Establishing US Credit History as a Canadian using a US LLC/CCorp

Real Estate Investor · Burnaby, British Columbia · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 4 votes

Can anyone recommend how a Canadian investing in the US through a US LLC/C-Corp could build up their credit score for the sake of qualifying for mortgages? As a non-US citizen, how would one go about it? Most of the properties are purchased under an LLC, with a C-Corp as the sole member. Could a company hold credit/credit score in the US system? Or does it have to be a person, and if a person, therefore would need some type of identification (ITIN maybe?). Would appreciate any thoughts!

0 Reply

25 views

Most Popular Reply

Oren K.

Rental Property Investor · Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2012 · 538 posts · 298 votes

There are several challenges to building US credit score as a non-resident foreign national.

The primary one, I think, is that the simple fact that the agencies (Transunion, Equifax, etc) simply don't track you as a person unless you have a US S.I.N. You can file tax returns for as many years as you like, get US based credit cards, US consumer credit (e.g. Macys, LOC, etc), even own a home but an ITIN simply is not tracked in their systems.

So lets assume that you find a lender to lend on a commercial property (retail, multifamily, etc) and you agree to personal guarantee (there are programs / lenders out there). All goes well and everything is paid on time. At best, the LLC / C-Corp gets a credit rating but not you personally since 'you' did not take out the loan.

If there is anyone on BP that as a non-resident foreign national has found a way around this or has found any way to successfully built a US credit rating, I would love to hear that story.

Perhaps this market segment is an opportunity for one of the rating agencies but it would be such a small portion of their business, I don't think it would be worth their time / effort.

Oren

1 Reply

See this reply in the discussion

4 Replies

Jump to latestLatest

Sort by

Melvin ListBusiness Member
Lender · Tampa, FL · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 381 votes
7y
@Henry Der even when you purchase a property under an LLC most lenders will still want a personal guarantee. With out credit some lenders will take 3 credit references.
C2 Financial
Website View Page
0 Reply
Oren K.
Rental Property Investor · Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2012 · 538 posts · 298 votes
7y
There are several challenges to building US credit score as a non-resident foreign national.
The primary one, I think, is that the simple fact that the agencies (Transunion, Equifax, etc) simply don't track you as a person unless you have a US S.I.N. You can file tax returns for as many years as you like, get US based credit cards, US consumer credit (e.g. Macys, LOC, etc), even own a home but an ITIN simply is not tracked in their systems.
So lets assume that you find a lender to lend on a commercial property (retail, multifamily, etc) and you agree to personal guarantee (there are programs / lenders out there). All goes well and everything is paid on time. At best, the LLC / C-Corp gets a credit rating but not you personally since 'you' did not take out the loan.
If there is anyone on BP that as a non-resident foreign national has found a way around this or has found any way to successfully built a US credit rating, I would love to hear that story.
Perhaps this market segment is an opportunity for one of the rating agencies but it would be such a small portion of their business, I don't think it would be worth their time / effort.
Oren
1 Reply
Dan HandfordPro Member
Investor · Lexington, SC · Member since 2018 · 779 posts · 501 votes
7y
@Nikolai Ray with MREX would be a good resource here. @Henry Der
0 Reply
Lesley Resnick
Real Estate Agent · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
TD Bank is a good place to start. They are one of the few banks that will lend to Canadians for property in the US. I am not sure if it would help your credit score, but you can borrow money for US investment.
0 Reply

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.