Credit Rating

[John & Jeanie 3]

How do I build a credit rating over here will this built over time as open bank accounts, etc/?

[NikLR 13,227]

You can start by having a credit card with a store or a secured credit card (one that has money already on it and you can spend up to that) or see if you can be added to your spouse's as a co - applicant or joint holder, not just as an authorized user.)

[BOS_LHR 829]

Seconding NLR's advise. I'm literally going through this at this very moment with my husband If your spouse can't or doesn't want to cosign an account with you, your best bet is to start with a secured card. Take a look here for some recommendations: http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/top-credit-cards/nerdwallets-best-secured-credit-cards/. I considered finding a store card to start my husband off with, but any rejected applications for credit will hit your report, so I personally wanted to stick to something fairly sure-fire to begin. After a few (3-6) months on the secured card we'll run his credit report and check score on Credit Karma, then hopefully be in good shape to pursue a store card at some place like Target.

For your first line of credit, try to keep utilization at or below 30% of your limit, and make sure you pay your balance monthly. Interest rates for people with limited credit are horrendous, but they won't be a problem if you always pay the balance in full In time you may be able to "upgrade" a secured card to a regular one, but not all companies offer that ability, and many will make you wait much longer than you'd have to before receiving a regular card from another issuer.

[Mrs O. 29]

Start with a secured(i.e. you pay money into it upfront) credit-card

[d3adc0d3 186]

I got advice from a financial advisor on how to build my fiance's credit quickly.

He recommended that I go to a credit union and open a joint account in our names, and have my fiance apply for a small loan (say $1500), when it's approved, deposit the amount for the loan into the checking account and have the payments automatically withdrawn. Deposit the difference that the interest will be (say $200). Once that loan is paid in full, rinse and repeat. It will show that he has good credit, he makes his payments on time, and builds a history. Should only take about 6 months to a year to build him nearly perfect credit.

I'd also recommend that you both get his name on the lease, and/or utility bills asap. You'll need that for the AOS.

Edited September 18, 2014 by d3adc0d3

[kzielu 1,149]

I got advice from a financial advisor on how to build my fiance's credit quickly.

He recommended that I go to a credit union and open a joint account in our names, and have my fiance apply for a small loan (say $1500), when it's approved, deposit the amount for the loan into the checking account and have the payments automatically withdrawn. Deposit the difference that the interest will be (say $200). Once that loan is paid in full, rinse and repeat. It will show that he has good credit, he makes his payments on time, and builds a history. Should only take about 6 months to a year to build him nearly perfect credit.

I'd also recommend that you both get his name on the lease, and/or utility bills asap. You'll need that for the AOS.

This actually is pretty neat way to build a credit... One thing though - length of credit history is important part of your credit, so while score can be decent in about a year, credit can't really be perfect in that short period of time. Even credit card companies look at the length of history...

But anyway - really neat idea.

[d3adc0d3 186]

This actually is pretty neat way to build a credit... One thing though - length of credit history is important part of your credit, so while score can be decent in about a year, credit can't really be perfect in that short period of time. Even credit card companies look at the length of history...

But anyway - really neat idea.

That's why I said "nearly".

It does help you get a good start! It can also help repair credit too.

[TBoneTX 45,447]

*** Thread moved from "Moving to the US" forum to the "Tax & Finances during U.S. Immigration" forum, where similar matters are discussed. See pinned thread in that forum. ***

[rjm_cmyk 75]

This is what I did.

1) Got a secured credit card through my bank (WF) - I kindly lent them $1000 at 0%APR for this privilege.....

2) Used about 30% of that credit every month - if you don't your score will go down (go figure)

3) After only three months got offered a "proper" credit card by Capital One which I took out and got a huge $500 credit line on that one.

4) Wait

During this time I have tracked the ups and downs of my credit score on creditkarma.com - good site.

It goes down if I don't put purchases on the cards and also dropped when the hard enquiry on the second card hit. A temporary issue and I have no plans to splurge on anymore credit applications for the time being. The one other the bank recommended (and they would wouldn't they) was a bank loan as additional types of credit improve your score. As I don't need to borrow money and don't really need a higher credit score at the moment I didn't take them up on their kind offer of a loan at outrageous levels of interest. Reading CreditKarma there is obviously a sweet spot in terms of number and type of credit lines but the biggest deal is how long you have had the credit lines and there is not a lot you can do about that.

By way of comparison - on my cards in the UK I had a typical limit of 10-20,000 UKP - here I'm only good for $500 on an unsecured card - starting over indeed !

Oh and make sure any cards you have report back to the credit agencies !!

Edited September 20, 2014 by rjm_cmyk