That seems crazy to me. I understand that what you are saying is reality, but is it really that difficult to get by in US without ever owning a credit card?
Yes. Effectively you will not have any credit history, so you simply won’t qualify for lower interest credit products or will be rejected on applications that have a credit score threshold.
You’ll be rejected from a lot of things on the basis of having no credit, because in the U.S., it is considered worse if you have always paid everything up front and on time than if you consistently borrow and make continual payments. Now, that doesn’t have to be a credit card per say, it can be car lease payments, student loan payments, medical debt payments, my landlord reports my rent payments, but credit cards are one of the easiest ways to build up your credit score before you say, have to spend an extra $1500 upfront for an apartment on a co-signor service because my credit score wasn’t considered high enough for an apartment I pay $500 a month for.
Also, your credit cards are a different kind of “loan” - revolving - vs those other debts, which are installment. Having a mix of the two will improve your credit. They literally want it to be impossible to have good credit without the cards.
Do you have no rental bonds? It’s quite common here to have a rental bond up to three times the monthly rent, but you get that back at the end if there are no disputes about damages or payment default.
There doesn’t seem to be anything offered by the rental company I’m currently with, and I’ve never heard of concept before. There are security deposits, which you do typically receive at the end of the lease, but most of the ones here are non-refundable, and I did have to pay one of those as well.
That seems crazy to me. I understand that what you are saying is reality, but is it really that difficult to get by in US without ever owning a credit card?
Yes. Effectively you will not have any credit history, so you simply won’t qualify for lower interest credit products or will be rejected on applications that have a credit score threshold.
Yes. Adding to the other comment, if you don’t have good credit you can also lose out on certain job opportunities.
Edit: here is California’s restrictions on employer access. Note that other states have fewer restrictions.
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=LAB&division=2.&title=&part=3.&chapter=3.6.&article=
You’ll be rejected from a lot of things on the basis of having no credit, because in the U.S., it is considered worse if you have always paid everything up front and on time than if you consistently borrow and make continual payments. Now, that doesn’t have to be a credit card per say, it can be car lease payments, student loan payments, medical debt payments, my landlord reports my rent payments, but credit cards are one of the easiest ways to build up your credit score before you say, have to spend an extra $1500 upfront for an apartment on a co-signor service because my credit score wasn’t considered high enough for an apartment I pay $500 a month for.
Also, your credit cards are a different kind of “loan” - revolving - vs those other debts, which are installment. Having a mix of the two will improve your credit. They literally want it to be impossible to have good credit without the cards.
Do you have no rental bonds? It’s quite common here to have a rental bond up to three times the monthly rent, but you get that back at the end if there are no disputes about damages or payment default.
There doesn’t seem to be anything offered by the rental company I’m currently with, and I’ve never heard of concept before. There are security deposits, which you do typically receive at the end of the lease, but most of the ones here are non-refundable, and I did have to pay one of those as well.