Mound City Bank and Transunion Credit Score Myth 8: Closing accounts shortens credit history (#1411s)

On a page titled “Credit Myths and Misconceptions,” Transunion, a consumer reporting agency, questionably states

It helps to close old accounts.

This credit myth advocates closing old and inactive accounts to hike up your score. However, this might inadvertently have the opposite affect[SIC] and lower your credit score because now the credit history appears shorter. If you don’t trust yourself to put a card away in a safe place and not use it, then consider canceling newer accounts.

That passage contains, at least, if not one of fact, a grammatical error. #myth8


FROM: Greg Fisher, creditscoring.com
TO: Donna Hoppenjan, president & CEO, Mound City Bank (#n259442)
DATE: 2016-09-19
SUBJECT: credit score, closing; Mound City Bank, president; Transunion #1411s

See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=5570 [this page].

I am with the media, am on a deadline (I set it; it is today) and I am writing about you. #1411s

This is the second item in a listicle titled “President’s Message” that you wrote for Mound City Bank:

Don’t Avoid All Debt

One common misconception among consumers is that any debt on your credit report is bad, which is not entirely true. Good debt – debt that you handled well by making on-time payments – is good for your credit score because it shows that you are a reliable borrower. This is especially true if it’s old debt, because it extends your credit history. So don’t call the reporting agency to remove that car loan from your credit report as soon as you pay off the vehicle. Leave old debt and good accounts on your credit history for as long as possible. This is also why you should keep your oldest credit cards active, even if you don’t use them very often. Cancelling a credit card that you’ve had for a long time will shorten your credit history, which could negatively impact your overall credit score.

You are wrong. See Credit Score Myth 8. http://www.creditscoring.com/myths/#myth8

Who told you that a person can have an account removed from his credit report once the account is paid off?

This is important, and it is not just about Wisconsin, your state. Please see the greater significance and reply today. Your number is n259442.


Greg Fisher
Truth and Falsity
truthandfalsity.com
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio 45409-0342
mobile/text 937-681-3224

False information spread by Time Warner/CNN

Jeff Bewkes, Time Warner

This is a civics lesson directed squarely at you. If a shadow audience reads it, that’s gravy.

See “Labor Day, 2013 – CNN and the myth about employers and credit scores.” In it, I make the point that your reports of American history and credit scores are factually incorrect. Your websites state that Mitch McConnell is the majority leader of the U.S. Senate. That is not true, and further, it has never been true. While a fine man, Senator McConnell (R-Ky.) is Minority Leader. You can see that plain fact on the Senate’s official history page, “Majority and Minority Leaders and Party Whips.”

You also state that employers use credit scores, and that is not true, either. That fact was a lot harder to prove (and took 5 years; proving that something is not is a lot harder than proving that something is) than the fact of the senator’s position, but there isn’t much debate about it now. If there is debate, your side loses. Hell, you even seem to argue with yourself, publishing, in 2011, “It’s important to note that employers can’t actually see your three-digit credit score,” and then, in 2013, “Insurance companies, landlords, and employers are increasingly checking credit  scores, too.”

Blame VantageScore if you want (actually, that would be a good thing–the more, the merrier), but the CEO of that relatively new gambit of the consumer reporting agencies doesn’t have his act together, either. You are birds of a feather: Too quick on the Publish button, and oblivious.

Despite the proof above (and your having been informed), your pages still make false claims. In addition to those listed on the Labor Day page, here are more examples of you stating Senator McConnell’s title inaccurately. Please, for the sake of the United States of America, stop it today. If you do nothing, this merciless berating will continue.

  1. DNC ad aims at ‘plotting’ by McConnell
  2. CNN’s GUT CHECK for March 14, 2013
  3. Repeal health care law? Forget about it
  4. SOTU Crib Sheet 3/3
  5. Reid Yanks Senate Contingency Plan as House Takes Lead in Debt Talks

And, on the following pages, you published the statement that employers use credit scores. Employers do not use credit scores. I looked into it. The first three stories are dated after April 24, 2008, the date that–within days of the other two–the third of the three main national consumer reporting agencies stated that they do not provide credit scores for employment purposes. The second three are dated prior to 2008. If, by some great miracle (or act of journalism), you come up with evidence or sources, please provide them today. Had you done so in the first place, we would not be here, now.

  1. MYB: Your credit score could prevent you from getting a job – Christine Romans explains” (2013)
  2. Employers are looking at candidates credit scores. Be wary.” (2010)
  3. Settling the credit score” (2008)
  4. How to ace your credit score” (2007)
  5. 8 credit score myths” (2005)
  6. Credit score myths” (2004)

There are other myths that need attention, but if this does not compel you to make corrections, there is a much bigger predicament. Not only is what you are doing wrong in terms of accuracy, it is wrong, ethically. Because of this fundamental problem, we don’t have a well-informed electorate (let-alone a well-informed legislature). Truth is in the balance.

Despite your mass-media megalomania and prolific uploading, there is still hope. But, your action in this moment will stand as a fact of history. Don’t let it slip away.

The propagation of this myth has serious consequences. Today, before you publish another word, make it stop.

No interviews.

Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site (creditscoring.com) – A bleak account
Page A2 (pagea2.com) – Media accuracy, errors and corrections
greg@pagea2.com

cc: Jeff Zucker, CNN
cc: Joseph A. Ripp, Time

30, 30

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2013 4:08 PM
To: John Branham, public relations and social media manager, TransUnion Interactive, TransUnion
Subject: 30, 30

See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=4657.

Your press release states, “A history of late payments – even by a few days – can potentially harm your credit score.”

However, according your key, an adverse rating only begins at 30 days.  By “a few days,” do you mean a month?  And, couldn’t just one late payment harm a score?

Also, what is so healthy about keeping balances “at or below 30 percent” of a person’s total available credit?  Did you poll lenders?

Finally, what are you doing about the inaccurate USA Today report?


Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio  45409-0342

 

Discover Bank Discover Card

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2013 12:38 PM
To: David W. Nelms, chairman & CEO, Discover Bank
Subject: Your Credit Score and the Price You Pay for Credit disclosure, Discover Bank, distribution

See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=4587.

Your disclosure titled, “Your Credit Score and the Price You Pay for Credit” states, “Scores range from a low of 300 to a high of 850.”

However, the next section of the document indicates that the scale is 341 to 850 (the bar graph of the distribution is captioned “FICO® Credit Score Range”).

That is illogical, but begs an illogical question.  What percentage of the credit scores in the population range from 300 to 340?


Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio  45409-0342

TransUnion, what is a credit rating? Zen & coffee w/Audrey

CoffeeCup - HTML and Web Design SoftwareThe home page of TransUnion’s website zendough.com leads to a very mysterious place:  Omaha!

See What is a credit rating? Halloween, 2012 – Credit scares: Various definitions of a loosely used term”

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2012 12:39 PM
To: Clifton O’Neal, senior director, Corporate Communications, TransUnion
Subject: credit rating, TransUnion

Ask Audrey
Credit Columnist
TransUnion

Dear Audrey:

What is a credit rating?

I’m on a quixotic journey to find the meaning of that term.  On your Q&A web page titled, “Debt management, credit counseling and credit rating | TransUnion,” you fail to use the term credit rating your answer.  In another instance, using the definite article, you refer to the credit rating, as if it is some specific thing.

So, how do I get my credit rating?  I’d love to see it.

But, before you answer those questions, could you explain why your subdomain http://video.zendough.com leads to a website about coffee?  Are you renting it out to make some extra cash?  Is everything alright?


Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio  45409-0342

PS:  BTW, who does that rendition of “The Coffee Song”?  That one and Frank Sinatra’s make me want a cuppa right now!

TransUnion on credit scores and the myth about closing accounts

On a page actually titled “Credit Myths and Misconceptions,” TransUnion states this:
 
Credit myths and credit misconceptions are plentiful. Don’t let incorrect information influence your credit behavior. Some of the most common credit myths are…

It helps to close old accounts.
This credit myth advocates closing old and inactive accounts to hike up your score. However, this might inadvertently have the opposite affect and lower your credit score because now the credit history appears shorter.

 
However, credit score expert John Ulzheimer discusses closing accounts with a reader saying, “You’ve identified what I believe is the 2nd most common myth in credit scoring, right behind ‘employers using credit scores.’”
 

Credit score urban myth by the numbers

creditscoring.com

Video 1: 3021 views in 2 years
Video 2. 396 views in 6 months

The Young Turks

“Should Employers Check Credit Scores?”: 13,142 in 4 days

“The Young Turks” host said, “So, who gives a damn what their credit score is?”

The consumer reporting agencies all state that they do not provide credit scores for employment purposes.

[email to The Young Turks]

The Young Turks spread urban myth about credit scores and employers

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 4:17 PM
To: Ana Kasparian, co-host and producer, The Young Turks
Cc: Cenk Uygur, host, The Young Turks
Subject: credit score, employers, The Young Turks

You said, “They’re specifically targeting TransUnion, which is a privately owned company that gives employers access to credit scores.”

However, TransUnion stated, “There’s no such thing as a credit score in employment.”

What is your correction policy?


Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio  45409-0342

FreeScore.com spreads credit score/job myth II

[previous email]

From: Greg Fisher 
Sent: Friday, April 08, 2011
To: Gary Johnson, president & CEO, Vertrue Incorporated (FreeScore.com member support address); Rob Wyse, Media First Public Relations
Cc: Caitlin Senior, Media First Public Relations; Carrie Coghill, director of consumer education, FreeScore.com
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, FreeScore.com VIII

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