My Credit is beyond awful when it shouldnt even exist (Halp)

projectmayhem

So over the course of the past say 2 years I have tried to:
Get a Gap Card
Get a Best Buy Card X 2
Get a $2000 Scooter
Get a Car
Get something else named____ that a homeless person could get

Meanwhile I have friends who have gotten all the above things. These are not rich friends, no, they are just like me; Fresh out of school with only debt being student loans. Hell, one of my friends who didnt even have a job at the time got approved for a Scooter. I got denied with a co-signed even.

I have no idea what is so fucked on my credit but it is rather frustrating. I want to build credit but I cant get anything on credit. It would also be nice to you know, have a car/transportation.

I have checked out some of the 'free' credit report sites and they all require you to sign up for something and half of them look shady to start with.

I know everyone is entitled to 1 free credit report a year but I have yet to find where to get it. So how do I get this magical report? Is my credit just fucked because of student loans?

My theory is that because my father and I have the same name, somehow his awful debts got mixed up with my credit.

Anyways, halp!

DragonPup

Your yearly actually free credit report

projectmayhem wrote: »

My theory is that because my father and I have the same name, somehow his awful debts got mixed up with my credit.

If this is the case, you can dispute the reports and get the incorrect data removed.

Six

Get one of your free annual credit reports (don't get all three, just get one).

make sure there are no red flags. You might be in a situation where you just have no credit history instead of bad credit. Are the student loans in your name?

If that's the case, get a secured credit card to start building your credit.

If there are red flags, take care of them immediately. Since it doesn't sound like you're aware of anything that would be a major issue, this shouldn't be too hard.

With a secured card, you should qualify for a traditional revolving credit account after a few months.

DragonPup

Six wrote: »

Get one of your free annual credit reports (don't get all three, just get one).

He might as well get all three from Annual Credit Report. If there is a red flag on one, it may not appear on the other two.

ApexMirage

Is there a site to get a free report for us canadians?

Six

DragonPup wrote: »

Six wrote: »

Get one of your free annual credit reports (don't get all three, just get one).

He might as well get all three from Annual Credit Report. If there is a red flag on one, it may not appear on the other two.

I'm of the opinion that it's best to get one every four months than all three every twelve.

if there's something stopping him from getting any revolving credit account at all, it will likely show up on all three.

But yes, there's no real harm in getting all three.

projectmayhem

Thanks for all the help so far. I am checking out that site now.

DragonPup

Oh, and if you find errors, here is the FTC's page on what to do: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre21.shtm

Good luck!

eternalbl

Applying and getting denied credit affects your credit score as well, in case you didn't know.

GameHat

Get a credit report. You absolutely cannot avoid this. Personally, I'd want one that had info on all three of the credit rating agencies, but even a free one that only covered one would be of value.

Once you get said report - look for any red flags. Even more important, look for any falsehoods. Even if you have been a saint it's not uncommon for shady family members to open a credit line in a minor's name, then wreck said credit.

If there are no red flags on your credit - well, start building a good credit history. A basic low-limit card can help. Charge a small amount, pay it off.

If you can't get a basic card, get a secured card. This will require a cash deposit - which hurts, no doubt. But when you want to buy something big in the future it will be worth it.

Shizumaru

One thing is.. if you have any and/or multi cards DO NOT close the accounts.. keep em open.. closing em lowers your scores.. if you can help it, pay of the balances each month.. that raises your scores as well.. Also.. everything 6 months, go to whoever issued the card/s and get the limit raised (but don't spend more) this also boosts your scores..

As far as getting loans for automobiles,etc.. always find out which of the three agencies the lender uses and find out the minimum score they require for their best rates.. you'll want to find a place that will potentially use your highest score..

Unknown

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Javen

Your best bet in terms of starting credit would be to get some sort of credit card through your bank. The tend to judge you more based on your finances than your existing credit. If that doesn't work, find someone with credit who will cosign, most likely family. Then after you build some of your own, just shut down that card and get one in your own name.

EDIT: But yes, I can almost guarantee you're having such trouble simply because you don't have any history.

Six

Having no credit is easy to solve: just get a secured card. after a few months, you'll have enough of a credit history to qualify for a low-limit card.

DragonPup

When I had no credit, I was able to get an unsecured card from Capital One with a low limit and high interest rate. I paid it off completely every month and my credit became very well established.

EskimoDave

ApexMirage wrote: »

Is there a site to get a free report for us canadians?

Equifax. Not sure if you can do it online with them, but you can do it via the phone very easily.

Javen

Achieving and maintaining a high credit score isn't necessarily about going back to zero balance every month. It's about showing you're responsible with credit. You can build credit faster by being able to responsibly juggle multiple cards.

Six

Javen wrote: »

Achieving and maintaining a high credit score isn't necessarily about going back to zero balance every month. It's about showing you're responsible with credit. You can build credit faster by being able to responsibly juggle multiple cards.

There's no reason not to go back to zero every month. You gain nothing by keeping a balance other than paying interest.

Kyougu

This doesn't work for everyone, but I tend to do any card transactions on my credit card, then pay them off at the end of the month. It helped me build decent/good credit after a few early fuck ups (I'm at 700 now), raised my card limit, and since I have the amazon reward, I get amazon points faster.

midgetspy

Man the US sounds really different than Canada for credit cards. Here they mail out pre-approved credit cards in junk mail and have kiosks in the mall trying to coerce you to sign up for a credit card, I can't imagine anybody who wanted one not being able to get one. I know many people who had credit cards when they were 17 because they just got one in the mail randomly, heh.

Big Dookie

On a slightly different note, I've also been recommended the site Quizzle. It's run by Quicken Loans apparently, and seems to be legit from everything I've read. You can create an account there (without having to give your SSN, you just have to answer "security questions"), and then you can get your actual credit score and report from Experian, as well as some other stuff evaluating your income and overall financial health.

It's a good way to do a "soft pull" of your credit report for free. It's only one of the three bureaus, but it's something at least.

Djeet

Hasn't been said yet, but if you have had any services in your name that went to collections (phone, electricity, gas, medical) then that nails your credit eventhough you've never had a credit card.

Also, it's totally possible debt collectors trying to collect on Sr's debts found you in some database (or in the phone book) and tried to collect his debt off of you. If you aren't good about checking your mail you could have easily missed the notice where they were pinning the debt on you; you have 30 days from receiving such a notice to let them know it's not your debt, but after that the process involved in resolving the dispute does get harder. Clark Howard's website or the Consumerist might be able to give you some tips on fighting them.

Try getting a gas card if you cannot get any other form of unsecured credit. Use it every time you fill up and pay it off every month and you'll be on your way to establishing good credit history.

Shazkar Shadowstorm

DragonPup wrote: »

When I had no credit, I was able to get an unsecured card from Capital One with a low limit and high interest rate. I paid it off completely every month and my credit became very well established.

samesies

Shazkar Shadowstorm

midgetspy wrote: »

Man the US sounds really different than Canada for credit cards. Here they mail out pre-approved credit cards in junk mail and have kiosks in the mall trying to coerce you to sign up for a credit card, I can't imagine anybody who wanted one not being able to get one. I know many people who had credit cards when they were 17 because they just got one in the mail randomly, heh.

No, this happens in America too