I hope someone can help me with some advice. I'm reposting hoping against all hope for some guidance... Is there anyone here who has ever applied for a Parent Plus Loan for their childrens college? Do they turn you down if you have negative items showing only? The financial institution Penn State uses for the Parent Plus pulls TransUnion to approve or disapprove. I only a have on thee an old account for $540 from five years ago but shows as a good acct!! I'm afraid to apply and be turned down because I have no recent credit. I tried to get Fico scores from myfico but no scores showed up so I wasn't charged for the reports. I only have 1 item on my Experian for a $12K car loan that was paid off in 1995 and is paid off and never late. But, I have no recent credit. I'm working on it - going to apply with Verizon for a cell phone but might get turned down there too. But in the meantime I need a CAR and I'm afraid my Credit Union is going to turn me down for a loan as well. Any suggestions from the knowledgable here? Please...Tk you
Hi Maxine. I don't know how much help I'm going to be but I'll give it a shot. I've never applied (or even heard of) Parents Plus but I can tell you that with a mid 500s score, my DH just got a student loan through Citibank. For them it was an issue of have you ever defaulted on a student loan? No--- great here's a new one. As to not having any recent credit, it is important to build this regardless. Go to privacyguard.com and sign up for their free 60 day trial and then print out your report. Take it to your credit union and tell them you don't want them to run another - but by looking at your PG printout, would you qualify for a loan. I bet you can call Parent's Plus and ask them if you don't have any recent credit - can you still qualify. As to the cell phone, my son who had no credit and was just 18 applied and got a T-Mobil (not that am advertising for them) with no problem. I don't know if the cell phone companies report though or not. Maybe someone here will know of stores that will give you non-secured (even if it's a small cl) when starting out. I bet your credit union can offer you something too to build your credit up. Good luck
