Maintaining U.S. Credit While on Global Assignment
An employee’s credit profile and their ability to obtain future financing is one of the last things on their mind when they are being deployed for an international assignment. For U.S. expatriates, regardless of how long their international assignment is, if they plan on purchasing a home upon their return, they must remember to preserve their U.S. credit history. Credit history is built up over a long period of time. Unfortunately, it can take only a short time to destroy that history, requiring employees to start from the beginning upon their return to the U.S.
When advising your employees about maintaining their credit history in the U.S. we recommend that they should keep four (4) U.S. based credit cards open and active during their time on assignment. It is important that they use these cards once a quarter or every six (6) months for at least a minor purchase. They may then clear the balance in the next billing cycle. This maintains activity on their account and demonstrates that they are making timely payments. Otherwise, their accounts will become inactive, which will result in an adverse affect on their credit.
While it seems like a fairly simple process, it is often forgotten or ignored. Numerous employees return to the U.S. from a global assignment to face the need to re-establish credit, impacting their ability to purchase a home, vehicle etc. And, by following a few simple steps, this challenge can be easily eliminated.
Posted on 07/22/2009 in Mortgage | Comments (0)
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