anyone tell me how they went about establishing their credit after
    > they moved to the U.S? Any credit card companies that were willing to give
    > you a card straight away? My husband has been here over a year and still
    > can't seem to establish credit. Thanks for any help

Have you tried adding him to your credit.
After a while under this joint status, he should be able to use it as a
reference.
Otherwise, he might try obtaining a secured card from a reputable
company like Citibank.