Many immigrants to Canada cannot understand how their credit rating limits their access to the best mortgage. Clients who have always been responsible with their money can find themselves having trouble because of their credit. How come no one is willing to rent a house to them? Why are they having trouble with the cellphone company? They’ve had their credit cards for a year and half; they’ve paid on time, in full, every month. They even bought a car six months ago; every one of the eleven dealerships they visited told them their credit was good. So why aren’t they being approved for a mortgage?
Credit rating is one of the first things you have to take care of when you move to Canada. It’s a three-digit index, which ranges from 300 to 900 where higher scores give you more options. 700 is the critical number: a rating above 700 means that any financial institution will be happy to lend to you at the best rates. A rating below 600, on the other hand, means that you will find it extremely difficult to get a mortgage from a bank. Furthermore, banks are not the only ones looking at credit when making decisions; even landlords will look at your credit report before they rent to you in order to determine if you honor your commitments.
The use of credit rating has expanded in recent years. Other companies, like cellular companies, now demand to see your credit report before taking you on as a client. A credit report includes all of your credit products, such as credit cards, loans, and lines of credits, as well as your payment history. Your score represents your personal credit history; it goes up and down all the time. A number of components go into calculating your credit score. Interestingly, some practices that are common among immigrants trying to manage their credit wisely, such as having only one credit card or using their credit infrequently, can actually lower credit score. The higher the debt-to-credit ratio on your accounts, the lower your credit score. A debt of $540, if on a credit card with a limit of $550, will hurt your credit score much more than a debt of $21,000 on a $40,000 line of credit. If you forgot to pay it on time, even one day late, your credit score can drop as much as 70-80 points. Repeated late payments are a credit death sentence. Furthermore, if your credit report is retrieved many times in a short period, it might also lower your credit for a short while, although it will go back.
Clients’ credit scores can be hurt by the fact that they only have one card as opposed to two or three credit channels minimum, and if they pay them off on the last day of the billing period. When a client makes their payment on the last day, the teller puts it in the system, and with the time it takes for the payment to post to their account, it shows up as a late payment on the credit report. On top of this, credit can be further damaged through activities that seem unrelated, like shopping between eleven car dealerships in one week; each of those dealerships pull a credit report, and all of those pulled reports under a short period -as opposed to two to three times a month – lower a client’s credit score.
A high credit score opens doors and saves you money. It’s important for you to know that you can monitor your credit score by asking the credit reporting companies (Equifax and TransUnion) for your report. You can sign up for a membership with one or both of these agencies and receive your report on the spot. This service has monthly fees, so don’t forget to cancel it when it’s not needed. Getting your report will enable you to monitor your score regularly and get on the road to making large purchases, such as a home or car.
Repairing your credit score can take months, or sometimes even years. A focused analysis and specific plan are necessary because improving your score will save you significant amounts of money in the long-term. It is highly recommended before buying as house as either a residence or an investment that you take the time to prepare correctly, including repairing your credit. We would love to consult with you, by phone, entirely free of charge, as to how you can build or rebuild your credit score.
What To Do If You Have No Credit Rating
If you haven’t started building your credit rating, you might ask yourself, “Should I wait a year or two, until I have enough of a credit history?” Banks and other institutions do offer solutions to those who haven’t had the opportunity to build a credit history, such as newcomers in Canada or even young people who want to buy. Some examples for acceptable substitutes to presenting an established Canadian credit report include the following: an international credit report, a year history of mobile phone or other utility payments, or even a landlord reference letter with a supporting bank statement showing the monthly payments coming from your bank account. While all these are good solutions when you do not have any credit at all, we can help you build a proper base for a good credit rating in the first year. Call us to find out how.