topic Re: What does purchased by another lender mean and do I need to get rid of it? in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Zero credit at 40 years old where to begin?

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:09:08 GMT

Hello. I am new to this forum. I'm pretty sure I have no credit. I was living in England and France from 2000 until 2007 and since returning four years ago have been renting a house and using my ATM/Visa from Wells Fargo for everything. I have bought two cars since I've been back but have paid cash for both. Before I went abroad I had some student loans which were not quite paid off so I paid them off in 2002 it looks like.

I did file for bankrupcy in 2001 before marrying my husband because I didn't want him to have to assume my credit card debt from college (less than 10K.) This is nowhere on my credit report so must have fallen off.

My husband and I bought a house in France in 2002 and renovated taking numerous loans to complete it and recently sold it (one year ago) repaying all the loans in full with the sale, and a perfect paymeny history but this does not reflect on a US credit report. They do not actually have Credit Reports in France at least they didn't when I was living there.

I tried to run a free yearly credit report on myself just today and it looks more or less blank. Two agencies Experian and Equifax were unable to validate my request using the questions. Equifax in fact asked 4 questions that had absolutely no relationship to me, and Experian asked only two out of four questions that were valid. Trans Union on the other hand asked four questions that related to me and provided me with a free report and here is what it said:

The only reporting on it is two items listed under satisfactory accounts. One is certainly my old student loans which lists as paid as of 2002 with a zero balance. The other says credit card (no memory of this) CHASE opened 1999 and closed in 2003. Zero balance. Remarks are purchased by another lender. This was possibly an old apple computer loan or maybe in fact a credit card I had long ago. Then there's something under the Student Loan saying last 31 months paid OK with a bunch of little green OK boxes. I'm curious why these two old bits of information are even on there if it's all suppose to fall away as time passes. Or is it just the bad stuff that falls away? And isn't this last one in fact bad as it shows "purchased by another lender". Does that imply something negative?

Here are my questions (and thanks in advance for any and all help.)

Do I need to follow up with these other agencies and mail in paper with a photo ID etc? Or is one agency reporting enough?
What can I do to improve my pretty much nonexistent credit (I understand from reading that I may need to open an actual credit card, my husband has a AMEX would they give me a card as well? Or some lesser entity? How many cards do I need? I really don't like ahaving credit cards and would prefer to just keep them in a file somewhere and use them only to build my credit if needed. Who would give me a credit card? Do I really want one?
It worries me a bit that I am 40 years old and have this empty credit. If I had a score, which I'm assuming I don't, would it be a regular score? I did the estimator for FICO and reprted as never having had a credit card as having Zero is not an option. Would my score actual be a good score?

Excuse the rambling. I will start using the shorthand in my next post. I am familiar with it so please feel free to use it in any replies. I am eager to get my credit looking like a 40 year woman should so any and all help from those of you who know your way aound this stuff so well would be greatly appreciated. I am a quick study so send me all the links and advice you are able!

Thanks again!

Re: Zero credit at 40 years old where to begin?

cashnocredit — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:08:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello. I am new to this forum. I'm pretty sure I have no credit. I was living in England and France from 2000 until 2007 and since returning four years ago have been renting a house and using my ATM/Visa from Wells Fargo for everything. I have bought two cars since I've been back but have paid cash for both. Before I went abroad I had some student loans which were not quite paid off so I paid them off in 2002 it looks like.

I did file for bankrupcy in 2001 before marrying my husband because I didn't want him to have to assume my credit card debt from college (less than 10K.) This is nowhere on my credit report so must have fallen off.

My husband and I bought a house in France in 2002 and renovated taking numerous loans to complete it and recently sold it (one year ago) repaying all the loans in full with the sale, and a perfect paymeny history but this does not reflect on a US credit report. They do not actually have Credit Reports in France at least they didn't when I was living there.

I tried to run a free yearly credit report on myself just today and it looks more or less blank. Two agencies Experian and Equifax were unable to validate my request using the questions. Equifax in fact asked 4 questions that had absolutely no relationship to me, and Experian asked only two out of four questions that were valid. Trans Union on the other hand asked four questions that related to me and provided me with a free report and here is what it said:

The only reporting on it is two items listed under satisfactory accounts. One is certainly my old student loans which lists as paid as of 2002 with a zero balance. The other says credit card (no memory of this) CHASE opened 1999 and closed in 2003. Zero balance. Remarks are purchased by another lender. This was possibly an old apple computer loan or maybe in fact a credit card I had long ago. Then there's something under the Student Loan saying last 31 months paid OK with a bunch of little green OK boxes. I'm curious why these two old bits of information are even on there if it's all suppose to fall away as time passes. Or is it just the bad stuff that falls away? And isn't this last one in fact bad as it shows "purchased by another lender". Does that imply something negative?

Here are my questions (and thanks in advance for any and all help.)

Do I need to follow up with these other agencies and mail in paper with a photo ID etc? Or is one agency reporting enough?
What can I do to improve my pretty much nonexistent credit (I understand from reading that I may need to open an actual credit card, my husband has a AMEX would they give me a card as well? Or some lesser entity? How many cards do I need? I really don't like ahaving credit cards and would prefer to just keep them in a file somewhere and use them only to build my credit if needed. Who would give me a credit card? Do I really want one?
It worries me a bit that I am 40 years old and have this empty credit. If I had a score, which I'm assuming I don't, would it be a regular score? I did the estimator for FICO and reprted as never having had a credit card as having Zero is not an option. Would my score actual be a good score?
Excuse the rambling. I will start using the shorthand in my next post. I am familiar with it so please feel free to use it in any replies. I am eager to get my credit looking like a 40 year woman should so any and all help from those of you who know your way aound this stuff so well would be greatly appreciated. I am a quick study so send me all the links and advice you are able!

Thanks again!

Hi! Welcome to the forum.

First, old but positive debt histories stay on your report for 10 years by custom. There is no law that defines when they drop off but the reporting agencies drop them at ten years.

Since you have a few very old but positive entries you will be able to start buidling credit faster than a total newbie. With a clean record you will have little trouble quickly building credit. By far the fastest way to build credit if you have a little spare cash is to open a couple of secured credit cards. You are their ideal customer so I'd go with the ones that have the lowest annual fee. I was in almost the same boat and opened a Citi and Wells Fargo CC. They unsecured automatically after 18 months and your's should also. Credit unions are also good places to open both checking and savings. You probably should start with whatever you are using now and see what they have. You could also start off with unsecured cards but it will be hard to get better terms or credit limit than can be achieved with secured cards. Unsecured cards also will require info about your income/job status. Whatever you do do not pay late as that kills your credit when you are just starting off.

Search on "secured credit cards" in the rebuilder part of this forum and you will get an idea of the options.

Re: Zero credit at 40 years old where to begin?

p- — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:13:00 GMT

With regard to accessing your reports - you might be better off calling the CB's directly if you can't get access online, and explaining the situation to them. They should be able to send you a report.

Re: Zero credit at 40 years old where to begin?

cashnocredit — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:17:38 GMT

I meant to mention that your name and current address and stuff gets updated automatically by the creditor when you apply for credit so you shouldn't have much trouble getting reports after you have a credit line reporting.

And what "p" said in the interim.

Re: Zero credit at 40 years old where to begin?

IOBA — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:49:07 GMT

If you are willing to pay the fee, and DH says yes, have him add you as an authorized user. This will help you build your credit file. You will also gain his credit history with THIS card only, good or bad.

Re: Zero credit at 40 years old where to begin?

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:08:49 GMT

Super thank you! Unfortunately I have since asked my husband and it is a French AMEX, so not reporting to the US (we assume.) A quick question. If it did turn oput to be reporting to US agencies (highly unlikely) would becoming an AU on the AMEX count since it's one of those PIF each month type Amex cards. Not even sure if they make a different kind these days.

I will look into the Secured card as well. I'll ask my DH to pull a free report as well to see if it's worth adding me as an AU on his AMEX. The payment history would have to be flawless as well, I assume to make it worth my while. Thanks again so much.

Re: Zero credit at 40 years old where to begin?

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:59:49 GMT

One more thing...

It might be relevant that I do have money in the bank (WF to be specific) and if that makes me more likely to get a secured card then great. I infer from my readings here on myFico that the CL on these cards DOES NOT MATTER in which case I would go for the 300$ cards. Could I apply for 2 or 3 at the same bank or is there an intrinsic necessity to diversify among lenders when building your credit. And if so, will other banks accept me as readily for a secured card as my own bank where my money is? I'm kinda thinking the answer to this is YES.

Questions in regard to spending. Does it really matter how much you spend? I would default to spending little and none on these cards. Buying a slurpy every other month type thing (roughly quoted from a post by hauling I think.) But if you think it would do me any good at all to really revolve this credit I could EASILY spend $300 or 600 dollars a week in increments of $300's and just pay it down as soon as it posts (especially this time of year.) I'm guessing the answer is NO and the amount spent I'm sure is appreciated by the issuing company's bottom line but by no by any particular individual who can affect my credit score. If I'm wrong please let me know.

In regards to Department store cards: Would I actually qualify for one at this here point? I also get incessant offers from Airline credit cards (probably due to the fact that as a consequence of living and starting a family abroad I need to buy more plane ticket than the average Joe.) Would I qualify for those? I don't want them unless they would make a significant difference in my credit rating. I'm guessing the answer here is no.

Super! No time to edit this post. Homework time with my little rugrats!

Thank you everyone so much! Really love this forum. It seems sometimes nobody knows anything about this stuff! Thrilled at the expertise of the people who post here!

Re: Zero credit at 40 years old where to begin?

cashnocredit — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:51:36 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
One more thing...

It might be relevant that I do have money in the bank (WF to be specific) and if that makes me more likely to get a secured card then great. I infer from my readings here on myFico that the CL on these cards DOES NOT MATTER in which case I would go for the 300$ cards. Could I apply for 2 or 3 at the same bank or is there an intrinsic necessity to diversify among lenders when building your credit. And if so, will other banks accept me as readily for a secured card as my own bank where my money is? I'm kinda thinking the answer to this is YES.

Questions in regard to spending. Does it really matter how much you spend? I would default to spending little and none on these cards. Buying a slurpy every other month type thing (roughly quoted from a post by hauling I think.) But if you think it would do me any good at all to really revolve this credit I could EASILY spend $300 or 600 dollars a week in increments of $300's and just pay it down as soon as it posts (especially this time of year.) I'm guessing the answer is NO and the amount spent I'm sure is appreciated by the issuing company's bottom line but by no by any particular individual who can affect my credit score. If I'm wrong please let me know.

In regards to Department store cards: Would I actually qualify for one at this here point? I also get incessant offers from Airline credit cards (probably due to the fact that as a consequence of living and starting a family abroad I need to buy more plane ticket than the average Joe.) Would I qualify for those? I don't want them unless they would make a significant difference in my credit rating. I'm guessing the answer here is no.

Super! No time to edit this post. Homework time with my little rugrats!

Thank you everyone so much! Really love this forum. It seems sometimes nobody knows anything about this stuff! Thrilled at the expertise of the people who post here!

Neither your CLs nor your spending affect your FICO score but the balances when posted each month do. However, they only affect your score that month. For the maximum score on a thin file use all your cards but have them report a zero balance except for one with a small (< 4% of CL) balance. You get dinged if they all report zero and you get dinged if the balance is over about 5%. This is particularly true on a thin, new file. Don't worry too much about it until a couple months before you get new credit.

However, even though CLs don't affect FICO scores they do affect some FAKO scores (who cares) and they do afect how big an increase in CLs you will see in the future. High CLs beget higher CLs. In my case I maxed out what they allowed on secured cards and wound up with 37k CLs combined on my two cards, WF and Citi within 18 months of starting. And I started with baddies and still had most of them when the cards unsecured. You should see better results.*

*Citi used to have secured cards up to 25k but they dropped it to 5k. WF allows up to 10k.

Oh, and if you already bank at WF and don't have negatives on your CR you are their perfect secured card customer!

What does purchased by another lender mean and do I need to get rid of it?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:59:19 GMT

Hello,

Thanks for all the great advice. I have one more nagging question about my TU report. As I said earlier, I recently requested a yearly free credit report and there were only two things on it both listing as Satisfactory Accounts and both very old and closed. One is a Student loan with lots of green OK boxes. But the other item lists like this:

CHASE#...............

Balance:zero

date updated :. (a date in 2003)

Loan Type:Credit Card

Remarks: Purchased by another lender

Date opened:.(a date in 1999)

Date Closed: (a date in 2003)

Remember I did file bankrupcy in 2001 before marrying, and I'm guessing/pretty sure this was part of that. The bankrupcy is no longer on my credit report just the student loan and this.

Is this very negative? And if so why is it reporting satisfactory? What are the repercusssions?

And is there any way I can get rid of it?

Thanks again!

Re: What does purchased by another lender mean and do I need to get rid of it?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:45:59 GMT

A little more info in regards to:

under Satisfactory Accounts

CHASE#...............

Balance:zero

date updated :. (a date in 2003)

Loan Type:Credit Card

Remarks: Purchased by another lender

Date opened:.(a date in 1999)

Date Closed: (a date in 2003)

This was definately included in my bankrupcy I just pulled the papers from my file. Also it lists in my Bankrupcy (I can tell by the amount) as a Wells Fargo CC, not a CHASE card (as it says on my TU Credit Report.)

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Re: What does purchased by another lender mean and do I need to get rid of it?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:40:05 GMT

One more update:

I called transunion to try and initiate a dispute for the account I refer to above

CHASE#...............

Balance:zero

date updated :. (a date in 2003)

Loan Type:Credit Card

Remarks: Purchased by another lender

Date opened:.(a date in 1999)

Date Closed: (a date in 2003)

And he said this is not negative that banks sell and buy things all the time and that nobody will look at this adversely and there is no reason to remove it. Is that possible? I took his word for it but I can call back!

Thanks again.

Re: What does purchased by another lender mean and do I need to get rid of it?

cashnocredit — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:15:13 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
One more update:

I called transunion to try and initiate a dispute for the account I refer to above

CHASE#...............
Balance:zero
date updated :. (a date in 2003)
Loan Type:Credit Card
Remarks: Purchased by another lender
Date opened:.(a date in 1999)
Date Closed: (a date in 2003)

And he said this is not negative that banks sell and buy things all the time and that nobody will look at this adversely and there is no reason to remove it. Is that possible? I took his word for it but I can call back!

Thanks again.

Yes, he's right. And it is a positive factor on your FICO scores as well.

Re: What does purchased by another lender mean and do I need to get rid of it?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:27:41 GMT

Thank you so much Cashnocredit! You rock.

Re: What does purchased by another lender mean and do I need to get rid of it?

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:12:27 GMT

Brainfreeze,

Might I recommend that you attain a copy of your credit score and visit local banks and CU. At the time, I would use the current credit score to see if I can get a secured card while reducing the amount of hard inquires on your account. Given your "limited" credit history, a hard inquire will impact you more then one with a well established credit history.

Also, when applying for a secured card make sure that the provider actually reports to a credit agency, some do some don't.

And good luck with everything.

Re: Zero credit at 40 years old where to begin?

lamb — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:14:23 GMT

Hi! I actually dealt with a similar issue a year and a half ago (and at the same age!) after a divorce and living abroad for a decade.

Since my credit file was empty, I started with a secured card from Bank of America, which was unsecured after 12 months with a credit limit increase. The card was secured with $8000 and I think it helped me to have a large credit limit later on, as well as with encouraging other lenders to give me decent limits. I charged everything I needed to buy and paid my bill in full every month.

My advice would be to stay away from the bad credit rebuilder cards as much as possible. I started working on this very methodically about 18 months ago and now have a fair amount of unsecured credit, including my original BofA card, an AMEX gold (which they backdated to 1988), a Discover More, and some store charge cards that I actually use. Amazon (GEMB?) was quite generous and I use it regularly. I was also able to get a conventional mortgage at a good interest rate a year ago, although I did put down a significant amount of money (50%).

Good luck! It took a lot of careful planning, but I'm happy with how things have turned out. I'm now just letting things age and keeping balances low - my score keeps increasing every few months.

Re: Zero credit at 40 years old where to begin?

lamb — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:16:05 GMT

I forgot to add - I also took out an auto loan with a 50% downpayment. The interest rate is higher than I like, but my plan is to have it paid off within 2 years.

Re: Zero credit at 40 years old where to begin?

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:00:27 GMT

I would suggest going to your bank and getting a secured personal loan. You put, say $3500, in a secured savings account and the bank loans you $3500 against it. You have to make your first payment and then that amount comes off of "secured" status and is available to use to pay the next payment. The interest on these loans is minimal and you even get paid interest on the savings account. This type of credit is A credit and highly desireable as it shows as a bank loan. I'm not a credit wiz but was told to do this myself and it will get you credit without getting you in debt at 25%

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello. I am new to this forum. I'm pretty sure I have no credit. I was living in England and France from 2000 until 2007 and since returning four years ago have been renting a house and using my ATM/Visa from Wells Fargo for everything. I have bought two cars since I've been back but have paid cash for both. Before I went abroad I had some student loans which were not quite paid off so I paid them off in 2002 it looks like.

I did file for bankrupcy in 2001 before marrying my husband because I didn't want him to have to assume my credit card debt from college (less than 10K.) This is nowhere on my credit report so must have fallen off.

My husband and I bought a house in France in 2002 and renovated taking numerous loans to complete it and recently sold it (one year ago) repaying all the loans in full with the sale, and a perfect paymeny history but this does not reflect on a US credit report. They do not actually have Credit Reports in France at least they didn't when I was living there.

I tried to run a free yearly credit report on myself just today and it looks more or less blank. Two agencies Experian and Equifax were unable to validate my request using the questions. Equifax in fact asked 4 questions that had absolutely no relationship to me, and Experian asked only two out of four questions that were valid. Trans Union on the other hand asked four questions that related to me and provided me with a free report and here is what it said:

The only reporting on it is two items listed under satisfactory accounts. One is certainly my old student loans which lists as paid as of 2002 with a zero balance. The other says credit card (no memory of this) CHASE opened 1999 and closed in 2003. Zero balance. Remarks are purchased by another lender. This was possibly an old apple computer loan or maybe in fact a credit card I had long ago. Then there's something under the Student Loan saying last 31 months paid OK with a bunch of little green OK boxes. I'm curious why these two old bits of information are even on there if it's all suppose to fall away as time passes. Or is it just the bad stuff that falls away? And isn't this last one in fact bad as it shows "purchased by another lender". Does that imply something negative?

Here are my questions (and thanks in advance for any and all help.)

Do I need to follow up with these other agencies and mail in paper with a photo ID etc? Or is one agency reporting enough?
What can I do to improve my pretty much nonexistent credit (I understand from reading that I may need to open an actual credit card, my husband has a AMEX would they give me a card as well? Or some lesser entity? How many cards do I need? I really don't like ahaving credit cards and would prefer to just keep them in a file somewhere and use them only to build my credit if needed. Who would give me a credit card? Do I really want one?
It worries me a bit that I am 40 years old and have this empty credit. If I had a score, which I'm assuming I don't, would it be a regular score? I did the estimator for FICO and reprted as never having had a credit card as having Zero is not an option. Would my score actual be a good score?
Excuse the rambling. I will start using the shorthand in my next post. I am familiar with it so please feel free to use it in any replies. I am eager to get my credit looking like a 40 year woman should so any and all help from those of you who know your way aound this stuff so well would be greatly appreciated. I am a quick study so send me all the links and advice you are able!

Thanks again!

Re: Zero credit at 40 years old where to begin?

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:19:10 GMT

Hello,

To build Credit, a great trick is to place a small amount of money in a savings account at WF where you currently bank. Say $300 to $500, then go to the loan department of that bank and ask for a secure loan equal to the savings account. The loan will be easy to get and have a low interest rate unlike a secured credit card witch has higher rates. After you get the loan, wait one week and make your first payment, wait another week and make your second monthly payment, wait a third week and make your 3 monthly payment. When your first monthly payment is actual due, pay the payment on time and on time every month after that. At the same time you get the loan, get a secured credit card and one unsecured like capital one. By the time you reach 90 days you will have a 800+ fico score. With all 3 CB

Re: Zero credit at 40 years old where to begin?

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:33:23 GMT

There are very few banks that offer secured credit cards that report to the credit bureaus. Capital
One does offer secured credit cards and I got one with $200 deposit and no other fees involved or if there was a fee, it

was minimal. I received the card in about ten days and immediately charged $109 on it and paid it off three days later.

To my surprise, 1 to 2 months later, I checked my credit and it raised my score by 40 points. That was the only credit card that I had

so, it only takes one card to raise your score but you have to charge something and pay it off immediately, or that is the way that I did it.

Once my credit score was raised I applied for another card and received a $3000 unsecured limit. The only 2 banks that I know of that

issue secured cards and report to the credit bureaus are Capital One and Orchard. Feel free to ask for more advice as far as my credit

adventure continued.

Re: Zero credit at 40 years old where to begin?

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 04:32:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello,
To build Credit, a great trick is to place a small amount of money in a savings account at WF where you currently bank. Say $300 to $500, then go to the loan department of that bank and ask for a secure loan equal to the savings account. The loan will be easy to get and have a low interest rate unlike a secured credit card witch has higher rates. After you get the loan, wait one week and make your first payment, wait another week and make your second monthly payment, wait a third week and make your 3 monthly payment. When your first monthly payment is actual due, pay the payment on time and on time every month after that. At the same time you get the loan, get a secured credit card and one unsecured like capital one. By the time you reach 90 days you will have a 800+ fico score. With all 3 CB

Ah-hem! As DS would say, "Whatchabeensmokin?"