British Expatriate Network

I was recently informed by an agency that I didn't have enough years of credit for my age and therefore my credit rating was lower than it should be! eek

I have a credit history going back to 1996 and I'm thirty-three.

I know that some of us are married to Americans so that may make it easier. Others have the shelter of their company job to assist in getting things like houses and cars.

Unfortunately we've had to "build" our own credit which isn't easy when financers won't extend credit to those who don't have a long and solid history. The ones that are willing to, charge extortionate interest rates. Criminal! sad

Has anyone else had similar credit issues or problems getting credit approvals?

ukmocha

I had some issues at first and still only really have credit here though some lucky breaks.

I got rejected for a credit card by MBNA which is really stupid as I had two cards through them in the UK - so much for them claiming to be International roll

When I did need credit here, I got it but at rather high interest rates. I just bit the bullet and went with it as a necessary evil.

I got a good deal on a credit card about a year ago when my Union got some group rate that applied to everyone. That was a lucky break and pretty low interest rate too.

When I bought my car last year, I got a very good deal so assume my credit is getting better and better - it was around a quarter of the rate on the car we bought two years before that.

My mortgage is 9.25% by the way - can anyone beat that for extortionate?

Pilgrim, we had a high mortgage rate too. We bought 2 points and it was set at 8.75% after the 2 points.

We have just been in this house two years and earlier this year, with the rates getting lower, we refinanced through the same mortgage company. Because we had been paying the mortgage for over a year with no problems, there wan't a problem with refinancing and we got a rate of 6.8% without having to pay any points.

UKMocha, we were very lucky and bought our cars internationally, so built up a good credit rating very quickly. We also managed to get a credit card with a rediculous interest rate, but always paid it every month. The other thing was a store card, which again, we paid straight away. I understand you only have to use these things once and it activates it to build your credit. then just keep a zero balance and your credit is even higher.

We have been refused things (3 months interest free on appliances) but it's just part of the course. It hasn't worried us because we just do without. The things we have had to have we have been fortunate enough to have the money in our savings.

We have kept our UK banks account and one UK credit card, just in case we need it anytime.

Our credit is A1 and has been for years .

Morgage rate is 6.25% and we have 3 credit cards at 9% Only use one for real credit , one of the others is just for travel ( paid of at end of month ) the last is a spare .
Am always getting C/C offers in the mail and we do a bit of card serfing sometimes if we get a real good offer .

last one was 6 months interest free with 9%fixed after that.
The 6 months is up so we are looking for a good offer to transfer the balance to , for a period of free interest and a lower fixed after..

Dont use store cards unless it is for a *6 months paid in full no interest program* just bought our new stove like that .
smile

I married my American husband in England, and 8 months later we returned stateside. Initially we were turned down for credit in various places, because we'd never had credit, like when we went to buy furniture. Plus turned down by a car insurance company, because he'd been out of the states for 3 yrs. We threatened to file complaints with the better business bureau, and a couple of other places.
Eventually a credit union helped us out, and we got established.
We kept telling people, hey we just got married and moved here, how in the heck are we expected to have credit if we can't get credit. And, my husbands credit record was clean. I was too young to have one lol
Eventually it worked out. So keep trying different places...
note 34yrs later, I can't stop them from offering us credit now, and I wish they'd stop calling...

_________________
A funny thing happened on the way to the store - I forgot why I was going....

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by Ginger on 2002-06-23 0056 ]</font>

Isnt that the darndest thing ???
When you want credit no one will give it to you .
When you have it folks wont stop offering it to you .

:lol: :lol: :lol:

I finally opted-out of the credit card mailshots. It was getting stupid - I could have two or three a day!

Basically, it now means that the four main credit check bureaus will now refuse to provide information on me to these companies who are trawling for victims...I mean customers, and it should reduce the junk mail I get.

LOL John - Exactly lol lol

I have another one for you! A few years ago, our son was on his second marriage, and heading for financial problems, had two mortgages on his home etc. So we bailed him out, and purchased the home. I went into the mortgage company and wrote them a check to pay off his loan.
And my last words to the man was Please do my husband and myself a big favour, do not offer our son anymore loans, he doesn't need them, and we cannot afford to bail him out again.
It was less than two months later, our son received a letter from that company offering him a loan of over $50 thousand dollars. Because he'd been such a good client and paid off his bill!!!! He continued to receive this kind of mail from them.
Until finally I called them up and told them they were asking for trouble, and if they didn't quit sending him these offers, I was going to give them something to deal with.
And companies wonder why people get themselves into such financial binds...
mad

I've had an Amex Gold card in the UK for 10/12 years, and was originally told that I could transfer my credit rating to the States.
However this proved untrue, they don't even provide credit reference letters, I've got to completely start again.
All they will do is provide me with a letter saying how long I have been a member.
Strange really as when I was in the US a couple of times last year, I used my Amex card and then paid for it over here when I got back.
Correct me if I'm wrong but it is American
Express isn't it ??

That's awful , Roger! You'd think that American Express would be the one credit card you could transfer over here.

I thought that after being here six years my credit would be spectacularly perfect. Not true.

It seems as if the "new" problem is that my credit history here should be longer because of my age!

You'd think they'd realise that not everyone here was born here and hence not everyone will have ten or fifteen years worth of credit at my age.

Well I do have three cards with reasonable rates.

I checked my credit report reecently and saw that my credit score was lower than it should be. They suggest that I continue paying my debts on time and for a longer period of time - about three or four more years!

In the meantime we want to buy a house but with prices extortionately high in New York and our interest rates being set in pilgrim's range it looks unlikely for now.

An extra ten thousand dollars down as a deposit might help so we'll have to wait another year or so and see how things look then.

Another alternative would be to move to a cheaper state... sad

ukmocha

UKM - I am the same age as you and moved here in 1999. I had a hard time initially and ended up having to get my father in law to co-sign for my car. After that, all the credit stuff was pretty easy.

When I applied for a mortgage, I was a couple of months off having 2 years of credit history. I was told that had I the full two years, I would have been the perfect candidate but that given it wasn't quite 2 years, I would probably have to pay a little higher rate on the mortgage. I ended up with a 7.8% rate which isn't brilliant but isn't the extortion that my right honorable friend Mr Pilgrim is paying.

Which institutions have you been applying to? I would advise finding a good financial broker - they work wonders.

Andyy

Well I do have pre-approval letters from two mortgage bankers.

My husbands history is even less (only about four years) so that doesn't help.

The house prices here are really high and consequently we're finding it harder to find an affordable house in a decent area.

We're just going to have to keep looking.

ukm smile

All our bank cards/credit cards even the car are in my husbands name doest that mean I have no credit here?

Zed ???

I've been here over a year and a half and FINALLY got approved for a Macy's card so that I can start building up my credit history. Still can't get a credit card even from my own bank where my account has always been in the black. Drives me insane !!!

Yes you *can* get an American Express card immediately upon arrival in the US (or any other country which issues Amex cards) as long as you have an Amex card in the country you are currently resident in - and arrange for a *transfer* before closing your Amex account from the country you are leaving. It was a lifesaver for us having Amex cards as we did have a battle with our bank, Chase Manhatten (now JP Morgan Chase) to get a Visa or Mastercard out of them. My husband had a couple of chats with their very senior managers at their Worldwide Consumer Banking office, and after a couple of weeks were issued with a visa card with a paltry $2000 limit - but it was better than nothing. I think you just have to persevere and speak with some very senior managers and not the branch clerks. Also if you have your UK credit reports it should help too - as we didn't come here from England we didn't have those.

When we left England for Singapore we opened an Amex account in Sing whilst the UK card was still current. We then closed down the UK account a few weeks later. Then when we left Singapore for the States we did the same thing; we phoned the Singapore Amex office to double-check, opened a US Amex account, then a couple of months after we had moved to the US we then closed the Singapore Amex account. We even transferred all of the Membership Reward points to the US account too. Unfortunately as Amex is a charge card and not a credit card it does not establish your credit rating (I bet it would go on the records though if you defaulted!). However, Amex does now have an Amex "Blue" credit card but the rates seem to be high - we've never bothered to get one as we always pay off the bills in full each month.

UKM - I think you should take a look at New Jersey! I think you would love Maplewood or South Orange; they have an easy commute into Penn Station for Midtown, and Hoboken with a transfer on the PATH trains or NY Waterway ferries to the financial section of lower Manhatten. The problem with waiting and waiting to save an extra $10k could be that the house prices will increase faster than you can save.... sad