Give Me a Little Credit
SILVER, SINGLE & SOLO
By Sharlene Minshall
Finally, nearly into 2008, my temper has cooled enough to write
this article! I hope that airing this problem will keep someone
else from experiencing it. In October of 2001, I found a 1998
21-foot Coachmen Class B that would allow me to trade in the
Sprinter and downsize to a vehicle I could legally park in my driveway. With great excitement, I filled out the paperwork. When the
salesman finally returned, he said, “Your application was turned
down!” What! I was a “ghost,” with no credit history whatsoever.
I had gone on the road in 1986 with a used RV. A year and a half
later, I traded it in on a new one. I had the audacity to pay cash for
it. I eventually bought a used car, a Coast to Coast campground
membership, two properties, and a fifth wheel. I either paid cash or
made nominal payments (considered private loans).
I spent thousands of dollars for necessities through Merrill Lynch
or A. G. Edwards Visa accounts, settled automatically at the end of
each month. I didn’t know that these expenditures were not “
credits,” but “debits” and therefore not recorded with the three major
credit companies. I paid medical, car, and RV insurance, and later,
taxes, electric, sewer, water and telephone bills on two Arizona lots.
But returning to the fall of 2001, the problem was very simple;
I “simply” didn’t exist!
Then I did the worst thing I could have done. I called a dozen
other lenders, thinking that it was only that particular one who
would turn me down. I added fuel to the fire. Now they were turning me down for “too many inquiries in the last twelve months,
insufficient credit history, insufficient comparable credit, lack of
recent account and bank revolving information.”
“luxury vehicle.” And why, exactly, would it matter if it were a luxury vehicle? With a co-signer, they would have received their
money regardless of whether I made the payments or not.
In an economy in 2001 that was crying for people to spend
money to bring us out of a slump, it didn’t make sense! Then I did
what I should have done in the first place—but I didn’t know it. I
contacted the three kings of the financial universe, Equifax,
Experian, and TransUnion, a revelation beyond all revelations.
The Simple Life
I “simplified” my life when I went on the road. I no longer had
a Sears or Penney’s card. I didn’t have savings or checking accounts
anywhere. I did everything through Merrill Lynch and A. G.
Edwards; however, if anyone
had listened, I could have
proven my solvency with portfolio and tax reports.
It did not help that I was a
full-time RVer. Using the mail
services of the Escapees RV
Club, I had several similar
addresses with changes going
from a suite number to a PMB
and from 100 Livingston to 150
Livingston because of a problem Escapees RV Club was having with the U. S. Post Office.
Try explaining that.
The people from whom I
bought my fifth wheel offered to
co-sign for a $30,000 loan on
the motorhome, even though
they barely knew me except that
we were fellow Escapees. A co-signed loan, surely I was in like
Flynn! Forget it! The lenders
would not budge. They considered the Class B motorhome a
Source of Trouble
I had gone to an emergency room in Branson, Missouri. Two
months later, they had turned the bill over to a collection agency. I
discovered they hadn’t even billed the insurance company. Their
hospital billing practices left a lot to be desired. This was resolved
shortly or so I thought. The mess surfaced again when I tried to
get credit. Thank heaven, I kept all letters and receipts that I needed to build a timeline and prove my case.
This followed me for months. No, I never did get the RV I wanted. I was still a ghost. I started building my credit by buying a car.
The salesman suggested something that worked very well for me. I
took the cash that I could have paid for the car and put it into a CD
at a local bank. They used that as collateral, and with no questions,
gave me a loan. I paid it off after a year. I bought my motorhome,
The George, doing the same thing and paid it off within two years.
In the meantime, I got a checking account through a bank (only by
putting a $500 guarantee behind it!). Everywhere I went they
acted like I was a criminal.
In the meantime, I bought insurance for the car. I had never
had problems getting or changing insurance coverage through the
years for a car or RV but suddenly the insurer wouldn’t trust me
either. I paid much more because now they were checking my
credit score and it wasn’t high enough to meet their standards.
