Helping, teachers

See the story on creditscoring.com about certified public accountants and Texas A&M University.

The CalCPA Institute, California California Jump$tart Coalition and the California Council on Economic Education state that your credit report contains a credit score.

However, Experian states, “Credit scores are not included in your credit report.”

The institute, coalition and council also claim, “Average credit is 630-700.”

However, the last time Fair Isaac mentioned the average credit score, it was 723. Now, it is a secret.

See the social media message at https://twitter.com/creditscoring/status/392678625595506688.

Duke tells students to revise history

[previous message]

From: Greg Fisher (greg@creditscoring.com)
Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2013 11:39 AM
To: Richard H. Brodhead, president, Duke University
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, myth, falsity, truth, efficacy of a social media message, ivory tower II, falsity

I do not see a reply to my email from you, and I am troubled that I have not noticed any that you might have made. But, the change that you made to your previously false document (if that is your response (and if it is not, then it is the greatest coincidence in history)) gives me, at least, a glimmer of hope for the future of the planet.

However, something else—something fundamental—troubles me even more. You state: “You can always ask a credit card company or other creditor to have negative information removed from your account.  They want to keep their customers happy, so they will commonly oblige your request if you have regularly made your payments on time and just made a few errors.”

That is in your document—available worldwide—titled, “How can I improve my credit score?” and is the biggest crock of nonsense that I have ever heard. But I have heard it before and did what I could to stop it. After publicly following consumer reporting for 15 years, I have heard it all.

The law, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, states

The banking system is dependent upon fair and accurate credit reporting. Inaccurate credit reports directly impair the efficiency of the banking system, and unfair credit reporting methods undermine the public confidence which is essential to the continued functioning of the banking system.

It is no wonder the students and young alumni of Duke have an advantage: They have the power to change history.

I used the microcosm of the myth that employers use credit scores to determine the integrity of mainstream media. In that exercise of herding cats, I found that, largely, media organizations are passive-aggressive: They ignore their problem with accuracy, errors and corrections, and me. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution lives. The New York Times (the metaphor as well as the actual organization) needs no formal license to exist, publishes falsity (even about American history) and answers to no one. Now that that exhaustive (and exhausting) 5-year study of mine is over, as I crawl out of that rabbit hole of ridiculousness and into the light on the surface, I find ridiculousness ten-fold and growing.

But institutions of higher learning are not cats. They are (to use a fourth metaphor) a different animal, and, in some cases—as with public institutions, for instance—do, indeed, answer to higher authority. Although that appears not to be the case with you, your affiliation with a religious organization indicates a relationship to a higher moral authority, at least.

To whom Experian and its leaders ultimately answer in regard to misinformation, today, is confusing to me: Is it the Federal Trade Commission or Elizabeth Warren’s notion, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (who likes to call itself the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau).

And so, since I have not seen a reply from you, I will now berate you with a prediction: You will change your website regarding that bunk about begging a creditor to create a history that never was, and, indeed, sir, suggesting that banks commonly lie to credit bureaus. It is heresy. Your outrageous suggestion impairs the efficiency of the banking system and undermines public confidence.

Have some dignity.


Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
Page A2
pagea2.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio  45409-0342
937-681-3224

Truth, falsity and myth in the Ivory Tower

From: Greg Fisher (greg@creditscoring.com)
Sent: Monday, September 30, 2013 9:27 AM
To: Richard H. Brodhead, president, Duke University; Richard H. Brodhead, president, Duke University (via public affairs office); Irene Jasper, director, Student Lending, Duke University; Personal Finance@Duke, Duke University
Cc: Alex Rosenberg, Department of Philosophy, Duke University
Subject: credit score, employers, myth, falsity, truth, efficacy of a social media message, ivory tower

See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=5408.

Your website states: “A poor credit score may mean having to make a large deposit in order to open an account with the electric company or to sign a new lease.  It could even mean the loss of job opportunities.”

What is the name of the person who wrote that?

Experian claims, “Creditors, landlords, and even some employers consider a person’s credit score before deciding whether they will approve a loan, lease an apartment, or hire an applicant.” However, Experian also states, “No, Experian’s business policy prevents the inclusion of credit scores with an employment report, at Experian called Employment Insight.”

Employers do not use credit scores. I looked into it. See a five-year account of false statements (including yours, now), in this bizarre and fascinating phenomenon, documented at creditscoring.com. Apparently, you have not noticed the pages behind the links above. During your social media chat with Experian, will you address the notion regarding credit scores in employment alleged on your websites?

What evidence proves that employers use credit scores? What prompted the statement in your document? I am attempting to track the myth to its original source. Who provided—or how you came about—the misinformation is valuable.

Today, please acknowledge receiving this message.

There are many false statements; the one mentioned above has serious consequences. I believe that you and Experian have the burden to prove that your statements are true. Neither of you have provided any evidence.


Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
Page A2
pagea2.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio  45409-0342

[next message]

Daily slog o’ da blog: What credit score are you talking about?

Da nooz of da day

A wild ride down a rabbit hole in New Jersey, the expert meets the dean of dating disasters and that (you know what).

Jersey

nj.com (aka the Star-Ledger) publishes a letter from a reader, one “Harry in Basking Ridge,” who says he has a credit score that would be outrageously high on one score’s scale.  He got it by applying for a credit card (an important point).  But, he wants to know, essentially, why certain things “adversely” affect his score, and why the system could see his credit file as negative.

Here’s the thing: In theory, all credit scores are all negative, unless perfect. And, they all come with reasons that the score is not higher. The only other non-negative possibility is Dave Ramsey‘s oft-repeated misinformation piece: No score due to lack of, or insufficient, credit history (just not enough data to go on to even calculate a score).

Reporters will be reporters, so the scribe with the by-line plows right in without getting clarification.  Along for the ride is another willing quotable person as the newspaper reporter gives a wild explanation considering a multitude of fun facts, possibilities and speculations–about FICO scores, another score brand, a home equity line of credit, a personal line of credit, dubious advice about the proportion of balances to credit limits on revolving accounts and even mistaken identity.

Then, it goes off the rails with a comment about “default issues.”

Harry, that’s probably insulting, so a let’s talk.

While we’re waiting for him to make contact, consider a deeper implication of his scenario. Recent credit score disclosures, required by law, leave much to the imagination. One might say “Scores range from a low of 300 to a high of 850,” but what credit score it refers to is anybody’s guess.

Some disclosures say, “Your credit score ranks higher than [x] percent of U.S. consumers.”  What the reader’s disclosure said in that regard is a mystery.

But, in a very peculiar case, another publication by the same company touched on the issue without even knowing it. If only

Dating (again)

Out of the disclosure rabbit hole (for now), we bravely head into the Fox hole known as dating. The newspaper named the New York Times made it all the rage this year with a lovely little Christmas day tale, but unfortunately for the Times, the facts (and errors by the Times presented as facts) are unraveling.

Now, Experian (whose hanger-on-to the Queen chairman, himself, is a story) jumps in with its freecreditscore.com band brand and a survey (catnip for journalists; see LSU, below).

But who wouldn’t want to see the ever-ebullient Dean of Dating, chuckling Chucky-Chuck Woolery, again?! He’s the expert on love, and John Ulzheimer is the expert on credit scores. Take a look, and come back in 2 and 2.

Of all the Chucks, this guy is, well, one of them (because the best still rocks (‘n rolls)).

The takeaway for industry: Conduct a survey and get press, but be careful what you wish for.

The takeaway for citizens–consumers of news/infotainment: Don’t believe a thing that freecreditscore.com (Experian) says, despite their funny lip-synching, loveable loser band commercials.

Fox in the FOX house

“A poor credit score can haunt you throughout adulthood, affecting your ability  to rent an apartment, finance a car, buy a home or even land your dream job.” – some guy, yesterday, published on a Fox Television Stations website

So, here we are.  After 5 years, we still get a bald-faced and unsupported false statement like that. It is horrible. Notice the now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t change regarding a Louisiana State University study on a Rupert Murdoch website, the honorable correction by another party and the myth of the decade, still, on government websites.

Florida Senate Committee on Commerce and Tourism

In Florida, the state legislature session is underway, and members are discussing the use of credit reports in employment.  Senator Nancy Detert is the introducer of Senate Bill 100, which was given 8 yeas and no nays this week.  The myth continues as the senator and media unknowingly push it.
Florida Poly

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2013 1:07 PM
To: Regan McCarthy, senior producer/assignment editor, WFSU-FM/ Florida Public Radio
Cc: Nancy C. Detert, chair, Committee on Commerce and Tourism, Florida Senate
Subject: Florida Senate Committee on Commerce and Tourism

See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=4559.

You wrote: “‘ As we turn the corner on the economy and try to get people back to work, one of the stumbling blocks is that we have employers pulling credit reports and not hiring you because you have a bad credit score. And I think that’s frankly, kind of dirty pool, unless you’re dealing with money or trade secrets or a whole list of exceptions,’ Detert said.”

Employers do not use credit scores.

What is your clarification policy?


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

Who renamed the BCFP the CFPB?

Hold up your mirror to the beam of light

CFPB flashlight logowww.bcfp.gov leads to the so-called Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. However, the agency’s name starts with C, not B.

Or does it?

A clue to this mystery could be this: A whois record indicates an IP location of Cambridge, Massachusetts even though the CFPB is a U.S. federal regulator located in Washington, D.C.

What in the world is going on here, citizen?

See “Who changed the name of our Consumer Financial Protection Bureau?” at creditscoring.com, The Credit Scoring Site.

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2012 3:01 PM
To: Mallory McLean, press assistant, U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Cc: Richard Cordray, director, U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (via press office)
Subject: Who changed the name of our Consumer Financial Protection Bureau?

Who changed the name of our bureau and when did they change it?

http://www.creditscoring.com/influence/government/cfpb/name-changed.html


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

 

The Ph.D.s are running the asylum

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 5:05 PM
To: Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D, director, National Institutes of Health (via J. Burklow); Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D, director, National Institutes of Health (via M. Allen); Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D, director, National Institutes of Health (via K. Cravedi)
Cc: Dr. Woody; Dr. Woody (via Tom Estley); Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO, News Corporation (via Julie Henderson); Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO, Fox Business Network, Fox News, News Corporation; Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO, Fox Business Network, Fox News, News Corporation (alt I); Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO, Fox Business Network, Fox News, News Corporation (alt II); Irena Briganti, group SVP, Media Relations, Fox Business Network, Fox News, News Corporation; Brian Lewis, executive vice president, Corporate Communications, Fox Business Network, Fox News, News Corporation; Daniel S. Whitman, assistant professor, Rucks Department of Management, Louisiana State University
Subject: credit score, employers, Fox Business, Act II, NIH

On your website, an abstract for the research publication “An empirical investigation of dispositional antecedents and performance-related outcomes of credit scores” falsely states, “Many organizations use credit scores as an employment screening tool, but little is known about the legitimacy of such practices.”

Employers do not use credit scores.  Please stop repeating the inaccurate information.

The authors of the report have not replied.  One of them is quoted in a story dated one day ago and published by Rupert Murdoch of Fox Business Network and News Corporation.  Murdoch published, “According to the Society for Human Resource Management, 60% of employers check applicants’ credit scores for at least some of their job candidates as part of their hiring process.”  Then, the word scores changed to reports.

Poof—it’s just like magic, as if it never happened.  However, the piece still states, “It’s not enough that we have to keep up with three different versions that never seem to quite agree, but nowadays we must also be ready to defend our scores during a job interview.”

No, we do not.  That is preposterous.


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

[previous message]

credit score, employers, Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE), United State Department of Defense

It is easy to see where Jerome B. Gronfein might have gotten the idea.

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 11:56 AM
To: Sharon Cabeen, president, board of directors, Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education
Cc: David S. Rowe, Work & Family Life financial educator, Naval District Washington Fleet and Family Services
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE), United State Department of Defense

See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=3224.

Your website states:  “Our FICO score is used in about everything in our life. From what we pay in interest on loans, car insurance, getting an apartment or even a job and more.”

That statement is inaccurate; the consumer reporting agencies do not provide credit scores for employment purposes.

What are you doing to correct that inaccurate information?

You provided the certification program for American Financial Solutions, “a division of the North Seattle Community College Foundation,” who states the same thing.


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

 

credit score, employers, digitaljournal.com, American Financial Solutions, North Seattle Community College Foundation, Jerome B. Gronfein

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 9:47 AM
To: Jerome B. Gronfein, chairman, North Seattle Community College Foundation
Subject: credit score, employers, digitaljournal.com, American Financial Solutions, North Seattle Community College Foundation, Jerome B. Gronfein

See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=3221.  

Your press release states:  “Credit scores are an integral part of the financial portfolio for Americans. The score wields power on everything from employment opportunities to auto insurance rates and deposits on cell phones to qualifying for a home.

That statement is inaccurate; the consumer reporting agencies do not provide credit scores for employment purposes.

What are you doing to correct that  inaccurate information?


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

 

credit score, employers, LSU, Freakonomics

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2012 12:07 AM
To: Steven D. Levitt, William B. Ogden distinguished service professor of economics, University of Chicago; Stephen J. Dubner, award-winning author, journalist, and radio and TV personality
Cc: Jeremy Bernerth, assistant professor, Robert H. & Patricia Hines Professorship in Management, Rucks Department of Management, E. J. Ourso College of Business, Louisiana State University
Subject: credit score, employers, LSU, Freakonomics

I study the corrections made by powerful people when they discover that they published as the truth the urban legend that employers use credit scores.


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