Starting out at 27?

[gibeon]

A colleague at work is 27. He has Comcast in his name and that is it as far as credit goes.

He's going to see if his local bank manager can help him out, but it's Citizens so I'm not too hopeful.

If he doesn't get a card with his bank, I was going to recommend he go straight to a secured card.

He didn't prequal for anything at CapOne, and I'm not sure if I should tell him to app for their card, or just do the OpenSky for $200 then wait a few months to see what opens up.

I don't want him to load his report with Inquiries right out of the gate.

He litererally has never had anything on his credit reports except probably Inquiries for apartments.

His file is so thin it doesn't exist.

Thanks,
Gib

[Anonymous]

Any idea what his scores and reports are like? If indeed he doesn't have any credit to his name, and isn't receiving preapprovals from Capital One then going the secured route would be his best option. 

[jeffm4688]

At the very least one should be able to apply for a cap1 QS1 and if denied immediately apply for a secured and assuminly get it.

Cap1 has been the first bank to give me and many people I know credit right out of the gate. I'm assuming he has income at 27 so I don't think it'll be a problem to get approved for at least a $300 QS1 which will grow.

[gibeon]

Thanks folks! The plan is to see what his bank will do first, then app for QS1 if that's a no, then CapOne Secured if QS1 is no.

He has decent income (I'm his boss) and he's super-responsible financially, so I have high hopes for him. He's just never usedused or applied for any credit of any kind before.

[Anonymous]

I agree, he can afford the inquiries this early in the game (I still recommend scrolling through his credit reports. Shoot for a QS1, and if he's denied then apply for a secured card. After a few months of responsible management, it'll prove to be the gateway to a wealth of fanatastic cards. Is there any chance that he's opt-out and perhaps that may be the reason he isn't receiving pre-qualified offers?

[jeffm4688]

Doh! I didn't even think about mentionting the reports, of all the people I've helped start with capital one I have only had one get denied. He "thought" he had no credit but in reality he had a charged off capital one account on his report! So I agree, always check your credit even if you think you have none.

[Anonymous]

You should check his CR, my husband has never had a line of credit, our mortgage doesn't even report on his CR, but he has a couple doctors bills that ended up on his reports. Until I looked I had honestly thought we'd paid all his doctors bills, but when you're recieveing bills from 15 different departments, some can slip through the cracks. You never know what random little bill might pop up on there.

[gibeon]

We tried to pull his reports/scores from CreditKarma and they said he doesn't exist. 

When he gets into work, I'll ask him to pull his annual credit reports from annualcreditreport.com or whatever it is, and see if there is anything at all for him in the system.

Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

Good luck! And let us know how it turns out 

[gibeon]

The manager submitted an app for him yesterday from the bank. He got a 5-7 day message, but not a denial. He has a 5 figure savings account with them and it's been that way for a while, so I'm hoping the relationship there will prove fruitful.

If he gets denied, the game plan is app for QS1 and if that fails go straight for CapOne Secured.

I'm not sure how much he should put on the Secured if he ends up going that route... The minimum? A $1,000? The max?

If it graduated, I would recommend max, but it doesn't...