Moving from Canada - credit history, banks .... (Orland: short sale, mortgage)

[MapleLeaf]

Any Canadian banks operating in California? (I now that TD Bank North is pretty strong in New England, RBC - in South East states, no info about Calif)

I was wondering if there are banks in California who accept Canadian credit history when applying for mortgage and credit card?

If I have Canadian AMEX, can i switch it to be American after i move with same credit limits I had in Canada?

If I have Canadian Citi bank checking account/credit card , will it be easier to get morgage in California and move accounts/credit cards from Canada?

[smp2010]

No on the credit history, you will restart all over again. amex will switch over and will help you start establishing credit. Figure about 5-8 years strong credit history. There are no reciprocating banks that I know if. I once tried to cash a Canadian check and my bank here said it would be a month and some huge fee. It is not set up for that. Just plan on starting over again... I did it and it worked out, we now have a house, but it took about 6.5 years... Good luck feel free to PM and ask any questions...

[blofeld9999]

You shouldn't need 5 - 8 years. I'm Canadian, and I lived in Orlando for 4 years before moving to the Bay Area.

I got a secured credit card with Bank of America, after 2 years I had a 750 credit score and was able to buy a house with decent mortgage terms (for the time). I ended up having to do a short sale on the house and no longer have a 750 credit score. But nevertheless it's not too difficult to build good credit.

[smp2010]

No offense blofeld, but my post was in 2009, and yes you will now need a longer credit history than 2-3 years ago. The mortgage rules have tightened up since the foreclosure meltdown. They used to give out mortgages like candy, and now we are in this mess. They will not give you one JUST based upon a 750 credit score. I had 750 plus, as did my wife and we still had to jump through a lot more hoops than they did 2 years ago. The good news is we neg'd a great deal on a million dollar property, got a great mortgage with low rates and are still in the 740 range on credit scores. It is not impossible but takes time. The days of easily obtained mortgages that blofeld speaks of are gone for the time being, probably never to return...