Credit history is a backwater system that needs to be revamped.
Way back when in my youth (oh so long ago, me being 21 now) I bounced a few cheques. It was a
stupid mistake; I had just cleaned out a bank account and opened a new one at a different bank, and I wrote my rent and
bills off of my old account. Just a
stupid mistake.
Not only did I have $100 in service charges, but the receivers of my cheques got $100 in service charges which they in turn re-charged me. Then my bank suspended all transactions until they got their
money, and my bill-makers did likewise.
That was about 4 years ago.
I lived with the
mistake and I'm not
ranting about that. What really pissed me off was the credit
history.
I am now trying to live on my own, start a life with a wonderful girlfriend, getting our own place, buying furniture... Heck, even thinking about children (long run! long run!). And I can't get a loan, can't get a credit card.
How am I going to build up my credit history to GET a credit card/loan?
Simple... Get a
credit card or a loan, of course.
WAIT WAIT WAIT! Do we all see the
problem here?
Of course, I have other options available to me. I can get The Bay Card, or a
Canadian Tire card. Paying those cards off would get me a good credit history.
But - when one doesn't
shop at huge
national chain department stores, what is one to do?
I dealt with my problems the day after I got word from my bank - I transferred
money over, paid the bills in person in the office the next day - et cetera. I think credit history should take corrections into account.
Stupidity. And the grand colossalness of my
mistake made the next 10(?) years of my
life more difficult.
I feel like I'm on
welfare when I can only buy a
couch if I save for 4 months.
Edit: I found a small solution to my credit history problems. May not work for all. ;)
Update: It turns out I'm completely out of luck. Wal-Mart and Future Shop both declined me a card.