Establishing Credit In US

[doodle 0]

Hi there,

This is my first post in this forum and I'm hoping that some of you can help. I am trying to get my husband a credit card. He has no previous credit history at all...He does have a job and a green card though. I have tried Capitol One and Chase and they both rejected him. Can anyone give me some guidance on how I can establish him some credit and get him a damn credit card.

Thanks in advance

[annelizabeth 1]

Get a secured credit card via your bank. I had to open a savings account and deposit $300 (which I am not allowed to take out) and they gave me a $300 limit credit card. You use it for gas, groceries etc and pay it off each month and thus build some credit history. Well, that's the theory anyway!

I have an appointment with the bank manager tonight cos I want a home equity line of credit (I own our house outright - no mortgage). I want to borrow some money so that we can remodel the bathroom and buy a car. Wish me luck!

[doodle 0]

that's what I was thinking of doing...I know bank of america does secured line credit cards as well. How long after using the secured line card do you think it takes to get a real credit card?

When you get a real credit card can you close the secured line card and get your money back?

thanks for the help.

that's what I was thinking of doing...I know bank of america does secured line credit cards as well. How long after using the secured line card do you think it takes to get a real credit card?

When you get a real credit card can you close the secured line card and get your money back?

thanks for the help.

[DouglasSheridan 1]

hey doodle,

We actually went into the bank for a mortgage and whilst there I quizzed the lady bout all that stuff.

She said it would be very hard for me to get any of those commercial/highly advertised credit cards and the easiest for us, for like 6 months at least was for Doug to put me on one of his excisting credit cards as a co-owner sorta.... we have also been advised to put my name on the mortgage as this will right out shoot up my credit score, since I'll be the proud co-owner of a house!

Well good luck with the stuff and as for the time frame, from what I understand, with an secured credit card it takes a good year to build up score.....

[zyggy 9]

hey doodle,

We actually went into the bank for a mortgage and whilst there I quizzed the lady bout all that stuff.

She said it would be very hard for me to get any of those commercial/highly advertised credit cards and the easiest for us, for like 6 months at least was for Doug to put me on one of his excisting credit cards as a co-owner sorta.... we have also been advised to put my name on the mortgage as this will right out shoot up my credit score, since I'll be the proud co-owner of a house!

Well good luck with the stuff and as for the time frame, from what I understand, with an secured credit card it takes a good year to build up score.....

Agreed.. the best way is to have you both apply for a Credit Card together. That way they'll use your credit to issue the card and it'll give him an opportunity to get a good credit history. Alternatively, you can add him as an authorized user on your cards.

There is no way to get him his own Credit Card as he has no credit.

[wally 0]

I opened up both a savings and chequing account at the same bank as my husband's in my name only. I also got a secured Visa card for $500 in my name only from the same bank. A secured credit card is a REAL credit card, the only difference is you guarantee payment by letting them hold the secured amount. Building credit once again is a long and tedious task.

[luv2teach77 41]

I arrived in March of 2005, got my SSN in early April and after getting married at the end of April started adding myself to various financial stuff my wife had in place already. I found that within a couple of weeks of being added as joint account holder on my wifes bank account and being added as an additonal card holder on 2 of her credit cards I started getting credit card offers sent to me in the mail.

I wasn't really looking for a credit card but eventually in June of 2005 I applied for a Bank of America card. The online application asked for my SSN but then asked for household (not my own) income. I answered truthfully with Debs annual income and was approved on the spot for a Platinum visa card with a $2500 limit.

I didn't do a credit score check until late January 2006 but have already established an average credit score (based on scores provided by Equifax, Transunion and Experian) of about 730 !! The quicker he gets something in his own name the better as named card holder status doesn't help his credit score at all.

Mark

[bettenan 1]

Hi there,

This is my first post in this forum and I'm hoping that some of you can help. I am trying to get my husband a credit card. He has no previous credit history at all...He does have a job and a green card though. I have tried Capitol One and Chase and they both rejected him. Can anyone give me some guidance on how I can establish him some credit and get him a damn credit card.

Thanks in advance

We had the same situation. Hubby got his SSN and applied for credit with Discover and another major CC company (can't remember which) and was rejected due to lack of credit history. He called the number on the reject form and asked them......how does one get credit, when they have no credit history ? They told him to go to a department store and establish credit there and then get back to them. The good news was that Sears gave him credit.....NO PROBLEM (even though his driver license was about 10 minutes old) We just bought a new car and made sure the credit was in both names...Off to a good start !!!!

[zyggy 9]

Hi there,

This is my first post in this forum and I'm hoping that some of you can help. I am trying to get my husband a credit card. He has no previous credit history at all...He does have a job and a green card though. I have tried Capitol One and Chase and they both rejected him. Can anyone give me some guidance on how I can establish him some credit and get him a damn credit card.

Thanks in advance

We had the same situation. Hubby got his SSN and applied for credit with Discover and another major CC company (can't remember which) and was rejected due to lack of credit history. He called the number on the reject form and asked them......how does one get credit, when they have no credit history ? They told him to go to a department store and establish credit there and then get back to them. The good news was that Sears gave him credit.....NO PROBLEM (even though his driver license was about 10 minutes old) We just bought a new car and made sure the credit was in both names...Off to a good start !!!!

Most of the major credit card companies (MBNA, Capitol One are two) report to the credit bureaus even if you're an authorized user.

[bettenan 1]

Hi there,

This is my first post in this forum and I'm hoping that some of you can help. I am trying to get my husband a credit card. He has no previous credit history at all...He does have a job and a green card though. I have tried Capitol One and Chase and they both rejected him. Can anyone give me some guidance on how I can establish him some credit and get him a damn credit card.

Thanks in advance

We had the same situation. Hubby got his SSN and applied for credit with Discover and another major CC company (can't remember which) and was rejected due to lack of credit history. He called the number on the reject form and asked them......how does one get credit, when they have no credit history ? They told him to go to a department store and establish credit there and then get back to them. The good news was that Sears gave him credit.....NO PROBLEM (even though his driver license was about 10 minutes old) We just bought a new car and made sure the credit was in both names...Off to a good start !!!!

Most of the major credit card companies (MBNA, Capitol One are two) report to the credit bureaus even if you're an authorized user.

That's what I thought but hubby is an authorized user on a few of my accounts (including AMEX Gold card) and they told him he had no credit history.

[zyggy 9]

Hi there,

This is my first post in this forum and I'm hoping that some of you can help. I am trying to get my husband a credit card. He has no previous credit history at all...He does have a job and a green card though. I have tried Capitol One and Chase and they both rejected him. Can anyone give me some guidance on how I can establish him some credit and get him a damn credit card.

Thanks in advance

We had the same situation. Hubby got his SSN and applied for credit with Discover and another major CC company (can't remember which) and was rejected due to lack of credit history. He called the number on the reject form and asked them......how does one get credit, when they have no credit history ? They told him to go to a department store and establish credit there and then get back to them. The good news was that Sears gave him credit.....NO PROBLEM (even though his driver license was about 10 minutes old) We just bought a new car and made sure the credit was in both names...Off to a good start !!!!

Most of the major credit card companies (MBNA, Capitol One are two) report to the credit bureaus even if you're an authorized user.

That's what I thought but hubby is an authorized user on a few of my accounts (including AMEX Gold card) and they told him he had no credit history.

Could be that it wasn't for long enough... it takes 6 months for the credit bureaus to issue a credit score. I know that Capitol One and MBNA have been reporting for my wife because I've seen the credit report...

[luv2teach77 41]

It does depend on which agencies the companies both report to and do checks with. My credit report from Experian only showed the Bank Of America card that I have in my own name. However the other two agencies (Equifax & Trasunion) both listed the Bank Of America card plus the JC penny and Capitol 1 cards that I'm a registered user of.

Mark

[allynella 0]

I recently received a secured visa card with a $500 limit ($99 held) from Bank of America. Their letter says after 6 months of consistent bill payment (at least the minimum balance, and no over-limit or penalty charges), card will be convered to a regular credit card, and deposit plus interest replaced in my account. I now use it only for gas and lunch. Next month I will apply for a Macy's card.

[katand7 0]

My warning is about Capital One and my husband's experience with them. First, they try to fast talk you into credit monitoring service and insurance and such when you call to activate the card. Next, every time he has called to inquire about something we have gotten a card in the mail about a two weeks later saying that his credit limit cannot be increased. He has never asked for a credit limit increase. The first time they sent the "rejection" card they had automatically increased his credit limit. When he called about that, they sent a second "rejection" card and again changed the credit limit. They charged a $29 over limit fee for being 93 CENTS over the limit. But the next day they raised the limit. Oh and because of mailing they got the payment on the 12th instead of the 11th and they charged a $29 fee for that too. So the $60 payment I made got pretty much completely eaten up by fees. It is almost impossible to even talk to a person at their company because they are always shuffling you around through the automated system.

I wouldn't recommend doing business with this company to anyone. All of their behavior thus far just makes them look like crooks.

Just FYI

Kathleen

[CarolineM 0]

This is all really good info!!

thanks to all.