Establishing Credit (Quickly?)

[alizon 77]

Jan 2010 is almost 3 years ago. Have you checked his credit report yet and make sure that there are no outstanding loans aside from the tax lien?

Tax liens stay on your credit report for seven years after they're paid off.

Edited October 9, 2012 by alizon

[codygrace 14]

He had a report from Experian. I'm not sure if it reported everything? It's only when I saw that did I find out about the lien. He didn't even know what a lien was. lol. It's really not funny, but I'm going to laugh it off since my interview is tomorrow. He has been trying to rectify it though, so that's all that matters now. Is there any way to get a lien withdrawn? I saw you can at the federal level, but I think his is actually either state or municipal (county?) or however the US categorizes that.

[kitkat1985 2]

Hmm. What bank is likely to give secured credit to him with his bad credit?

Usually there are credit cards that are considered secured that he will probably get due to the fact that he'd put a deposit down as his credit limit. At this point that's probably the only way he can get a credit card. Well you never know.

https://www.wellsfargo.com/credit_cards/secured/

Try this card for example.

Good Luck!!

[ca_babe 129]

He had a report from Experian. I'm not sure if it reported everything?

It should report everything. But usually they look at the past 12 months. Lots of people filed for bankruptcy, did a principal reduction on their home, or short sold their homes during the last 4 years. But they get issued credit card still after having good history for the past 12 months. They tend to have higher interest rates but it's credit still.

Is there any way to get a lien withdrawn? I saw you can at the federal level, but I think his is actually either state or municipal (county?) or however the US categorizes that.

It looks like he can have it taken out from his credit report. http://news.yahoo.com/tax-lien-negatively-affect-credit-score-remain-credit-211619858.html

Check this out, http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/usbanking/creditcards.html. You shouldn't have a problem obtaining one since they will look at your Canadian credit history. Once approved for the card and you're married, you can add your husband as an authorized user.

RBC Bank^® Visa^‡ Platinum – U.S. Dollar (Issued in the United States by RBC Bank)

Anyone who is a full or part-time resident of the U.S. or is looking to build their U.S. credit history.

Good luck to your interview!

[midge and isi 8]

My husband and I just bought a house- at first it seemed like there were no issues with his good credit score (but lack of history). Ever mortgage company is different but a few days before closing they asked for something that was independent for him- since our rent included everything we didn't have anything and he just graduated from his home country so had nothing there.

I would suggest having the immigrant get some type of bill in there name if you plan to purchase a house in the future as well- it all worked out but the stress of last minute requests that do not exist on top of everything else was scary.

Just wanted to give some advice for those in the future.

[KazuriSana 324]

The same happened to me. Wifey (the USC) added me to her credit card (she herself has stellar credit), and within two months, when we went to buy a new car last month and I applied as the owner of the car [with her as a co-owner], they ran a credit score on both of us and I scored at 730.

I am now getting frequent mail for pre-approved credit card offers!

It works for some, it worked for me, may not work for everyone.

[Donna & Paul 4]

Pretty soon after arriving, we started trying to establish credit for my husband - we got him a secured credit card, and I added him as an authorized user on one of my credit cards.

The same happened to me. Wifey (the USC) added me to her credit card (she herself has stellar credit), and within two months, when we went to buy a new car last month and I applied as the owner of the car [with her as a co-owner], they ran a credit score on both of us and I scored at 730.

I am now getting frequent mail for pre-approved credit card offers!

It works for some, it worked for me, may not work for everyone.

Question:

Were you added as an authorized user or joint-account holder? If you were added as only an authorized user, did the credit card company ask for SSN? I've added my husband as an authorized user, not as joint-account holder. They didn't ask for any of his credentials so I'm not sure what effect, if any, it will have on his credit.

[kintu 4]

Hi all,

I just wanted to report something that may be of interest/help to new immigrants trying to establish credit.

My husband and I (the USC) arrived back in the USA in late July of this year (we both were living abroad in a third country). I am back in school as a PhD student, and my husband has thankfully found reasonable employment (not as good as hoped, but still very happy he found something very quickly).

Pretty soon after arriving, we started trying to establish credit for my husband - we got him a secured credit card, and I added him as an authorized user on one of my credit cards.

We are interested in buying a house, but assumed we were pretty much out of luck, with me earning pittance as a grad student, and my husband with no credit. However, we decided to meet with a loan officer just to get an idea of our options, and what we should do to insure we could be in a house within a few years.

The loan officer decided to run credit score checks on both of us, and to everyone's surprise, my husband's score came back as a 690 (about average). In looking at the report, the loan officer said the only reason he scored as high as he did is because I added him as an authorized user on my account.

I had no idea that doing so would influence his score so much. In fact, I was under the assumption that this would have a very small to no effect. But low and behold, after only being in the USA for 2 and a half months, he is scoring high enough to qualify for a home loan.

I know this may not work for everyone, but I wanted to share our experience, in case it is able to help others out. We were both quite surprised by this development.

Good luck to everyone!

Very nice of you to share this experience.thank you

[Enigma11561 336]

Hi all,

I just wanted to report something that may be of interest/help to new immigrants trying to establish credit.

My husband and I (the USC) arrived back in the USA in late July of this year (we both were living abroad in a third country). I am back in school as a PhD student, and my husband has thankfully found reasonable employment (not as good as hoped, but still very happy he found something very quickly).

Pretty soon after arriving, we started trying to establish credit for my husband - we got him a secured credit card, and I added him as an authorized user on one of my credit cards.

We are interested in buying a house, but assumed we were pretty much out of luck, with me earning pittance as a grad student, and my husband with no credit. However, we decided to meet with a loan officer just to get an idea of our options, and what we should do to insure we could be in a house within a few years.

The loan officer decided to run credit score checks on both of us, and to everyone's surprise, my husband's score came back as a 690 (about average). In looking at the report, the loan officer said the only reason he scored as high as he did is because I added him as an authorized user on my account.

I had no idea that doing so would influence his score so much. In fact, I was under the assumption that this would have a very small to no effect. But low and behold, after only being in the USA for 2 and a half months, he is scoring high enough to qualify for a home loan.

I know this may not work for everyone, but I wanted to share our experience, in case it is able to help others out. We were both quite surprised by this development.

Good luck to everyone!

[Enigma11561 336]

Getting a home loan these days is not an east task. Any good bank or mortgage broker must adhere to some very stringent standards. It's not just about credit scores. If you are a first time home buyer, there are some options open to you. A reduced interest rate and smaller down payment, such as only as little as 3% compared to 30% percent in many cases. However, that means a much larger monthly payment. So, in short, you need to have some cash to put down, prove you can meet monthly payments ( including taxes and insurance) and most likely show that these payments will be at or lower than 30% of your gross monthly income.A good credit score only means that you paid prior bills on time. But if they were small credit card payments, as an example, that does not show you can handle a much larger mortgage. You can go to creditkarma.com and review your credit score for free any time you want, but again, that is only a small part of the overall home loan underwriting. Proving a strong, steady income, at the same company, for several years, is the strongest position you can bring to the table.

[chaine1 116]

Getting a home loan these days is not an east task. Any good bank or mortgage broker must adhere to some very stringent standards. It's not just about credit scores. If you are a first time home buyer, there are some options open to you. A reduced interest rate and smaller down payment, such as only as little as 3% compared to 30% percent in many cases. However, that means a much larger monthly payment. So, in short, you need to have some cash to put down, prove you can meet monthly payments ( including taxes and insurance) and most likely show that these payments will be at or lower than 30% of your gross monthly income.A good credit score only means that you paid prior bills on time. But if they were small credit card payments, as an example, that does not show you can handle a much larger mortgage. You can go to creditkarma.com and review your credit score for free any time you want, but again, that is only a small part of the overall home loan underwriting. Proving a strong, steady income, at the same company, for several years, is the strongest position you can bring to the table.

Yes, true. I did not mean to suggest that a good credit score was the only thing needed in the home buying process. I was merely reporting that we had been successful in increasing my husband's score in a way I did not know was possible.

Question:

Were you added as an authorized user or joint-account holder? If you were added as only an authorized user, did the credit card company ask for SSN? I've added my husband as an authorized user, not as joint-account holder. They didn't ask for any of his credentials so I'm not sure what effect, if any, it will have on his credit.

I honestly don't remember if they asked for his SSN. He was added as only an authorized user. I did not add him as a joint account holder. The account is with Chase Bank, if that helps at all.

Edited October 9, 2012 by chaine1

[Ryan H 3,796]

I'll give an example of simply adding your spouse as an authorized user does nothing to build their credit. After my wife and I got married (but prior to her arrival in the US) I added her as an authorized user to both of my credit cards. After her arrival and when we were trying to get her a cell phone, no provider would offer her a contract because she had no credit history.

The account is with Chase Bank, if that helps at all.

The bank the account is with could very well be a determining factor, none of my credit card accounts are with Chase.

[Donna & Paul 4]

I really didn't think just adding him as an authorized user would do anything toward building his credit here. Since it isn't tied to anything but his name(i.e. SSN) there would be no way to attach anything to his credit profile. I'm sure there are quite a few people with my husband's name out there.

I can't imagine anything that doesn't require some sort of credentials, SSN specifically, would build any credit. I'm in the process of adding him as a joint-account holder.

[alizon 77]

I really didn't think just adding him as an authorized user would do anything toward building his credit here. Since it isn't tied to anything but his name(i.e. SSN) there would be no way to attach anything to his credit profile. I'm sure there are quite a few people with my husband's name out there.

I can't imagine anything that doesn't require some sort of credentials, SSN specifically, would build any credit. I'm in the process of adding him as a joint-account holder.

From what I read when we were having this conversation earlier on another thread, banks only need a name and address to report credit information. SSN just provides another layer of confirmation that they have the right person, which obviously is preferable, but not necessary. It's up to their discretion whether they report authorized user information to credit bureaus, so some likely do and others don't.

[KazuriSana 324]

Question:

Were you added as an authorized user or joint-account holder? If you were added as only an authorized user, did the credit card company ask for SSN? I've added my husband as an authorized user, not as joint-account holder. They didn't ask for any of his credentials so I'm not sure what effect, if any, it will have on his credit.

Wifey added me as a joint account holder. Yes they asked for my ssn. They said if I don't provide ssn I can be added as an authorized user but it will not be of any use or benefit in building my credit. They sent us a form to fill.

You need to call them and tell them you want your husband as a joint-account holder. What happens is that the credit history of that particular account migrates to his credit history [if he is a joint account holder] - at least that seems to be what happened to me.