Episode 11: Building Credit After Prison

02/26/16 • 22 min

Success After Prison with Michael Santos

Establishing Credit:

With a driver’s license, a job, and a paycheck, I had to begin building a banking relationship. After I received my first paycheck, I went to Bank of America and opened an account. Charles had told me that I could not apply for credit until after I completed my obligation to the Bureau of Prisons. So I opened a checking account and a savings account.

Just to check, I authorized the banker to run a credit report on me. We learned that I had a 0-0-0 credit score. He asked how a person of my age could proceed through life without accumulating a credit score—good or bad. The banker listened with interest as I told him that I’d just concluded 25 years in custody and that I was living in a halfway house. That conversation opened another opportunity for me to tell the story of my journey, another opportunity for me to influence a potential source of support.

Many people emerge from prison and try to hide their past. I don’t make a judgment on how much information an individual should reveal. In my case, I’ve found that total transparency always served me best. By being completely honest about my past, I’ve always found that people were willing to listen. As a consequence of the record that I built while I was inside, even bankers were willing to welcome me home and encourage me. When I was ready to apply for credit, he assured me that Bank of America would be ready to help.

Over the next several weeks, many of the seeds that I’d planted while I was incarcerated began to bear fruit. As mentioned in my other books, I wrote articles every day while I was incarcerated. All of those articles adhered to a theme that somehow related to the prison system or overcoming struggle. They helped me build interest, or a brand. I became somewhat of a subject-matter authority. As a strategy to broaden awareness of my work, I asked my wife to publish those articles on MichaelSantos.com or on other social media websites that she maintained on my behalf.

Media Attention:

While in the halfway house, I received an email from Vlae Kershner, a news director at the San Francisco Chronicle. Vlae told me that he had been following my work for years and asked whether I’d be interested in the newspaper writing a profile about my return to society after a quarter century in prison. That conversation led to an interview and a front-page story in one of the most highly visible newspapers in the world. The San Francisco newspaper published the article on Thanksgiving weekend, about 100 days after I transitioned to the halfway house in 2012.

The article didn’t only focus on my crime or the decades I served in prison. It focused on efforts I was making to build a career around my journey. The article brought publicity that validated my work. A person couldn’t buy that type of coverage, and I intended to leverage the article in ways that would open new opportunities. As a consequence of the newspaper story, people would judge me for the way that I responded to my lengthy prison sentence rather than for the bad decisions I began making when I was 20.

Those who choose to live transparently, authentically, may find that this strategy would advance their prospects for success, too. People are more receptive to extending “second chances” or opportunities to people who acknowledge their past bad decisions, express remorse, and show that they’re determined to work toward redemption.

Establishing Credit:

Media Attention:

Previous Episode

Episode 10: Steve Jobs and Other Mentors For Me In Prison

As Steve Jobs, another mastermind said, “Good artists copy ideas, but great artists steal ideas.” To prepare for success, I copied ideas from the most successful masterminds I could find, whether they lived thousands of years ago or whether they served time alongside me in federal prison.

Regardless of where you are today, you have masterminds around you. Question yourself on how your actions and choices influence they way those masterminds perceive you. If they perceive you as being worthy of their time, you will find that they will want to invest in you. I cannot recall how many people invested time, energy, and resources in my success, even though I did not know them prior to my imprisonment. They saw me as being authentic and they wanted to help.

I found that I could “will” avatars into my life who would invest in my future. And if I could do that while serving 26 years as a prisoner, then just think what you can do!

Some of the people who invested in me along the way include the following:

Prison staff members who allowed me to maneuver my way into the right type of job—a job that would allow me to make progress toward the independent goals that I set.

Lawyers who came into my life and volunteered their time in an effort to advance my release date—although I served every day of my sentence, I appreciated their efforts.

Mentors and educators who would visit me at their own expense, regardless of where I was held.

Publishers who opened a platform for me to bring books to market.

Other people in prison who became friends throughout the journey.

Investors who provided financial resources that would allow me to advance my goals.

Business owners who agreed to open introductions for me upon release.

The woman who became my wife and life partner.

Regardless of whether I served time in a jail, a high-security penitentiary, a medium-security prison, a low-security prison, or a minimum-security camp, I always found masterminds—people who showed an interest and wanted to help. If this strategy only succeeded for me in a single minimum-security camp, then people could say I was lucky. But I served 26 years, in prisons of every security level. Whether I served time in a high-security penitentiary, a medium-security or low-security correctional institution, my earlier books showed that other people—masterminds—always came into my life and helped to advance prospects for my success.

Any prisoner could will the same types of support into his or her life. First, the prisoners must begin by asking the types of Socratic questions that allowed me to find mentors. Then, they needed to create a plan. Finally, they needed to execute the plan as the days turned into weeks, the weeks turned into months, the months turned into years, and for some, as the years turned into decades.

The job I had with Lee’s company satisfied Charles, my case manager. Since I had a place to work, he authorized me to leave the halfway house each morning at 6:00 am. I didn’t return to the halfway house until around 8:00 in the evening. On payday, I provided Charles with a copy of my check stub and a money order for 25% of my gross wages. So long as I complied with his terms, he lived up to his word and allowed me all of the liberty I needed to begin building my career.

Next Episode

Episode 12: Buying Real Estate After Prison

Real Estate Purchase

When I returned to society, in August of 2012, our nation was starting to emerge from the worst recession in our lifetime. In 2008 the stock market and the real estate market began to implode. Credit dried up. Housing prices fell to historic lows. By the fall of 2012, however, the economy looked poised to rebound. Carole and I wanted to participate in the potential upside.

To profit from an anticipated market rebound, I knew that Carole and I would need to control a larger asset base. If we could purchase a large asset, like a house, when prices were still relatively low, our equity would increase if housing prices recovered. Both of us wanted to purchase real estate. Our challenge was that we did not have sufficient credit to qualify for a house purchase in the conventional manner. We would need to create an alternative strategy. Fortunately, the seeds we began sowing prior to my release would help.

What were those seeds? We began with a vision of what we wanted. We set a plan. And we executed the plan.

Prior to my release from prison, Carole and I agreed on a solid plan on how we would build our future together, as a team. Since we knew that I’d be starting my career, we intended to count on Carole’s earnings as a registered nurse to provide the initial stability for our family. I anticipated that I would need about five years before I’d have a business that would completely sustain us. There would be many challenges, including working without compensation.

During my first five years of liberty, I expected to work at least 60 to 70 hours each week and travel routinely. By anticipating the demands of my schedule, along with the needs of our relationship, Carole and I agreed that we would need to find a program that would be fulfilling for her so she wouldn’t feel neglected when I was away. We began exploring opportunities for Carole to advance her nursing credentials.

Carole’s research led her to discover a program she could pursue at The University of San Francisco. She could earn a master’s degree in nursing by completing her coursework online while completing the clinical portion of her education at the hospital where she worked. This program would allow Carole to earn a master’s degree while she simultaneously earned an income that would be sufficient to support our family. Further, Carole’s busy schedule would bring her a sense of fulfillment while I focused on building my career and acclimating to society. As a team, we both would focus on the mutual goals we set.

Regardless of how much income we earned from our careers, we knew that we would need an investment plan. We were both approaching 50 years old. As a consequence of my lengthy imprisonment, and Carole’s commitment to stay by my side and support me throughout the journey, we didn’t have any savings for retirement. If we could find a way to purchase a house in 2012, we believed that house would appreciate in value over time. Owning real estate that would appreciate in value over time could contribute to our preparations for retirement. By owning appreciating assets in appreciating markets, we anticipated that we could build upon our security.

Prison rules precluded me from applying for any type of credit, including a mortgage, while I was in the halfway house. Instead of looking for conventional financing, I thought creatively. Carole and I had built a track record of success, and we intended to leverage our accomplishments by persuading others to believe in us—to see us for what we would become rather than for where we were.

To buy our first house, we considered our strengths and weaknesses. Our weakness was that we didn’t have a strong financial statement or credit score; our strength was that we had a plan and a history of executing our plans.

Since I’d been documenting my prison adjustment for decades, I could show that although I made bad decisions that sent me to prison, masterminds encouraged me to think about avatars. By contemplating what those avatars would expect of me, I created a plan to educate myself, to contribute to society, and to build a support network. After earning university degrees, I began publishing. Those publishing efforts generated an income that trickled in over the years. Rather than wasting those resources, Carole and I used them judiciously. We invested in her nursing education and we saved. As a consequence of those decisions, we could show savings of $85,000 when I returned to society. Further, we could show how Carole’s earnings would increase after she earned her master’s degree in nursing. Our solid plans, backed up with our history of accomplishment, persuaded others to believe in us. Even though we didn’t have the conventional track record to apply for a mortgage, we could find a way to purchase our first property.