Building Credit

[Bsze 50]

Another way of building your credit is by paying your utility bills on time. They do report your credit through the credit bureau.

Actually, the overwhelming majority of them don't. Here's why.

If they do make a report, it is because the account is overdue and is being turned over to a collection agency.

Edited July 3, 2011 by Bsze

[Messybrownhair 251]

Our bank is USAA, so if hubby opens a credit card with them, can I piggyback on him? Will being an extension on his card allow me to build credit? The capitol one offer I was sent has a 24.9% apr, and that seems crappy right? Am I better off opening a walmart or target card?

[Messybrownhair 251]

And my hubby's credit score right now is 620 if that helps.

[Bsze 50]

Yes, that will help you build credit.

Also, 24.9% is really crappy. But if you use the card and pay it off right away, it's an easy way to build credit.

620 is kinda middle of the road (700 and above is what you want to aim for). But if he is approved and is able to cosign for you, it will work.

Edited July 3, 2011 by Bsze

[Tim/Mav 305]

Good Post M_A as well as many others. What was Noted in this post as well as mine is to go to your Own Bank and see an Official/Bank Manager. The advice is free and not considered an Inquiry and no application needed to be filled and signed. (yet, sleep on it)

I have to Ask MBH ? I have never seen a Capitol One Immigrant Application before. Capitol One is a Multi-Million Dollar Business.

I have seen Capitol One Applications: They ask for Income, time on the job, salary, etc etc etc.

My confusion is: Your a student (And a well educated one as well) But, if you file a Capitol One Application with No job how can they expect means of repayment for a Unsecured Credit Card. ? (On your Own without a Joint Account)

I would STAY AWAY From Capitol ONE for now. I know you will have No problems with Income to start out.

I know your asking about building your own Credit on your own.and or with Tim.

I think the World is Yours. Tim (2) LOL

[Messybrownhair 251]

Yes, that will help you build credit.

Also, 24.9% is really crappy. But if you use the card and pay it off right away, it's an easy way to build credit.

I will not get it then

[Messybrownhair 251]

Good Post M_A as well as many others. What was Noted in this post as well as mine is to go to your Own Bank and see an Official/Bank Manager. The advice is free and not considered an Inquiry and no application needed to be filled and signed. (yet, sleep on it)

I have to Ask MBH ? I have never seen a Capitol One Immigrant Application before. Capitol One is a Multi-Million Dollar Business.

I have seen Capitol One Applications: They ask for Income, time on the job, salary, etc etc etc.

My confusion is: Your a student (And a well educated one as well) But, if you file a Capitol One Application with No job how can they expect means of repayment for a Unsecured Credit Card. ? (On your Own without a Joint Account)

I would STAY AWAY From Capitol ONE for now. I know you will have No problems with Income to start out.

I know your asking about building your own Credit on your own.and or with Tim.

I think the World is Yours. Tim (2) LOL

I have no idea how capitol one found me! I got a random letter from them today offering me this and it got me and the hubs in a huge discussion and we are both clueless so I hoped the VJ experts would help

[Messybrownhair 251]

Thanks again to everyone for all the responses, I learned a lot today! I think we've decided that he will be the one to get one, and I'll just be an extension for now.. Hope that works!!!

[Tim/Mav 305]

I have no idea how capitol one found me! I got a random letter from them today offering me this and it got me and the hubs in a huge discussion and we are both clueless so I hoped the VJ experts would help

I would almost BET/Be Sure that 70% of your replies from Members are trying to WARN You about Credit Cards and be Careful with them/or One. I'm one of the 70% that got in trouble with them.

However, as One Post Indicated: You need to establish good Credit. (Not at 25%) OMG.

MBH. Lots for you to consume in your replies. I really did'nt see much bad advice.

[Leenie 15]

Our bank is USAA, so if hubby opens a credit card with them, can I piggyback on him? Will being an extension on his card allow me to build credit? The capitol one offer I was sent has a 24.9% apr, and that seems crappy right? Am I better off opening a walmart or target card?

In order to help my husband build credit, he is "piggy backing" on one of my credit cards. The only problem is that even if you are added onto another person's credit card, that doesn't necessarily mean the card company will start reporting a history for YOU to the credit bureaus. There are some ways to check on that, though.

After several months on his card, you should go to www.annualcreditreport.com to get a free credit report. That way you'll be able to see if anything is actually changing with your history. Another good way to gauge if you are actually building your credit is if you start getting any unsolicited credit card offers in the mail. This usually means a card company pulled your credit history and found it decent enough to send you a card offer. We were so happy when my husband got his first one of these offers

And, the 24.9% rate isn't so great, but it's still better than having no card at all if you pay the bill in full every time. As long as you pay it in full, you don't have to worry about interest accumulating, anyway. And plus, paying in full is a "best practice" to help your credit score go up and up. Once you have a history of paying on time and in full, you can also call your card issuer and ask them to adjust your interest rate. If you're a solid payer with a good history, that's great leverage to get them to lower the rate, and suddenly that crappy card ain't so crappy anymore!

Good luck building your history!

[mike42979 57]

Yes, that will help you build credit.

Also, 24.9% is really crappy. But if you use the card and pay it off right away, it's an easy way to build credit.

620 is kinda middle of the road (700 and above is what you want to aim for). But if he is approved and is able to cosign for you, it will work.

Actually 2 things to note #1 24.9% is horrible, the rate on my card is fixed at 9.9% but again your starting out so its understandable and this rate wont come into consideration of you always pay off in full each month. #2 you meantioned your hubby had great credit but i used to be a Mortgage broker and a 620 score is considered Sub prime. Sub prime loans are for riskie borrowers and are usually given higher interest rates on a mortgage.

[~happyndinlove~ 540]

We applied for a secured credit card (for me) at the Bank of America and was approved, no problem.

I had zero credit history when we applied.

Edited July 3, 2011 by ~happyndinlove~

[Ready to do it 101]

A lot of bad advice on here, in my opinion.

Important things to know:

1) I always stay away from Capital One. Why? Because if you ever default, or have 30, 60, 90 day lates, etc. You are screwed. Capital One refuses to budge and rarely will they offer goodwill. I.e. If you run into a jam and then clean yourself up, many lenders will delete the derogatory reporting with a well written letter requesting goodwill. In the case of Capital One not only will you rarely see them delete derogatory credit, in my opinion the way they report charge-offs is a double wammy. When the card charges off and is sold to a collection agency the Capital One entry should show charge off, the balance should be marked as 0, and the 30,60, 90 day lates should cease. Under FCRA rules they are allowed to re-report the charge-off month after month for 7 years... which they do. However, they do not mark the balance as 0 (as required) once charged off. In fact, they increase the balance month after month. Further, they continue to mark it as 180 days late month after month. The fact that it is a charge off is bad enough, but by not putting the balance as 0 (and increasing the balance month after month), and continuing to mark it as 180 day late for the next 7 years, the consumer is murdered when it comes to credit scoring. I recommend staying away from Capital One. If you ever do run into trouble, they keep immaculate records and will fight you tooth and nail in court. Buyer beware.

2) In order to get go tradelines with high limits and low rates you need to have a high credit score. So where do you start out? The best way to start out is go to a bank you have a relationship with, and request a secured card... the limit need not be high, even $200 will do the trick. Bank of America is usually accomodating, assuming you don't already have negative tradelines (such as cable or cell phone charge offs), medical bills, etc. Once you have the card, use it each month, but make sure you keep the balance at a reasonable utilization of the limit. I recommend below 10%, but as long as you keep it below 30% you will be fine. Do not pay it to $0 each month. Keep a small balance.

3) After you have a good secured card (which is a revolving tradeline) and a few months have passed, you need an installment tradeline. Go to Conns.... but make sure your revolving tradeline has a utilization of less than 10% when you do so. I.e. $200 limit, make sure the balance is below $20.

4) Once you have had your revolving tradeline and installment tradeline at least 6 months and the balance on the revolving tradeline is below 10% utilization (not at $0) you will be ready to apply for "good" tradelines, assuming you have stayed out of trouble credit-wise... ie. no medical bills, unpaid cable, electricity, or cell phone bills. At this point it is time to go get "good" tradelines with high limits and low rates. Credit Unions are your best bet. Someone mentioned Pentagon Federal. Pentagon Federal Credit Union is not only one of, if not the largest credit union in the world, it is in my opinion one of the best. If you get in good with Pentagon Federal Credit Union do not screw it up, as they will be good to you for life.

Disclaimer ***This is all my personal opinion based on experience. It in no way constitutes any sort of relationship between us.***

Edited July 3, 2011 by Ready to do it

[Messybrownhair 251]

Thanks everyone for the overwhelming responses!

We are a fairly young couple (he's 22 and i'm 23) and even he has just started learning bout this stuff too but thankfully we've never been late on any payment yet and hope never to be so that should raise my hubby's score soon and mine We will calls our bank this Monday and I am definitely staying away from capitol one now..

[Ippsy Pippsy 31]

When determining how good a credit card offer is:

* Look at the APR

* Look at the yearly fee (usually none for the first year)

* Look at the fees if you are late/mess up/etc

I would *think* a student card would be fine, since those tend to be geared towards people with no credit.

Make sure you understand WHAT a credit card is and does! If you don't pay it off on time, you will get charged an interest fee. It will be rather high.

Other things to know: there are 3 credit agencies. You can get a free credit report from each of them once a year. Any ad on a website you see offering to get you a "free" credit check is probably not the right website to go to to get your free credit report. Do a websearch to make sure you get the right site.