hahaha. bad credit

So we're trying to get tv service at my house, right? Right. None of us can pass the credit check. How sad is it that we have several grown adults living in our house and NOBODY can pass a credit check for TV SERVICE.

Anybody wanna let me use their name? I promise we're good for it.

 

hahaha! booo. why not? whats the deal?

 

that sucks

 

My credit:

2 reposessed cars
2 Full apartment evictions
1 outstanding federal student loan
1 outstanding private student loan
? outstanding medical bills
? outstanding bank acct balances
? outstanding bounced checks(thousands of dollars alone)

I guess I have an issue committing to payments.

 

yeah that's pretty bad..

I don't have a credit which apparently is worse than having bad credit haha - I just opened a new bank account and they did a credit check and nothing.. so my banker told me I should start "building" credit.. how though?

 

sounds realistic......
its harder to keep good credit than ya think...

 

I have a 1000 dollar credit bill.

 

Get A(ONE - SINGULAR) credit card. Buy a couple nice things for yourself, and don't touch it for a while as you pay it off. Pay an additional 50% on top of your monthly minimum each month til it's paid. Call and ask for a limit increase. You'll generally get it if you've paid the first six months on time. Repeat as necessary.

 

I don't know anybody who really thinks good credit is easy. Credit is bullshit though. If you can't afford it, you probably don't need it. I'm filing bankruptcy to fix my credit solely because of the evictions. Makes it super hard to rent ANYTHING, after you've done it twice. Other than that, I'm done with bank loans and credit cards, car payments, etc.

 

I won't be able to get a credit card til I get a job I don't think.. I'm a student.. and my parents live abroad.. so.. no credit cards for me til I work I guess!

I have French and Spanish credit cards though, but my parents pay haha :tongue: I feel bad, they're so in debt..

 

well, what if you never had a credit card? what if, like me, you don't have a credit history at all? can you get refused for things, like rent etc.?

 

Well that would definitely be a limiting factor in building credit. The other option is to go the pre-paid route. You put down a $250 deposit and that's your credit limit. You "borrow" from your own money and pay it back until you've done it enough times that they feel they can extend on that limit and back your credit with THEIR money.

 

Soon you might have to pack your bags for mexico.

 

You'll never get refused rent or utilities etc over no credit. Just have to place a deposit because you're an unknown risk. That's why some places consider no credit worse than bad credit. As shitty as my credit is, I have enough things on there that are always paid, even if extremely late, that my credit gives them an idea of how big of a risk I am. when folks have no credit, they could potentially be a bigger risk than I am.

 

I guess I'll talk about it with my banker when I start working.. like.. really working full-time..

 

I see.. it's good to know

 

you can get around things like no credit by just having the money upfront

 

Just a side note, but while unpaid medical bills are reported to your credit, they do not affect your credit score. I guess one of the twisted ways the government has to make up for the pathetic lack of healthcare.

Anyway, apparently I have halfass decent credit for a 21 year old. I have a debit card that doubles as a credit card and if I don't overdraft, they give me a good credit rating every so often, and even though a credit company started to handle my cell phone bill (after months and months of delinquency), I immediately paid them, so there was no bad mark on that (in fact, I think I actually got a good credit score for that...oddly enough, lol). When we went to go rent a car, I had to pass a credit check and I did. I figure my credit must be halfway decent for them to let me have a car for a weekend. And renting the car put a good mark on my credit. I'm excited, I think when we start getting a more steady income, I'm buying a car.

 

The two best things to do, one of which Makaveli was pretty much getting at, is to go to your bank and ask about a SECURED credit card, which means you put a specified amount into a savings account, and that amount-minus a small fee-becomes your credit limit. Most banks will do this, and for some just starting out, it is the only way to get a REAL credit card.

The other thing you can do is go to a small credit agency in your town (but NOT! A CHECK ADVANCE PLACE!!!!!) and apply for a small loan. Most anyone with a fulltime job can get approved for anywhere from 1-500.00 at first, and after you pay it off, you can increase each time. (I know it won't work for you right now Penny, being a student, but I thought it might come in handy at some point, it's really easy.)

They generally will only require that you have held the same job and lived at the same residence for roughly a year, but if you are just under, they will usually work with you on that.

I have had a rough time building credit, and I've wrestled with Sprint and Charter (cable) over supposed unpaid invoices-which were paid, by the way-and finally gotten the issues resolved. It can become a fulltime job kicking that credit score up, but it is very much worth the effort later on in life.

Oh, one last thing. If you haven't already seen your credit report, GET IT IMMEDIATELY. It does you no good to let your potential lendors see your file, when you in fact have not. If you have been turned down for a loan in the past year, you are entitled to a free viewing of your report, and it is a great idea to make sure everything on it is accurate.

 

I just haven't paid one hospital bill yet.. (it's a year old) and I got kicked-out of Bank Of America for too many bounced checks.. but.. I'm not a citizen nor even a permanent resident so I don't think that shit even is on file anywhere..