One of the major financial obstacles for consumers in the United States is not having a credit score. Not having a credit score, otherwise known as “credit invisibility,” can create problems for acquiring loans, applying for jobs, or gaining access to housing. Continue reading to find out more about why you might not have a credit score and what you can do to get one.
The Minimum Credit Scoring Criteria
To get a credit score, you must meet the minimum criteria. Depending on the credit scoring model you use to view your score, the requirements might differ. Let’s start by taking a look at the minimum criteria for FICO. FICO Requires At Least One Undisputed TradelineAny account on your credit report is called at tradeline. Tradelines can include credit cards, installment loans, lines of credit, etc. For the tradeline to be included on your score by FICO credit scoring models, it cannot currently be in dispute.
Why Don’t I Have A Credit Score?
Any Undisputed Tradeline Cannot Be More Than Six Months Old
To accurately predict your creditworthiness, any undisputed tradeline on your report cannot be older than six months. If there aren’t many data points to use to come up with your creditworthiness, a lender might not be able to accurately predict the risk of lending to you.
Your FICO Report Cannot List You As Deceased
While this might seem obvious, there are errors that take place in the credit world. Make sure that you are not listed as deceased on your credit report. Next, let’s take a look at what VantageScore requires:
Your VantageScore Report Cannot List You As Deceased
Just like with FICO, your VantageScore report cannot list you as deceased.
VantageScore Requires At Least Two Months of Credit History
“The VantageScore model typically produces scores for consumers with one to two months of credit history, regardless of which bureau reports that activity,” according to Money Crashers.
The Disadvantage Of Not Having A Credit Score
If you do not have a credit score for any of the above reasons and a lender tries to pull your credit score, they will get a “failure code” or “reject code.” These codes indicate to a lender that you did not meet the credit minimum for the particular criteria. There are plenty of ways in which you can start building credit to meet the minimum criteria, one of which is by using authorized user tradelines. Authorized user tradelines are credit reporting accounts. Whenever you purchase a tradeline, you get added as an authorized user to someone else’s account. While you don’t get access to go out and buy things with that person’s credit card, you do get to take advantage of their low utilization ratios, long-time history of on-time payments, and average age increase. If you are looking to purchase tradelines, or you just want to know a bit more about what tradelines can do for you and your credit, make sure to get in contact with us here at Boost Credit 101 so that we can help!