How to apply for a credit card and actually get approved + MORE Nov 14th

Q: I am in the process of helping my daughter buy a condo, here is what we have done so far:
We signed the mortgage with her as primary and me as co-signer,  I will be giving her the down payment and she is going to be living there and she will be the one paying the mortgage and all expenses.
My question is what would be the best way to do this transaction looking it at both a legal and tax perspective. From the tax perspective: How should I arrange/declare that I am gifting her the down payment on this condo? And when do we claim the tax breaks for her as a first time buyer? Would that be at time of paying the lawyer for land transfer etc.? Also, I would like to still be able to have some room on my credit as to buy another property so we were thinking if her owning 90% of the condo and me keeping just 10% would work for this purpose. According to the lawyer, we both have to have some percentage assigned because we are both on the mortgage.
From a legal perspective, we are thinking about joint tenancy as the best way to protect the asset if one of us passes away unexpectedly…

(Photoillustration by Stephen Gregory and Heshmat Saberi)
In 1998, Ann bought a one-bedroom condo in the Kitsilano area of Vancouver. Gainfully employed at a printing company, she found the monthly mortgage payments were within her budget (Ann and others quoted in this story asked that Maclean’s not use their full names). The building was on the older side, and eventually she got the itch to update the decor. She intended to replace only her bathroom sink; she ended up renovating the entire bathroom. “I remember thinking, ‘Well, now that I’ve started…’ ” The kitchen came next, then the living room and finally the bedroom. Ann thought the renos, funded partly on credit and spaced out over a few months, would boost her condo’s value. She also wanted to keep up with her neighbours. “Everyone was doing something,” she says.
Finances became tight afterwards, and she only paid the minimum on her credit card each month. Every year, her condo fees rose while her salary at the printing company (where she still works) stagnated…

(John Lund/Getty Images)
In 1998, Ann bought a one-bedroom condo in the Kitsilano area of Vancouver. Gainfully employed at a printing company, she found the monthly mortgage payments were within her budget (Ann and others quoted in this story asked that Maclean’s not use their full names). The building was on the older side, and eventually she got the itch to update the decor. She intended to replace only her bathroom sink; she ended up renovating the entire bathroom. “I remember thinking, ‘Well, now that I’ve started…’ ” The kitchen came next, then the living room and finally the bedroom. Ann thought the renos, funded partly on credit and spaced out over a few months, would boost her condo’s value. She also wanted to keep up with her neighbours. “Everyone was doing something,” she says.
Finances became tight afterwards, and she only paid the minimum on her credit card each month. Every year, her condo fees rose while her salary at the printing company (where she still works) stagnated…

Toronto-based VerticalScope Inc. says six of the community websites it administers were hacked last month in the latest of a recent series of data breaches affecting Canadian online user information.
The company says in an emailed statement an “unauthorized party” gained access to community member data for six of its websites on Oct. 17 and 21 and some of the data was disclosed online.
It says the data did not include credit card or banking information but did include usernames, email addresses, encrypted passwords, user identifications, registration dates and IP addresses for websites including DIYchatroom.com, PBnation.com, HysterSisters.com, ToyotaNation.com, JeepForum.com and WatchUSeek.com.
Alex Holden of Hold Security, LLC, says his American cybersecurity firm was able to intercept hackers’ attempts to sell data stolen from VerticalScope and tracked down screenshots containing current secure information to confirm the breaches had taken place.
He says the attack was “rather sophomoric” and its success doesn’t reflect well on VerticalScope’s cybersecurity readiness, adding it’s unclear how many people had their confidential information stolen…

Do you remember applying for your first credit card? Most people get their first taste through student credit cards, which typically offer lower limits and are easier to qualify for. But graduating to one of the best rewards credit cards isn’t as easy as deciding which one is right for you—lenders make you meet their requirements, not the other way around.
For the best chance at being approved for a new credit card, you need to know what lenders look for and how to make yourself an attractive borrower. Before applying, here’s what you can do to improve your chances.
Know your credit score
Knowing your credit score is the easiest and most important way to improve your chances of getting approved for a credit card. Your credit score is a number between 300 and 900 and is used by lenders to assess how creditworthy you are. There are two major credit reporting agencies in Canada: Equifax and TransUnion. You can pay to learn your credit score from one of these companies. You can find out your credit score for free here…