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Thread: Credit Help?

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    Default Credit Help?

    Does anyone know of any legitimate credit repair organizations? My issue is not exactly that I have bad credit - Its that I have no credit history at all! Never owned a credit card, never needed a loan, I did take out two federal student loans in 2010, but have been paying tuition in cash and with scholarships since then. I have 2 monthly bills in my name which are always paid on time if not early, but that's been for less than a year. I'm only 20, I have not really had an opportunity or need to develop multiple lines of consistent credit. Someone did tell me most investment firms won't allow you to open an account until you are 21 because of the similarities between investing and gambling, but I have yet to find that information validated by another source.

    Last week I opened a Schwab High Yield Checking account and brokerage account...which I was super excited about, you earn interest on cash in your checking account and the brokerage account is free - no minimums to start investing - yay! Everything was great until they checked my credit score and then, according to a letter sent to me, closed my account They specifically cited Equifax as the credit reporting agency that influenced their decision (so maybe that's my "low" score??)

    Its not fair! I want to earn interest on investments and savings...but it seems I must first spend a few months PAYING interest on credit cards - ew! Credit cards are the devil as far as I'm concerned. There has got to be a way around this, but I honestly do not know where to start.

    By the way, I do often check my credit scores - but nothing comes up; there's no actual credit score number, and no history, but I'm deemed as "high risk"

    To further complicate the issue, there is a chance that my father has put bills and possibly other accounts in my legal name instead of his when I was a child because of his absolutely awful credit (he has been changing his name and running from the IRS since before I was born). He has also taken out lines of credit and opened various accounts in the names of his other children, siblings, and ex wives. He will not be upfront about any of what he has done, so if there are accounts in my name that may have gone past due or in default, I have no idea where to start looking for them.

    I've read various articles and even a couple books on how the credit scoring system works, and credit improvement tips, but most of the advice is geared towards adults and nothing really suits my particular situation. Now that I can't even buy a freakin' mutual fund (which was going to be my New Years gift to myself), I'm ready to throw up my hands and seek professional help to finally sort all of this out and figure everything out.

    Right now I'm going to sign up for freecreditreport.com and will hopefully get some info thats not on my standard score reports.

    Thank you in advance!


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    Default Re: Credit Help?

    In truth, since none of your own loans are in default, it's doubtful that a credit repair agency would be able to do anything positive for you that you couldn't do for yourself.

    Like it or not, these days it's now necessary to 'prove' creditworthiness. One aspect of that proof is a regular and verifiable source of income ... which you apparently do not have. Another aspect of that proof is responsible use of consumer credit i.e. a history of credit card / auto loan payments being made on time etc.

    The reason that credit rating is important to brokers is that many forms of investments can represent the potential for the investor to have to 'make good on' losses after the fact - i.e. declining value of 'borrowed' broker owned shares which were sold 'short', declining value of shares purchased on 'margin' ( i.e. x percent was the investor's money but Y percent was the broker's money effectively borrowed by the investor ), declining value of futures contracts etc. And, as a result of newly enacted regulations ( post Bernie Madoff etc. ), brokers also must now evaluate the financial status and financial 'savvy' of new investors if they are to be allowed to trade options, futures, sell 'short' etc. Granted that for young, yet to be 'financially established' would-be investors, this sucks. But the counter-argument is that prior to such regulations it was all too easy for investors to lose money, and to then attempt to blame the brokerage / claim that they did not understand the risks they were taking etc. Another aspect of that argument in terms of brokers' corporate policy is that persons under 21 are, by definition, 'high risk'.

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    Default Re: Credit Help?

    Quote Originally Posted by DaniellaOHC View Post
    Does anyone know of any legitimate credit repair organizations? My issue is not exactly that I have bad credit - Its that I have no credit history at all! Never owned a credit card, never needed a loan, I did take out two federal student loans in 2010, but have been paying tuition in cash and with scholarships since then. I have 2 monthly bills in my name which are always paid on time if not early, but that's been for less than a year. I'm only 20, I have not really had an opportunity or need to develop multiple lines of consistent credit. Someone did tell me most investment firms won't allow you to open an account until you are 21 because of the similarities between investing and gambling, but I have yet to find that information validated by another source.

    Last week I opened a Schwab High Yield Checking account and brokerage account...which I was super excited about, you earn interest on cash in your checking account and the brokerage account is free - no minimums to start investing - yay! Everything was great until they checked my credit score and then, according to a letter sent to me, closed my account They specifically cited Equifax as the credit reporting agency that influenced their decision (so maybe that's my "low" score??)

    Its not fair! I want to earn interest on investments and savings...but it seems I must first spend a few months PAYING interest on credit cards - ew! Credit cards are the devil as far as I'm concerned. There has got to be a way around this, but I honestly do not know where to start.

    By the way, I do often check my credit scores - but nothing comes up; there's no actual credit score number, and no history, but I'm deemed as "high risk"

    To further complicate the issue, there is a chance that my father has put bills and possibly other accounts in my legal name instead of his when I was a child because of his absolutely awful credit (he has been changing his name and running from the IRS since before I was born). He has also taken out lines of credit and opened various accounts in the names of his other children, siblings, and ex wives. He will not be upfront about any of what he has done, so if there are accounts in my name that may have gone past due or in default, I have no idea where to start looking for them.

    I've read various articles and even a couple books on how the credit scoring system works, and credit improvement tips, but most of the advice is geared towards adults and nothing really suits my particular situation. Now that I can't even buy a freakin' mutual fund (which was going to be my New Years gift to myself), I'm ready to throw up my hands and seek professional help to finally sort all of this out and figure everything out.

    Right now I'm going to sign up for freecreditreport.com and will hopefully get some info thats not on my standard score reports.

    Thank you in advance!
    We have covered how to build positive credit in other recent threads on the topic. Please look up those threads to get a good over view of what you can do.

    www.annualcreditreport.com is a better site to check your credit report. It is completely free and it wont sign you up for a monthly program.
    Chances are there is negative information on your credit report. If so it needs to be corrected. If you didnt personally do the transaction you can dispute it. The longest any item should appear on your credit report is ten years (unless it is a tax lien those are eternal). If it is on the report longer then the 10years from the time it first appeared you can dispute it based on that fact alone.

    Please review your credit report and let us know what you find. Only then will we be able to tell you how to fix it.

    You do not need a credit repair service. Most credit repair services are scams. There is nothing a credit repair service can do' that you can not do on your own. It is just a matter of knowing the steps of what to do.
    Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them. ~ Mark Twain


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