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Understanding Credit Report

AwakeNAlive said:
i have nothing against people who don't use credit. i do have a pet peeve regarding people who try to discredit businesses, mislead the audience into thinking the businesses are piranhas and act like his life story is the little guy against the big institutions and that the big institutions are out there scheming to empty the pockets of working class folks. it is a tiring story
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I use to be one of those people who would bash companies and blame them for my woes until I realized that I needed to be responsible take care of my debt and stop whining - it's not free money. Simple as that. Pay your debt on time and don't max out your cards, hell, using anything more than 30% of your cards limit will hurt ya. Dispute any old/incorrect collections or pay it off ASAP, that will help you a shit ton.
 
OP, it's not the end of the world that you don't get this place due to your current credit status. Wait another year, your gf's credit report will look good and in the meantime, you can work on improving your score by paying on time. Time can fix lots of things. Good luck!



If any of you want to read the thread discussion back in February regarding the member who had no credit history trying to get an apt he wanted, here it is: "Zero Credit?".
http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=523055

Much of what was said in that thread reveals why some prefer not to use credit at all but also the depth of how people use credit in their favor
 
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What about offering double the security deposit to mitigate risk? Also, the joint package does not seem as risky to me.
 
ctwo said:
What about offering double the security deposit to mitigate risk? Also, the joint package does not seem as risky to me.
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if you really like the place, offer anything you can deliver. no sense in thinking you might get declined and not even try. take the risk and the worst that can happen is rejection

sometimes it's not about what's on paper. be real honest and say you really like the place, what can we do that will show we will be good tenants (not just offer something, but ask ideally what would sway his confidence). it's about the trust between landlord and tenant in person, the eye-to-eye contact and the handshake.
 
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RightCoastBias said:
I've had some large discrepancies in score from CK and what someone at the car dealership/loan/etc gets back from the same agencies. I've had 100 point differences. Been meaning to look into why that is for a while.

Anyone else experienced the same?
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Yup CK is a good starting point but the numbers bounce between 20 - 70 points every two weeks for me. Apparently it thinks large spending is bad so it'll drop the score. Once it's paid off in a week or two the score settles back to 800+
 
Yeah, I'm resurrecting an old thread, but I really didn't want to start a new one. :dunno :laughing

Sometime in the past year I froze all three of the credit reporting companies so that nobody could try to impersonate me and get a loan or something. I have no need for credit, having a decent sized retirement fund, and having been completely debt free for the past ten years. I get emails from all three companies every month or so. Mostly I ignore them, but I just looked at the Equifax score which listed me as "excellent". I won't mention the number, which was less than 850, but not by a huge amount.

I thought that it was interesting what it said under "Hurting your credit score":
  • You have either very few loans or too many loans with recent delinquencies
  • Lack of sufficient credit history on bankcard or credit card accounts
  • The balances on your accounts are too high compared to loan amounts
  • Balances on bankcard or credit card accounts too high compared to credit limits
I don't know if those are generic things that they say to everybody, since the last one clearly doesn't apply, but I definitely have "too few loans". I think number three is saying that I have a healthy bank balance, but a credit card balance close to zero. I pay off the credit card several times a month because I really don't ever want to pay credit card interest.

I'm curious if anybody else here has frozen their credit reports.
 
It took me a minute to figure out what I was asking about here, and I think it would be good to freeze my credit as I do not need a loan or a car or anything at all...
 
Eric and I have a great credit score and zero debt. 2 years after we paid off our house I bought a Jeep Rubicon. The dealer was offering 0% for 4 years OAC, or something similar. Needless to say we didn’t qualify for it. Not enough current credit history. I guess 20 years of buying 2 houses, way too many motorcycles and a few cars and an RV didn’t count anymore as history. We didn’t even qualify for a decent loan through our own bank. Got a great deal through our credit Union and paid it off in a little over 2 years. Fast forward 9 years to 2023, and we’re trying to buy a hybrid RAV4. Same thing. We could pay cash for a fleet of them but nooo, can’t take a chance on us scofflaws for a low/no percentage loan because we’re responsible and pay off our credit cards every month. We paid cash and were done with it. I guess that’s just how it’s going to be from now on.
 
WoodsChick said:
The dealer was offering 0% for 4 years OAC, or something similar. Needless to say we didn’t qualify for it.
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When I bought my Jeep, I have the "Sorry, you don't qualify" letter listing my 850 score. I thought it was pretty funny.

"Ok"

I refinanced it with my bank, in as much to consolidate everything (mortgage is with my bank, CCs, one stop monthly payments).

When I bought my house, I got a loan from $LENDER, who immediately sold it to $WELLSFARGO. When the opportunity presented itself, I refinance the house with my bank since (while they offered no guarantee) I felt I had a very good chance of the loan not being sold to $WELLSFARGO, and it hasn't been. So, I'm content, (and got a 1/2 pt off in the deal too!). Golden handcuff interest rating binding me to this house :).
 
People make the mistake of thinking a credit report is a report card on one's debt repayments. That's true to an extent, but more importantly; a credit report is a dossier on a potential customer that can be factored, specifically for an anticipated profitability of the customer. When one applies for credit and and their credit report is pulled, the lender is evaluating how much ROI they'll make on this customer and the risk factor. To have "good" credit, you should be paying interest payments somewhere in a series of years, be it auto, home, or CC. Without there, there's no history and thus, a lack of confidence in the risk calculation.
 
You have to have credit to get credit.
Your credit report is a predictor of your pay habits to a potential creditor/lender. If there is no recent history (within the last two years) there is nothing to go on.

If the credit report shows no activity for a number of years you may have had a great job 2 years ago and paid everything on time then, but maybe since then you've been through a divorce that cleaned you out, or changed jobs to a lower paying one, or taken in family members who aren't working and need your support, or...lenders don't want to chance it.

On the other hand, if your credit report shows open credit cards that are all paid AA, the balances aren't maxed out, recent car loans and mortgages paid AA and have been for 2+ years, then that's how you'll repay your new creditor.
 
My wife and I are in the same boat as Scott, insofar as we are both just a tick under 850. We have zero debt, the two points rewards CCs we use are paid off every month. We pay HOA dues, insurance and PG&E, all on our cards. Our mortgages went bye bye ages ago. When buying cars (I may be in the market again next year for the latest Golf R if it does come with the Audi RS3 400 - ish hp engine, oh my) I pay cash. Unless something totally and absolutely catastrophic happens before we curl our toes up, our credit scores will not make a difference. I really need a scheme to spend our son's inheritance before that day / those days arrive.
 
Just a number but oddly so significant in the US. Maybe less important as you go around the planet.
Fortunately I’ve never lived beyond my means so was never something I focused on. Pretty sure you can get a cc no matter what your score.
 
Yes but the cc will have a higher interest rate if your score is low which is wasted money.

Someone correct me if I have this wrong- I’ve heard that in Asia a person who has never needed to borrow money is considered a good credit risk. So if and when they do ask for a loan they get the best rate.

The whole “living within your means” thing means something over there. Accumulating assets without borrowing money is seen as golden.
 
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