Coming from where you are now, I think I can shed some "light" on this subject. It is going to sound stupid, but this is how things work.
There are various things that "make up" a Credit Profile. Your Credit Profile starts on your 18th Birthday, unless you were involved in some sort of financial fiasco in your teenage years, which by law, is prohibited. Your Credit Profile contains your history. e.g. Address, Birthdate, SSN, Employment information, etc. It even has information about your last known address, and when it changed, as well as your last employer, and when that changed. It has much more information on it than most people will give out freely. You should get a copy of your own, once your denied credit from someone. Once you are denied credit, a copy of your report is FREE. You need to review it for errors, incorrect accounts, and omissions. Bad Credit is just as important as Good credit. Going from Bad to Good, is MORE important than only Good or only Bad.
Most banks will NOT issue loans unless you have about 10 years of credit history. Student loans are DIFFERENT and they are also EXEMPT from this rule. Student Loans also do not REFLECT MUCH on your Credit Profile, unless thay have been DEFAULTED on. In this case, if you defaulted on a Student Loan, you will be Blacklisted by the Student Loan issuing agency and you will never be eligible for a Car loan, or a Home Mortgage. This is what you agree to when you take out a student loan. Read it in the FINE PRINT.
Insufficient credit history, is when YOUR HISTORY is less than 10 years old. It doesn't mean that you are not credit worthy, the bank just doesn't have enough information to forecast what your habits are. The only way you will get a Car Loan/Lease, in this case, is to have a parent, or an older brother or sister, co-sign on a Car Loan/Lease with you. Make sure that their credit is well established, or you won't get approved with them either.
The BEST and fastest way to establish credit, is to get at least ONE, secured Credit Card. Use it for a couple years. When the credit card company refunds your security, and it becomes a REAL credit card, this gives you the BEST CHANCE of getting any loan for anything.
I found out about Credit Agencies the HARD WAY, on my 18th Birthday. I have been blessed with, unfortunately, the same name as my father. My father had a loan in his name for $25k. When he passed away, the loan naturally defaulted, and the credit agencies put it on MY credit profile. When I asked them "WHY?", it was because the name and the address matched. When I asked them about the birthdays and social security numbers being different, they told me that so many people use STOLEN SS numbers that they aren't as reliable as addresses.
I also found this out at the exact same time I was sitting in the Finance Office of a Mitsubishi Dealer. My Mom and I were trying to purchase a Mirage for $8,000. Every bank would not give me a loan for nothing. Even if my mother had co-signed with me. When the Finance Officer told me that there was a $25k judgement in my name, I almost fell off my chair. He knew it was a mistake and explained it to the bank. Without his help, the bank would have never given me a loan at all.
It took me 18 months to get that sh!t cleared off my Credit Profile. I can't tell you how many CERTIFIED copies of my Father's Death Certificate I had to make and mail to these idiots.
And the BEST indicator of your credit, is whether or not you can get a SEARS Credit Card. Sears has the most stringent standards for approval. I didn't get one of these until I was almmost 30 years old, and I'm not going to tell you my age either.
If you need help or have questions, I'll be happy to answer them as best as I can. Dealing with Credit Reporting Agnecies is WORSE then trying to explain you problems to a 4 year old. You have to S-P-E-L-L everything out, so that they COMPLETELY understand your point and SEE the mistakes in your Profile.
Pete...
