OK, I decided to drop off bureaus in mid 1980's when in a divorce my personal credit was used as 'income' by a BS judge, even though the expenses were business deductions to the IRS, the court said it was 'lifestyle'.
So until 2010 I was a ghost, I can buy any car or house I want with cash, my companies give credit all the tme to clients, so why show up in bureaus.
So around 2010 I'm talking to some investors about one of my companies maybe doing an IPO and when he said how's your credit, I laughed, I don't owe anyone money I have zero credit I'm a ghost. He shook his head, can't do an IPO with a ghost, go buy a car and get some credit cards.
So here's how a ghost got new cards pretty easily.
My main bank is BOA so even though I'm loaded the manager said without 3 items in bureau NO UNSECURED CARD, so first step, establish a secured card with your existing bank, I did and in 6 months they returned the deposit and now it reports as an unsecured card, so that's the main step, secured cards will drop to unsecured in a short time.
I had some old accounts from decades ago with retailers, so merely reopening them was no big deal but they don't show as aged accounts, they're 'new'.
HSBC was the first company to send a quasi 'pre-approved' card to me with a low limit and high rate and the BS 75 buck a year fee to activate it, so that was first 'unsecured card'.
Oh, HSBC is now owned by capital 1, they merged recently just got my notice my HSBC is now under capital 1
When I get a new card, I max it out almost immediately then pay the card off before the first bill hits, so when it first reports yeah it's a BS new account but the history shows high credit used and zero balance, having low or no balances on any revolving credit is the key in the bureaus it's the fastest way to bump up scores.
The hardest thing to get is the installment loan, usually a car loan, but if you have a decent down payment, you can get one, if you have to go to second or third market funding for a car loan MAKE SURE IT REPORTS most of the BS buy here and pay here loans do not report.
After about a year of clean reporting in bureaus, Discover sent a pre-approved to apply, sure enough it got approved for a decent amount 5,000
Then Capital 1 sent one of my companies a pre-approved to apply app and without little info on the company just my personal guarantee they gave me a 10K line out of the gate
TD Auto Financing is the easiest company to get a car loan with, 6 months ago with 720 average beacons and very little in bureaus they had no problem giving a loan on a high end benz
So now I have a car loan with almost 6 months of payments going (about to pay it off) and zero debt on close to 20K in revolving and a beacon that is now 750 or so
Ghost to 750 in two years
I hate owing anyone money, I honestly do, so this is what I did to reestablish credit
a. secured card with your local bank that will drop to unsecured within 6 to 12 months
b. take that first BS card with a low limit and high activation just to get going
c. purchase something at Macy's or Kay Jewelers and get some of it financed
d. USE THE CARDS THEN PAY THEM ALL OFF ASAP
e. get a minor car loan that reports as soon as TD auto says good to go
f. once you get to mid 600's or low 700's buy a cheap investment home like a condo or townhouse to lease out or live in
Establishing or reestablishing credit is one thing, fixing bad credit is a whole different game
So if it helps you, enjoy
