Building credit after coming to the US

[Anonymous]

My fiance currently lives in Europe and has an excellent payment history there (I'm not sure how credit ratings work there, nor does she). She is moving to the US later this year. I have been told by a mortgage broker that she can "import" her credit history and add it to her credit report here. Does anyone know how that is done? Also, she sold her car where she lives now and will bring the proceeds here. However, I figured we could finance a car, keep some of that money, and build her US credit that way. Would it be possible to put $3-5k down on a $15k car and finance the rest if they run her report and come up with no history? I would think no history is better than bad history?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
My fiance currently lives in Europe and has an excellent payment history there (I'm not sure how credit ratings work there, nor does she). She is moving to the US later this year. I have been told by a mortgage broker that she can "import" her credit history and add it to her credit report here. Does anyone know how that is done? Also, she sold her car where she lives now and will bring the proceeds here. However, I figured we could finance a car, keep some of that money, and build her US credit that way. Would it be possible to put $3-5k down on a $15k car and finance the rest if they run her report and come up with no history? I would think no history is better than bad history?

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I'm not sure how one can import their credit history and if someone gives you details on how to do it we'd all love to hear them.

That said, if one has an overseas AmEx they can usually turn it into a US AmEx and gain the credit history.  Most other US banks won't do that, but often they will grant you a new line of credit based on your performance with them abroad.

[Anonymous]

She has a card with an Irish bank (AIB, no locations in the US) and a bank in the country she's from (also nothing in the US). I'll ask him for more details on importing credit. Is anyone lending to people with no history these days? She's over 21 and I presume therefore exempt from any of the new CARD regulations.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
She has a card with an Irish bank (AIB, no locations in the US) and a bank in the country she's from (also nothing in the US). I'll ask him for more details on importing credit. Is anyone lending to people with no history these days? She's over 21 and I presume therefore exempt from any of the new CARD regulations.

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It can be tough with no credit history.  I'm not sure who is or isn't approving those with either a think file or even no file, but you can never go wrong with a secured card.  Between a secured card and becoming an authorized user on another's long-establish account, she should be off to a good start.

[haulingthescoreup]

Best bet is to join a credit union and get her own card (secured or otherwise) and also be an authorized user on one of your cards. Old + clean history + little or no debt on that card = a good AU card.

Generally, after six months' worth of clean credit history, scores are just either side of 700. At that point, she can probably apply for a second card in her own name.

It's not as simple as it was before the finance meltdown, but it can still be done.

[Anonymous]

I'm new in US too. My credit history is 4-5 months old, and here's what I did: Applied for Citi Secured, after two months of multiple payments I got a pre-approved Standard Platinum from Cap One in the mail, again two months later I applied for Best Buy RewardZone MC using the pre-selector link and got approved for it and at the same time I applied for Chase student +1 too and am almost approved for that. But one thing you dont wanna do is to have 20+ inquiries on your file like I do :-D

That helped me even though I dont have any FICO score whatsoever, you might get lucky too :-)

[Anonymous]

I actually got a loan in May 2009 with no problems although I had no credit history...nada...zip. They did ask me for a variety of other information to asses my credit worthiness. The things they asked me for were:

1. Family and friend contact information. I didn't think they would call them and inquire my history but they did. I imagine it will be tricky for them to call her contacts, especially if they don't know the language. 
2. If I had any bills under my name and to show proof of payment history. I gave them three different utilities, all showing that I have PIF and on time for at least the past three months.
3. Proof of income with the last two check stubs. I doubt your fiance has US income in place though.
4. If I had a checking/savings account. The lender stated this is a sign of a responsible consumer. Only show the last 4 digits of your account so you don't compromise your information.
5. If I had a cell phone/house phone bill. They only needed the page with my phone number and the one with the balance on it. The lender also stated this is a sign of a responsible consumer if it's paid on time.
6. A big down payment, which shouldn't be a problem from what you mentioned earlier.

I had to settle for a big interest rate because of my lack of history and lack of previous credit but I got instant approval. I paid on time beyond the minimum and was able to renegotiate a better interest rate with them after 6 months from 25% down to 8%. Now... the thing is... after reading through the forums, I doubt this route is typical. It's possible I was able to get it done this way because the person on the other line liked who I was/wanted an easy high interest loan under her belt. Your fiance's best bet, like others have posted before myself, is getting a secured or union card. She should take out a loan on the car to start building her credit in the US. Because of my car loan, my FICO was an easy 730 after 10 months from a non existent history.