How To Get An Account With Very Bad Credit? Need Advice Badly!!!

Question:
I'm actually looking for advice for my girlfriend. She made the mistake of stopping payments on her canada student loans about 4 years ago because she couldn't afford the payments and was rejected for interest relief. She basically went into hiding and worked the odd job under the table. She's a nice person and a big part of the reason she went into debt was helping her family out money wise. She ending up paying for it though... Here students aren't allowed to declare bankrupcy on their loans until 10 years have passed! She's recenlty aquired a repectable job where they require her to have an account for direct deposit. I don't know what her credit is like now but I imagine it would be pretty bad. What are her chances of being able to get a chequing account? Could anyone recommend any banks in Calgary/Canada that might forgo a credit check? Credit unions? Smaller banks? She has a decent paying job now. Does that factor in? Will she have to settle her bad credit first? If so recommend any debt councelors? The problem is they told her she needs an account by next Wednesday (Feb 26th) in her name or they will suspend her until she gets one... 2nd option: I have pretty good credit but I'm in a different city now. Would a bank let me hold a joint account with her? How would I sign her on to an account under both our names? Is it possible if she isn't physically at the bank with me to sign her on with me?

Answer:
Well, assuming that the credit and checking systems in Canada are very similar to those in the US, her bad credit might not necessarily result in denial of a checking account at a bank. Banks don't normally run a credit check on you when you apply to open a checking account -- they run a ChexSystems check on you. ChexSystems is the corporation/NGO which, much like the Big Three CRAs, keeps a database of individuals who are bad checking risks (due to excessive NSF checks, unpaid bounced checks, check forgeries, etc.). If you've been dunned by ChexSystems, most banks will NOT allow you to open a checking account. Once dunned by ChexSystems, it usually takes five years from the last negative report filed with ChexSystems until your "red flag" falls off their system. From the sound of it, she's defaulted on student loans; she hasn't written bad checks. Thus, she most likely will have no problems getting a checking account. Then again, bank policies may have changed since I last opened an account -- for all I know, banks might be running credit checks against new applicants and denying checking privileges to bad credit risks, under the premise that a bad credit risk is more likely to bounce checks. Anyone have any more concrete evidence one way or the other? I don't know how "concrete" this information is but I was able to get a new checking and savings account a few weeks after filing Chapter 7. I've never been "dunned" so I don't belive that I've been flagged in the ChexSystem. I have entertained the thought that perhaps the fact that I have guardianship of my father's $200k in that bank may have had something to do with it. Maybe it didn't.





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