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About six or eight years ago I placed freezes on all three credit reporting bureaus for the purpose of preventing identity theft. Therefore I don't even have a credit score (or perhaps technically I have the lowest possible credit score because I do not "have" any credit history at all until I unfreeze my accounts at the three bureaus).
Either you are not sure what you did, or you are wrong...
I also have freezes at the credit bureaus. It does NOT mean you no longer have a score... because I still have one.
It does NOT mean you don't have a credit history... because I still have one.
It DOES mean that no one - except you if you 'thaw' the freeze (so to speak) - can open new credit accounts in your name.
Maintaining a high score is not difficult, and it affords money-saving options if I choose to use them.
No way I will get lax on that... as that would mean I am no longer paying my bills on time.
Either you are not sure what you did, or you are wrong...
I also have freezes at the credit bureaus. It does NOT mean you no longer have a score... because I still have one.
It does NOT mean you don't have a credit history... because I still have one.
It DOES mean that no one - except you if you 'thaw' the freeze (so to speak) - can open new credit accounts in your name.
Maintaining a high score is not difficult, and it affords money-saving options if I choose to use them.
No way I will get lax on that... as that would mean I am no longer paying my bills on time.
I am absolutely sure what I did, although I may be mistaken about the consequences of what I did. Perhaps I do still have a credit history, and I certainly continue to pay all bills on time.
What led me to suspect that I no longer had a credit history was the following. At KMart a few years ago they were offering a big discount on a purchase if I would apply for the Sears/KMart credit card. So I agreed to do so even knowing that I could not get the card (and after explaining to the clerk that I would not qualify for the card). An explanation arrived in the mail about a week later to the effect that the card could not be issued due to "insufficient credit history". The notice did not say anything about credit bureau accounts being frozen.
Perhaps I came to an erroneous conclusion based on that. Since my mortgage was paid off some years ago, the only monthly payments I now make (aside from utilities including phone services) are the complete paying off of the balance on my single credit card and the payment of my HOA fees. In other words, I have no debts on which I am paying (because I have no debts at all - the credit card balance is not a debt until such point as it is not paid in full upon presentation). Maybe it was the lack of debt, not the freezes, which produced the "insufficient credit history"?
You seem knowledgeable about these things. What is your feedback on my situation?
Neither my home or auto insurance have ever asked for my credit scores.
I totally agree with the OP. I, too, have frozen my credit scores since 2007 and have never encountered a problem with it. It's nice to have that level of protection against identity theft.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sayulita
How can they pull it if my records are frozen? Even I can't do that without paying a fee to all 3 credit bureaus. And I've been with the same insurance company for 30+ years. They could have checked it when I first applied but I don't think they were doing it back then.
Insurance companies don't ask. They just do. And, have done for at least 20 years. Look at your insurance policy renewals. Mine - for the past 20 years at least - no matter the carrier - have always stated rates are based on credit reports obtained from certain rating bureaus.
Also, freezing just means no one can take out new credit in your name - including yourself. Freezing does not mean creditors can't check your credit rating.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TuborgP
Don't insurance companies use credit scores and I am not sure we are done buying houses and they check credit scores when they turn your utilities on don't they?
Yessiree.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rjm1cc
I think you should have several cc cards. The strip could be damaged, the card lost, numbers stolen etc.
I agree. I have three no-fee cards, Amex, Visa, MC - two w/cashback, one an oldie w/lots of GM cash if I ever want another car - unlikely. I put a couple of small automated charges monthly on GM card to keep it active, use the lower cashback card for sporadic online shopping, the higher cashback card for everything else. Pay them all off each month. I feel better with one of each. Have two others with large cash lines - which I use for 0% balance transfers in emergencies or for tax-planning (i.e., don't withdraw from retirement funds and pay 15-25% income tax, just borrow instead, at 1% fee). Most of my money is in tax-deferred accounts, so all withdrawals are taxable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by in_newengland
You need at least one cc to make reservations or to rent a car. I use a points card for groceries & gas because I'm stingy, er FRUGAL. I get $100 back every few months. Obviously, I pay it off in full every month--wouldn't be worth bothering if I didn't.
Yeah, me too. Amounts to about $400/year, sometimes more.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pitt Chick
I also have freezes at the credit bureaus. It does NOT mean you no longer have a score... because I still have one.
It does NOT mean you don't have a credit history... because I still have one.
It DOES mean that no one - except you if you 'thaw' the freeze (so to speak) - can open new credit accounts in your name.
This is correct.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Escort Rider
I am absolutely sure what I did, although I may be mistaken about the consequences of what I did. Perhaps I do still have a credit history, and I certainly continue to pay all bills on time.
What led me to suspect that I no longer had a credit history was the following. At KMart a few years ago they were offering a big discount on a purchase if I would apply for the Sears/KMart credit card. So I agreed to do so even knowing that I could not get the card (and after explaining to the clerk that I would not qualify for the card). An explanation arrived in the mail about a week later to the effect that the card could not be issued due to "insufficient credit history". The notice did not say anything about credit bureau accounts being frozen.
Perhaps I came to an erroneous conclusion based on that. Since my mortgage was paid off some years ago, the only monthly payments I now make (aside from utilities including phone services) are the complete paying off of the balance on my single credit card and the payment of my HOA fees. In other words, I have no debts on which I am paying (because I have no debts at all - the credit card balance is not a debt until such point as it is not paid in full upon presentation).
Maybe it was the lack of debt, not the freezes, which produced the "insufficient credit history"?
=
You do, indeed, have a credit history. Those card payoffs each month are reported monthly to the credit bureaus. K-Mart sent you a canned letter that was wrong. It was the freeze which prevented you opening a card - not a lack of credit history. Happened to me once back in the day when I had Lifelock. Unfroze my credit then and haven't bother refreezing since.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mlb
For those of us who get credit cards with zero percent interest - a credit score is a necessity.
Once the interest goes up - we dump 'em and get another.
I never run a balance on a credit card - so card interest rate doesn't concern me. Use 0% balance transfer checks on cards I don't use daily. Haven't had the need to cancel and reappply. Keep a few cards for everyday use, a couple for balance transfer offers. Pay them off when the rate expires - and lo and behold - card company is sending me another new offer for another year or more at 0% with a 1% fee. Only use when necessary, however. Works for me.
Pretty sure a lot of people are in the same boat we are. After years of paying all bills on time and paying off all auto loans we now are in the group with credit scores of over 800 which is nice but most of us don't have any need to borrow and yet the CC companies are almost begging to lend us money.
Where were they when we were in our 20's and we really needed that loan?
Perhaps I came to an erroneous conclusion based on that. Since my mortgage was paid off some years ago, the only monthly payments I now make (aside from utilities including phone services) are the complete paying off of the balance on my single credit card and the payment of my HOA fees.
You have and are using a credit card... you have a credit history.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Escort Rider
Maybe it was the lack of debt, not the freezes, which produced the "insufficient credit history"?
No - has nothing to do with the debt, or lack thereof. As you only have one thing being reported for your credit history... it IS insufficient!
Pretty sure a lot of people are in the same boat we are. After years of paying all bills on time and paying off all auto loans we now are in the group with credit scores of over 800 which is nice but most of us don't have any need to borrow and yet the CC companies are almost begging to lend us money.
Where were they when we were in our 20's and we really needed that loan?
They were there... but your credit history wasn't!
You do, indeed, have a credit history. Those card payoffs each month are reported monthly to the credit bureaus. K-Mart sent you a canned letter that was wrong. It was the freeze which prevented you opening a card - not a lack of credit history. Happened to me once back in the day when I had Lifelock. Unfroze my credit then and haven't bother refreezing since.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pitt Chick
You have and are using a credit card... you have a credit history.
No - has nothing to do with the debt, or lack thereof. As you only have one thing being reported for yourcredit history... it IS insufficient!
O.K., I have been given two slightly different explanations for the notification I got from K-Mart. I don't much care which one is more accurate, because I will never again need another loan or another credit card.
The games are interesting. When I bought my present town house in 2001, I had been a renter for a long time since owning a previous house. The loan on that previous home was too old to show on the reports, and just like now, I had no debts and just the one credit card. That was deemed "insufficient" to get a loan with 20% down, but there were alternative routes to approval, namely the submission of payment records from utility companies and the submission of proof a balances representing considerable "reserves". So I did get the loan after all.
I argued with the loan rep that my lack of debt proved I was responsible with money, but she said that's not how they see it; they want to see proof of stuff being paid off over time, just like the home loan would need to be paid off over time. So I played their games and jumped through their hoops and got the loan, which I faithfully paid on for three or four years before finally deciding just to pay it off, which I did. Now that loan history, too, is "too old" to mean anything.
I'm just pleased that I no longer have to be concerned with such things.
It's not a bennifit of your age, it's a bennifit of financial security. (congradulations BTW)
You can have the same freedom by simply not using credit altogether.
I'm much younger than you, but I've never had a credit card. Infact getting a morgtage was the first and only debt I've ever done.
Was a credit ghost, apparently a large chunk of money makes a credit report irrelevant, Although I'm sure a Marine Corps pension helped.
-enough they didn't even appraise the property. And yes, my interest rate was market.
I'm self employed. Use debit cards for what everyone claims you "need" a credit card for, pay cash for my cars, and decided I will pay cash for properties in the future (could have the first time, but I gave in to the lies....)
I simply don't want to bother, and enjoy my freedom of not worrying about debt/payments/whatever.
It's quite liberating.
I froze my credit (more than a few years ago), due to my end-of-the-street mailbox getting broken into. (I actually went online and froze it before I notified the post office of the wrecked mailbox, LOL)
Since then I have
Switched home insurance
Switched vehicle insurance
Handed over my driver's license when I test drove a new truck
Began a new cell phone contract
I was upfront with all of them - telling them my credit had been frozen and not to bother even trying to check my credit.
The new insurance company (AAA) said no problem, they didn't check credit.
The truck dealership hemmed and hawed. I told them that if I bought from them I was paying cash and there was no need to check my credit. They hemmed and hawed some more. I started walking out the door. Gee, I got my test drive with a credit check.
The cell phone company said No Deal No Exceptions. Even though I had a land line for over 20 years it didn't matter. They consider the (Verizon) land line and (Verizon) cell as different companies - and they can't check each others records. Dumb. Had to pay $10 to unfreeze my credit.
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