Credit reports

[wdfifteen]

I saw this come up in another thread and I didn't want to hi-jack it.
One of the few things that gets my blood pressure up is credit reporting agencies (and that BS thing Dunn&Bradstreet does which is almost the same thing). They collect information on you and give you no opportunity to preview what they put in your report before the fact, they sell it to pretty much anyone who wants it, and then have the frikkn gall to try to sell YOU access to your own information so you can correct their mistakes after they screw up.
Once a year free access isn't enough. With the internet you should be able to access and correct it anytime you want. In a time when you can't take a crap without having your credit checked you need more control and more access to the credit data collected about you.
I check mine three times a year - or more accurately, I use my annual access to each reporting agency at 4 month intervals (it doesn't make much sense to check them all at the same time unless you find a problem). I've never had a problem, but it bugs the he ll out of me that yet another bureaucracy is this involved my life.

[widebody911]

Welcome to the Corporatacracy.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Yep. If you had as much money as your opponent (corporate America) your opinion would matter. Seeing as you don't, it doesn't.

[pwd72s]

Never check my credit rating...don't care what it is. Cindy & I use credit cards, but bills get paid in full every month. That makes us "deadbeats" in the credit card world...they like people who pay interest.

Everything is paid for, including our home.

Financial happiness for me is in not paying any interest while having others pay interest to me.

[GH85Carrera]

I checked mine a couple of years ago. I found that I had a Sears credit card show as active. I have not used a Sears card since the days of the little skinny 1/2 size card they used to have. I made sure that was closed. Like Paul, I pay off my credit card each month. No debt, and no intention of going into debt. Only a smoking good deal on perfect GT3 with the perfect combination of colors could tempt me to assume any debt.

[gr8fl4porsche]

Sad part is that when you closed the Sears card your credit score most likely went down.

[john70t]

The credit industry is a fraud. Pure economic defamation and rules that don't make sense.

After high school, I rented an appartment with a couple of deliquents(as it turned out.)
-I moved out, with the managers's permission. They moved shortly afterwards. The company put a $7K ding on my credit.

-This $7K "debt" remained on my credit report....not 7....not 10...wait for it...11+ years!!!

-Meanwhile, I lost $100K+ in potential income through the California real estate market. Couldn't get a credit card. Couldn't get a Sears card. Couldn't get a union card.

-The credit reporting agencies refused to even talk to me, let alone send the written information to contest this "defamation of economic character".

[wdfifteen]

If your credit score was just about credit it would be different.
I was shopping car&home insurance prices and one of the things they wanted was my credit score - to price insurance!
One of the agencies put a "ding" on my credit because of frequent address changes. I've had the same home address for 19 years and the same business address for 10 years. Sometimes I make transactions under my business and sometimes personally, so some transactions have one address and some have another. Their computers are too stupid to figure that out, so it puts a black mark on my ability to buy insurance at lower rates.
You need a good credit score to rent a house, too.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I checked mine a couple of years ago. I found that I had a Sears credit card show as active. I have not used a Sears card since the days of the little skinny 1/2 size card they used to have. I made sure that was closed. Like Paul, I pay off my credit card each month. No debt, and no intention of going into debt. Only a smoking good deal on perfect GT3 with the perfect combination of colors could tempt me to assume any debt.

If that car came along and you haven't been paying attention to your credit score, you might have to pass it up. If you don't have a good credit history - and NO credit history = Bad credit history - you aren't going to go out and instantly borrow enough money to buy a car.

[RWebb]

the only solution to this is tighter govt. regulation

as pointed out above, consumers are at the mercy of these guys

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by RWebb

the only solution to this is tighter govt. regulation

as pointed out above, consumers are at the mercy of these guys

Unfortunately, and "regulation" is influenced by the industry - he who has the gold really does make the rules.

[scoe911]

Potential employers are now checking job applicant's credit ratings along with background checks. The logic being good credit speaks about character...maybe...maybe not.

[RWebb]

quite true

but if people don't put forth some effort to contact their representatives, then it will be a lot worse

[Porsche-O-Phile]

No the solution is to not depend so much on credit.

If you don't like the terms/conditions of the product, don't buy it.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

No the solution is to not depend so much on credit.

If you don't like the terms/conditions of the product, don't buy it.

So you don't get a job, buy insurance, or rent a house because the terms are that you have to have good credit? I don't think so. You can't just opt out by not participating because no credit history is as damaging as bad credit history. Webb is right. We need to make the corporatocracy decouple our credit reports from all other aspects of our lives, and it may take legislation to do it.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

No the solution is to not depend so much on credit.

If you don't like the terms/conditions of the product, don't buy it.

BTDT. It doesn't work.

I refused to get a credit card until my late 20's, for pretty much the reasons stated in this thread. However, simple things like renting a place to live were nigh impossible. I landed a great job, but then needed to do some emergency travel for the job (had to cover a commitment for my boss), and damn near lost that job because I didn't have a CC to handle up-front travel expenses - airlines and hotels don't like cash or checks. I eventually gave in and got a card, which was a more difficult task @ 28 than it would have been at 18. If an employer had tried to run a credit report, they probably would have passed me over due to the lack of a credit history; for all I know, some did.

Apart from that, there's not much you can do about the data mining and gaming that goes on behind the scenes. And and all attempts at regulation have been neutered by financial industry lobbying.

[scoe911]

At least now they have to ask before they screw you...

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by scoe911

At least now they have to ask before they screw you...

No, I'm pretty sure you have to ask them to stop screwing you, and then remember to ask again on a regular basis.

I downloaded one of the forms for opting out of the data mining; the form itself was a bucket full of data. They wanted addresses for the past x years, past few jobs, etc.

[GH85Carrera]

My MIL lived without credit for many years. They started in very small houses that they paid for with cash. They were living in a very nice paid for house driving paid for Mercedes. They wanted to go on a cruise but there was no way to travel like that without a credit card. When she applied for a credit card at her bank she had to talk to the bank president because she had zero credit history. She got the card. Of course now she enjoys the ease of using it. She has it set up on an automatic bank draft to be paid in full every month.

[scoe911]

Originally Posted by widebody911

No, I'm pretty sure you have to ask them to stop screwing you, and then remember to ask again on a regular basis..

I was referring to interest rate increases. They must now give at least a 45 day notice.