Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with creditreports

Pulling credit reports for savings accounts... why?

moonbird — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:38:27 -0800

You'd think banks would want you to throw money at them, but alas. Why do online banks pull credit reports just to open a savings account, and do any banks just want your deposits regardless of your history? I've been questing for one of those 3.5% or more accounts with the many banks now offering complete branch-free access. While my credit rating is quite meh, it's in repair, I own my home, am never late on car payments, have a full time job, etc. But each time I apply I get declined. In pulling my report, I see no glaring red flags other than what's obvious to me. I know they will pull minor details off of your report to verify identity and such, but why the full monty?

Could anyone point me to a bank that has a reasonable (or better) interest rate that will not pull a report? Also, help me understand the theory behind this. I'm not going to be writing checks off of this account, natch, nor is there any loaning or risk for the bank involved (not that I can think of). Why does a bank then screen for credit worthiness if they're just going to be recycling your own greenbacks with a little interest kicked in?
Thanks in advance, as always.

Old Bad Credit Marks - How do they go away?

jimmyhutch — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 23:37:36 -0800

I am trying to repair very old credit problems. I was a freelance designer for a few years and I had little to no money extra to pay some of the high bills I had. I'm trying to repair the old delinquencies - is this possible? (more inside) I had a few months in 2004 where I could not afford to pay my bills - mostly credit card bills. I have a few accounts that have 120 day delinquencies reported in 2004, but since about the end fo that year, I have made on-time payments for 24 months or better. Is there anything I can do to get these accounts out of the "adverse account" section of my credit report and in better standing? Some of these accounts have even been paid off for a year or better.

Repairing Credit

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Nov 2004 19:45:33 -0800

How should I repair my bad credit? I'm 26, my income ($53k) exceeds my expenses and I have only $1.5k debt, but I was awful about paying bills on time until the last year or so. Now I'm finding it difficult to secure a car loan. I haven't even gotten a credit report because I'm afraid to look at it. I will probably end up talking to a credit counselor, but I thought I'd ask for advice before I do. College kids, don't wait until the utility bill is yellow to pay it. Trust me.