Would it be smart to get a credit card just to build my credit history? I have one credit card now, a Visa, and I was wondering if trying for a MasterCard (after the Afni business is done with, of course!) would be smart. I wouldn't purchase anything with the MasterCard but having it become part of my credit history now would be beneficial in the future, right?
you really won't be building anything if you don't use it. your best best would be to use the card for something that you normally use to buy with cash...for instance, fill your car up and don't buy anything else with it...then pay the full balance off every month ontime.
Actually, there is no harm in having a credit card without using it. The available credit will improve your FICO scores via the debt to available credit ratio, and the longer the account has been open, the more that improves FICO thru the average age of accounts. You might use it occasionally, to have some activity against it. Over time, most lenders tend to raise your credit limit, to encourage you to do more business with them, provided your overall credit history and scores look good. Old saying, but true: "Banks prefer to lend to those who don't need it." You get credit when you don't need it, so you can use it when you do. For example, you build your positive credit history years before you use it to get a mortgage and buy a house. You can't do it at the last minute. You might also benefit from having a second card as a back-up, if for example, your first card is blocked by the bank due to security breaches or questionable transactions. Otherwise it can be a pain if you are traveling. As far as waiting for the Afni matter to clear, that is unrelated. There should be no Afni TL on your reports, for a debt they claim was from the mid 1990s. FCRA requires the CRAs to remove all negative information 7.5 years after the date of first delinquency, and it requires all data furnishers to notify the CRAs of that date. If Afni is reporting a negative item, that is another reason to go after them. And if there was, and after disputing thru the CRAs Afni "verified", you would then want to show that you were being turned down for credit to show that you had sustained real damages from their violations. If you are not using or trying to obtain credit, it is hard to show you were damaged by their actions, even if they were illegal. You show damages by applying for credit and being turned down. Then you request an Adverse Action Notice from the lender (they are required to provide it in writing on request if you are turned down) to indicate why and what credit report was pulled for the decision, and then get a copy of that credit report (free under FCRA since you were turned down) to show that Afni's TL is the only negative item on it.
