Last week I applied for a Secured Savings Credit Card and was denied. We have a few credit cards (all well-managed), but they are all in my husband's name and I need one in my name to get a more established credit history. I was denied due to not having any income. When I called and explained that I was a SAHM and we live off of hubby's income, they explained I would never qualify for my own credit card (even a secured one with money we put down first) unless I was earning money from my job. Do you know if this is how it is with all companies? This was Wells Fargo who denied me, but I don't want to keep re-applying to a ton of companies to find one that will approve me. Any advice? This makes me feel SO frustrated, I pay bills on time and work hard for my family, but can't even get a secured credit account!! TIA
My ex made enough that I could get credit in my name using household income. If you don't qualify there is little that can be done.
You may want to try opening an account at a credit union. Somewhere where you are more than a number, ya know? They tend to give credit in these cases more than the big banks do.
I agree with everyone else, get a joint card. I worked in the banking industry for several years, and there are laws that help protect people like you from becoming invisible to the credit world. Honestly, I don't remember what they are though! I've been out of the game for a while.
Start looking into it though.
Having your name put on his credit cards will rapidly establish your credit history.
I always just put my husbands name & income down. He got a card, so did I, and they showed up in both our credit histories.
When we applied for a mortgage to buy our first house there was a glitch on my husband's credit rating. We took care of it, and he went to the bank to have them rerun his credit to get a lower interest rate.
Shortly after moving into the house I called the mortgage company to set up an automatic bill pay. They said my name was not on the mortgage and refused to talk to me. What??? I was a SAHM at the time, but the bank ran my credit. We are guessing that when he asked to have his credit rerun, they did not include mine.
We did a refi, and we are now BOTH on the mortgage!
You don't have to have an income in order to be included in the bills and credit cards. If you run into any trouble with adding your name to the current cards to establish a credit history (make sure that this would in fact happen!), simply open a joint credit card account at your local bank. It will establish your credit history as well as his (good or bad).
Did you get a copy of your own credit report? I ask because I've never been turned down for credit (car loans, credit cards, mortgages) due to the fact that I have no income of my own. Maybe because I had established credit before getting married?
Go TOGETHER and get a JOINT credit card to start, you DEF need your own credit.
:)
Ditto Jim. Every succinct word. :)
On a half-way related note... Four years ago when we were applying for mortgage approval, Wells Fargo denied us. One months after we bought our house (3 1/2 years ago) Wells Fargo bought it. Now we pay our mortgage bill to them. Funny stuff.
Have you tried getting credit off a joint credit card account?
Also, I don't know if you have to say specifically that YOU don't receive income... You do, in a way, you share what your husband makes. When filling out the form, where it says "income" just give the amount your husband makes. That is what I used to do for credit cards, and I never had a problem or was questioned. I haven't had a credit card in YEARS now, but that is what I did.
I am a stay at home mom and just in the last year got a couple of cards to establish my credit. Anyone that says you dont need them is crazy. We went to buy a house and I literally did not have a credit score at the age of 22. I have capital one, a best buy mastercard, and a department store card(i use it for the coupons). I will say that I have never carried a balance on it, and pay them off every month if I even use them.
I have been a SAHM with no income since 1993 (ok, well I did work PT from 2007 to 2010) and I have NEVER had a problem getting a card in my own name.
Get your name on your husband's cards to start, and then start shopping around. I'd start at your bank or credit union first as you already have a relationship/history there.
This is going to be all too common, a result of 2009 laws to stop dead beats from getting credit. Banks, businesses, etc. are required to consider individual income not joint.
Link: http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/09/stay-at-home-mo...
Excerpt "As part of a clarification of the Credit Card Act of 2009, the Federal
Reserve board has made it tougher for stay-at-home spouses to get their own credit cards. (Discussions of the Fed’s rule can be found in U.S. News & World Report’s Alpha Consumer blog, and on creditcards.com.)"
Not sure what you can do other than joint, which isn't really a solution (or if any newer info makes the above obsolete.)
Ditto to OneandDone. You DO NOT need credit!!! Despite having established a good credit score, I dropped all my credit cards and paid off my debt several years ago - hubby and I have lived happily debt free for years. . . as Dave Ramsey says, it's freedom!!! Credit cards just perpetuate a cycle of constantly paying stuff off instead of saving and paying cash for whatever you might want/need. Why not work hard, pay bills on time and KEEP your money instead of paying it into interest?
There are stores galore that will let you have a card in your name. Once you have a credit history that way you can get a better priced credit card for your self.
Even if you only buy one item every 4-6 months, then pay it off each month it will build a credit history of payments and charges.
I had my credit cards before I met my husband, when I did work and have my own income. I have gotten a couple of store accounts since I became a SAHM, but I just used my husband's income on the application. I don't really understand how you couldn't get a secured credit card? Its basically the same thing as a debit card, but giving you credit- I would definitely try to find out about that.
You can build up your credit, by adding yourself to your husbands credit cards :)
Have him add you to his existing accounts (make them joint accounts). They'll send you a card in YOUR name attached to his accounts. Over time, this should build a history under your name (my mother did that for me when I was 18 and that account appears on my credit reports).
If you want to have a card of your own NOW... why not have him apply for a new card, add you to it... and then let you be the only one to use it.
The income thing will be trickier than the credit history, but I have NEVER had to verify income to get a credit card. I'd probably just go ahead and list your household income instead of $0 or sit down with hubby and establish a salary for yourself! (Occupation, childcare. Income whatever).
HTH
T.
This changed very recently. I am a SAHM and have a credit card in my own name. I got it a few years ago (and I was a SAHM then). Everything else is joint--mortgage, car payment, other credit card, etc. I just heard on Clark Howard (CNN Money Guy) that banks changed their policy. They use to go on "Household Income". It didn't matter who made what. Now, they want to know the income of the person applying. Clark Howard said it is now virtually impossible for someone without their own income to get a credit card. I, personally, have not tried. Clark's advice was for people who are ready to become SAHMs to get a credit card before they quit their job.
Here is one article. It's not great, but it helps explain it...
http://blog.creditkarma.com/credit-cards/wednesday-roundu...
I don't think so. I also do not have a job and I went into Ashley Furniture and they gave me the credit card, with only my information on it - nothing of my husbands. I was sure I was going to be denied, but there it is.
i have never had a problem getting an account in my own name, and i haven't earned an income in well over 10 years... i'm a SAHM, i've never seen an application ask for anything other than "household income", i fill in my husband's income. actually ran both of our credit scores today as we are refinancing our home, my credit is actually better than his by 3 points :) i keep most accounts in both our names, but a few in just mine, a few in just his. this should not be a problem for you AT ALL.
edited to add: i just got a card in my name last week with no trouble at all...
You know, the ideas of "credit" and "credit rating" are largely an American myth.
You don't "need" credit OR a good credit rating.
Don't use credit cards at all!
Check out www.daveramsay.com
Why are all the credit cards in your husband's name? They should be joint accounts in both your names. As should your bank account. I am a SAHM and have been for 13 years. And I just got a Home Depot card in my name. So it can be done. I also have a credit card (in both our names) that he doesn't carry a copy of and the bill comes to me and I pay it and he never knows what I buy on it. Just works for us.
V
