Invest in USA Property
Pre-Purchase Investigations
USA Credit Rating
The content on this page is reproduced with kind permission from Richard Lillycrop.Building a credit rating in the USA. To stand any chance of borrowing money in the US you will need to try and build up a good credit history. At present you will have an empty credit report, which is treated the same as having bad credit.
Upon receiving your International Tax ID Number (ITIN) you should be eligible for a secured credit card. The credit card provider would generally be a Bank which reports on your credit file. The way it works is that the bank holds an amount in reserve, equal to your credit limit on the card, so there is little risk to them. The advantage is that using it on a regular basis, over the course of 6-12 months and making sure you are paying off the balance in time, this will demonstrate that you can be trusted to have a traditional unsecured credit card. Once you get a traditional card and show you can handle credit well, you can approach your bank to get borrowing for your properties.
If you have a Limited Liability Company (LLC) the credit issue is even more important, as once you personally have good credit you can personally guarantee credit for your business. Then after some time, you should be able to remove the personal guarantee, as the business will have an established credit record. You will have lines of credit available then for borrowing money as the business is a US entity.
Once your LLC is established you should get an EIN number from the IRS. If you have an ITIN or SSN you can apply for an EIN on-line at the IRS website and receive the number straight away. INBIB will guide you with this process ensuring that the correct procedures are complied to.
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Please Note - The information contained above should not be regarded as legal or tax advice and is our opinion only.