Our Electricity Was Cut Off!!!

The joys of life without credit in the U.S.

Apparently, PG&E (electricity company) sent us a letter requesting IDs+ lease. We didn't receive the letter so we never submitted said documents. Because we have no credit here, they thought it was best to cut off our electricity even though we've been paying them for two months.

Un-freakin-believable.

Credit Hell

I am starting to believe that no credit history is far worse than bad credit history in this country. I feel like a teenager. I am very frustrated that our Canadian credit history is not recognized in the US.

A couple of weeks ago, we needed to get cell phones (we have no landline). For each cell phone, we were asked for $1,000 deposit! It is outrageous for a piece of cheap plastic that is normally free. No credit and no social security number is apparently a bad combination. So when the husbter got a social security number, back we were at T-Mobile. The deposit was now $250 for each cell phone. It’s progress, I suppose.

Then we applied for a credit card which was promptly denied because of “Few revolving accounts opened long enough to establish credit history” along with “Not enough accounts opened long enough to establish credit history”. Even more frustrating is the fact that they don’t even look at assets or income. It’s solely based on past history.

Our solution was to get a US bank account, debit and credit cards through RBC Centura. Royal Bank recently bought an American bank, Centura. They are based in Florida (snow bird market) but recognize our Canadian credit history. This is a nice temporary measure until we build enough credit to exist in the US!