Canadian with no credit history

Hi,

I've moved to the US and would like to buy a car here, optimally would be leasing one for two years. I have no credit history in US, and haven't found a cosignor yet.

Anyone else have any advice on how to get this lease, or build substantially great credit in 1 month? All I have now is a secured credit card.

Thanks,

Simon

Do you have any Canadian credit cards and a good credit record in Canada?

If you have a card in Canada, some companies will let you transfer it to a US dollar account if they have affiliates in the US. Like AMEX, or RBC.

Not sure who you used to bank with in Canada - but - this may work for you.

If you banked with RBC you can leverage your relationship with RBC and have them arrange an RBC "Centura" (US division) Visa card. Because they are affiliated - they could actually use your credit rating from Canada to spring board the approval into the US. Depending on the state you are in - you might find RBC where you are.

That was about the only way I could see to get it going. When I purchased my home - it took Countrywide (one of the largest) almost 3 weeks to get the information out of Canada. Patience is a virtue when it comes to credit ratings.

AMEX will honour Canadian credit, so try getting an AMEX card in Canada before you leave. I've also heard that most car companies do not recognize Canadian credit (either because they don't honour it, or they can't check it), but one of my friends mentioned that Audi and Volkswagon are able to do international credit checks. Good luck!

How I did it was to get a BellSouth credit card, because they use your phone bill payment history as proof that you are a good credit risk. But to get credit history in a month would be hard unless you can transfer something over from Canada. If you need to build it from scratch with a secured credit card like you've done, that is probably the fastest way.

If they've given you a credit card, you might want to take a shot at getting a personal loan at the same bank as they will see you as less of a credit risk.