Hi all, New here, had a friend recomend this site as a means of getting some advice. I moved to the US about 12 months ago from Australia. Upon arrivng here i got myself a SSN and subsequently tried doing a few normal things like buying a car. getting an apartment.. joining a bank.. well.. Bank of America wouldnt touch me.. that was my first hardship.. it wasnt that i had bad credit.. it was that my SSN and myself were too new to even register on a credit check.. and supposedly that was worse than if i had really bad credit.. i managed to get an account with a credit union closely affiliated with my work, so that was fine. next i tried to buy a car.. was about $17k .. affordable on my salary.. definately.. however.. even at an astonishing 24% .. they went to 11 different places and couldnt get me credit.. i ended up having to get past payment history faxed from Australia for my credit union to lend me $5000 to get a small daily driver car. I received letters telling me of my failed attempts at getting credit for up to 6 months after that. I couldnt get a cell phone..i had to get my work to get me one.. this was all very difficult. well.. 12 months later..i STILL cannot get a cell phone..i managed ot get the car i wanted.. but it seems i am still an extreme credit risk.. i purchased an online credit report (3 in 1) from truecredit.. and was very confused.. some of my personal information was wrong.. one of the agencies had NO information for me.. and alot of the actual credit info was out of date.. my corporate AMEX didnt show up.. and i had a LOT of people checking my credit.. about 16 in the last 12 months.. my dilema now is how do i fix my credit ?.. or establish it ? I have one credit car from my bank..its 90% maxed.. but ui have never missed a payment.. my car loan.. and thats it..i want to transfer some 'moving expense' debt from Australia to here as its difficult to send money back.. but i am not having luck finding anyone willing to help with that.. and sprint PCS have just barely accepted my application for a cell phone.. placing me on some payment plan before i even buy it.. even though my ATT phone has been paid religiously for 12 months through my corporate AMEX (paid by me). what do i do ? .. i want to fix this.. i hope to buy a house in 12-24 months after i get a green card.. but right now i am just frustrated.. and i cant get a credit report from Australia.. #1.. i'd rather not.. the credit isnt too crash hot.. and #2 supposedly there is privacy laws protecting my credit history.. so i am guessing i have to fix what i have here.. its not bad credit.. so much.. its just not enough payment history.. my credit score is officially 0.
Try to get your card to 1/3 the limit. The best thing you can do is make sure your loan and card are being reported correctly. That will start your history. Dont apply for new credit for a while. the inquiries are killing you. makes you look desperate. You are establishin a new file so it takes time but if you keep it in good standing you will be surpised at the offers you will start gettiing. Patience is key here.
Re: Frustrated with Credit Unfortunately, there isn't alot you can do to speed up the process of establishing a payment history. I would recommend 1) send letters to the companies that pulled your credit report and ask them to remove their inquiries- 2) Don't apply for any new credit for a while- you are maxed out on inquiries. 2) call AMEX and ask them to start reporting your card to all the credit bureaus. 3) if your car loan isn't showing- try to get the loan to report. 4) pay down your one credit card to below 50% and keep it there. Sorry I cant be more help. I know more about fixing credit than establishing it.
The best way to establish credit is to start with a small secured loan from a bank or credit union. Or do have a friend add you as a user to his/her credit card and in less than 90 days you would've establish credit
I have a car loan for $25K ($20K now) and a small unsecured loan for $2.5K.. aswell as the Credit card.. they show on 2 of my reports.. but not the thrid.. and when i ask to see a score.. it says its 0 because i havnet shown a long enough payment history.. i have had all of these for much longer than 90 days.. i dont think things are being reported on my credit history correctly, or only to 2 of the three agencies.
As said before, Amex business cards are not reported to the credit bureaus and do not help you establish credit. HOWEVER, since you came from Australia, if you can get an Australian-issued Amex card (non-corporate), then you're in business. That's because foreign Amex cards can be converted to U.S. Amex cards with just a phone call. This would get you a prime U.S. credit card that reports to all three bureaus with no credit or income check. Saar
One secret of the fico scoring is that revolving card ratios count HEAVILY in the scoring. You have one credit card and it's maxed. That will heavily depress your score. Get that balance under 25% and your score will go up. Saar's Amex suggesion is great You may also be able to get a department store card and that'll help you... also, Citibank is pretty easy so you may want to try them when your credit card is paid down. I also agree with the secured installment loan route. That will help you build credit as long as it's reported and as long as it's a bank. Stay away from finance company installment loans, they will actually hurt your score. a rep at Fair Isaac actually told me it's not the number of cards... you can rebuild nicely with 2-3 cards but the ratios rule the score... Of course, if you want to use the cards the more you have will
Apply for a card from Capital One Bank (unsecure or secure) or FCNB. Apply for Target and Mobil and wait six months to apply again for a better card or to refinance your car loan. Put the same information everytime on the applications. Amex corporate cards do not report to Cr bureaus.
Thanks for the advice all. My Goal is to have my credit fixed enough to buy a house when i get permanent residency.. in about 18-36 months... so i think the rest of this year will be concentrated on getting my debt reduced so that i can then work on increasing my credit a little.. to build up my score... do a little research between here and then ont eh best course of action to take. I am calling my bank tomorrow to find out how eften they report and why they dont report to one of the agencies (the one most of the inqueries have been too funnily enough)
Australian AMEX.. welcome Xeno - very interesting problems when emigrating. I guess it is not easy. I was wondering what I would do if I left the US for a couple of years and worked on internet projects in Sydney; I know Australia is relatively strict about foreigners landing - like at Woomera! I saw some bank in Sydney affiliated with AMEX - revolving cards. I believe the bank was Home.... or something like that. You might just call AMEX - tell them EXACTLY the truth - just like you have here, and I believe they MAY give you a Green Card; but Saar is the expert in international credit on the board - he did build a wonderful credit profile - due to the help of AMEX. Best regards - email me if you would like to talka bit about Australia. I only know the eastern coast - Great Barrier - Queensland - NSW. aarrfff - Dogman
