How do I do a credit check if I’ve never had a credit card…?

erin: How do I do a credit check if I’ve never had a credit card…?
I’m getting my first apartment this summer. How do I get a credit check? I only have a debit card, and applied for a bunch of credit cards … but no luck, due to “insufficient credit history.” What do I do?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Dan H
www.annualcreditreport.com for your free credit report.

Answer by Hailey Turner
your credit history is seen as any kind of loan any amount of money that you have borrowed and had to pay back. how good your credit history is depends on how quickly you payed back those loans so if you have had any kind of credithistory then you will most likely need a parent of yours or someone older to be a guarantor and they will use there credit history as an idea and anything would fall back on them if you didnt pay your credit card bill etc i think so try taking someone in with you to the bank you wish to get the credit card at. make sure they have a good credit history though.

Answer by Ed Fox
Applying for “a bunch” of credit cards beings down your score by itself because you appear desperate

Answer by Common Sense
YOU don’t do a credit check, the landlord does. It’ll come back “no record”.

Answer by DON W
Most landlords will understand if this is your first apartment and you do not yet have a credit history built up. When they get back “No credit history” from the credit bureaus, that’s not automatically bad–it shows that you have no negative history (such as failure to pay bills, etc.), which is very important to them. If you look and act like a responsible adult, you’ll likely get the apartment anyway.

Answer by bdancer222
If you have never had a loan or credit card, you have no credit history. You can check your credit reports thru AnnualCreditReport.com, but it will probably give tell you that they can’t give you a report.

Don’t apply for any more credit cards for at least 6 months. Then check with your bank about a secured card — you pay a deposit which is held as collateral against the line of credit.

Answer by StephenWeinstein
It is too late now. Once you apply “for a bunch of credit cards”, you have a history of applying too many times, and will need to wait a year.

On the other hand, for an apartment, it may not matter. Some apartments will take you as long as you have nothing bad in your credit history (applying a bunch of times is bad, but might not be bad enough to keep you from getting the apartment), even if you also have nothing good.