The myth is that employers use c—-t s—-s (you almost even don’t want to say the words for fear of fueling the fire).

Employers do not do it. They can’t.  They cannot.  They can’t even GET c—-t s—-s.

Take the case of Rupert Murdoch, a man who, certainly, has taken his lumps, recently.  British legislators even went as far as to declare him “not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company.”  And, as you can see here, when it comes to the issue about s—-s, he can’t get it right.  Its like he’s arguing with himself.

For example, first, one of Murdoch’s anchors–who (NSFW) is a lawyer–does does a whole bit with some guy with the title of Doctor.  For some real fun, see Murdoch’s copy change after creditscoring.com’s email: the word s—-s changed to reports (but not before at least one sucker copied it (why the myth will not die)). Got the picture?  A doctor and a lawyer (indeed, she reminds us of that right in the video).

Then, just days later, a host on another Murdoch network has credit report and c—-t s—-e expert John Ulzheimer on her show.  These two (mere laymen) know the truth and go over the thing again for the umpteenth time: employers do not use [you know what].

How do you get in touch with this guy Murdoch–or Oprah, or the head of NBC?  Or, are they just unreachable, out of touch and unfit?

The second tab after “Home/Blog” on JeanChatzy.com is “Score Builder.”  The landing page says, “Better credit in 120 days, powered by Smart Credit.”

On Oprah.com as she explained the number that she thinks “is widely considered to be a measure of how responsble a human being you are,” Jean Chatzky said, “You may even have an easier time getting a job as many employers these days are checking out credit scores because they want to hire responsible employees.”

Then she plugs Credit.com and CreditKarma.

[Wonks: She also gives the score scale as 350-850, but let's not quibble over that-- boring.]

Meanwhile, over at NBC, (where it counts, apparently), Chatzky finally comes to terms with her misinformation.  In a segment for NBC’s Today, she said (finally):

It’s a really good question, and we did get a lot of response to that thought that employers are checking credit histories.  About 16% of them actually are.  What they’re not seeing is your credit score.  They’re seeing your credit report.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Inexplicably, however, her blog post (“Posted by Jean”) about that appearance states, “On Today’s Money 911 we talked about what employers that check credit scores are looking for and gave tips for finding a job over 60.”

Previously, as Matt Lauer did the deed (as many do in their introductions to the topic) Chatzky remained silent. (2:09)

Poor Oprah (dot com).

Oprah was unavailable (but the train station never looked better).

So, what happens, now?

The accompanying link leads a new homepage at the company’s consumer-oriented website, myFICO.com.  It features an interactive map of the United States on which you can see a national average credit score (692) and averages for individual states.  The state with the highest average credit score in the country is North Dakota, at 720.

The map below shows the above average states in green, and the below average states in white.

US states with above average credit scores

The state-by-state breakdown is a departure for FICO, who has never answered the same type of illustration published years ago by national consumer reporting agency and competitor Experian.  Unfortunately the basis for the Experian map was the infamous Fake-O score, the PLUS score.  But despite that, let’s face it:  It was, frankly, full of Fake-O FICO funky fun.  Fair Isaac gets that.

Today, for its part, Experian seems to have moved on to yet another gambit: The highly-touted (media are suckers for anything new), VantageScore.  NationalScoreIndex.com (the address that previously hosted the map) now forwards to something called Live Credit Smart (click on ”The State of Credit” on the left menu).  The interactive PLUS score map (similar to FICO’s) that was on the homepage at NationalScoreIndex.com is now at http://www.nationalscoreindex.com/USScore.aspx (if you care).

Confused about which score is relevant?  You should be.  In 2008, FICO told creditscoring.com that the TransUnion version sold on myFICO.com is FICO Risk Score, Classic 98 which is not the model mentioned in the Fannie Mae lending guidelines (section B3-5.1-01 (p. 427, pdf p. 455)).  On the other hand, the Equifax score at myFICO is, indeed, the same score mentioned by Fannie.  But, the one thing that the score used for mortgage lending or even the myFICO.com score is not is something called “FICO 8.”  Fair Isaac states, “When a significant number of lenders have upgraded, we will work with the credit reporting agencies to provide FICO 8 scores to consumers here on myFICO.”

Yet, FICO 8 is the score model in countless blog posts by FICO personnel as if it is significant.  They have not mentioned the shiny new map.  Yesterday’s commentary about the distribution of consumers by score doesn’t even bring it up.

It is anybody’s guess which score model is represented in the US state map.  And it used to be all about the median not the mean (“average”).  And there is a new AOR (with the typical, cliché wordplay right in the press release title).  And a new CEO, a board member.  And no coming to terms with the employers thing even as the rest of the world is enlightened (albeit with, in one case, a strange, contradictory result).  Still, some keep the myth going.

Wonks, you have got to love this.  Stay tuned.

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]

You 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.”

However, SHRM, itself, states, “A credit score is a number that gives a snapshot of a period of time; employers do not see this information.”

And, even you published, “Contrary to popular belief, employers can only see your credit report, not your credit score.”

We’ve been over this, Mr. Murdoch, but you keep publishing the same error.  What are you doing to keep from misinforming the public again and what are you doing to clean up your mess on Yahoo!?

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

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Friday, November 11, 2011 11:36 AM
To: Brian L. Roberts, chairman and CEO, Comcast Corporation (via Rudnay address); Linda Carroll, The Body Odd, msnbc.com, Comcast
Cc: Jeremy Berneth, assistant professor, Robert H. & Patricia Hines Professorship in Management, Rucks Department of Management, E. J. Ourso College of Business, Louisiana State University; Shannon G. Taylor, assistant proessor, management, Northern Illinois University; Jack Walker, assistant professor, Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech; Daniel S. Whitman, assistant professor, Rucks Department of Management, Louisiana State University; Ashley Berthelot, Media Releations, Louisiana State University; Michael Kesterton, columnist, The Globe and Mail, Thomson; Globe and Mail corrections, Thomson; John V. Lombardi, president, Louisiana State University; Melba J. T. Vasquez, PhD, president, American Psychological Association
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, LSU, mainstream, Comcast NBC

You published, “Employers who use credit scores in their hiring decisions  might be weeding out some of the best applicants, a new study… [EMAIL ATTACHMENT]

Please reply.

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

[previous message]

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 10:37 AM
To: Deborah A. McDermott, president, New Young Broadcasting Holding Co., Inc. (via Nashville Bank and Trust)
Cc: Angela Kennecke, news anchor, KELOLAND Television, New Young Broadcasting; Press office, U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Subject: The News at Ten and its corrections, .tv

See this message and your response at http://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=3843.

You broadcast, “Whether you’re applying for a mortgage or a job, your credit score determines how easy it will be for you to get it” and “You could even be turned down for a job if your credit score isn’t high because you may look irresponsible to a prospective employer.”

Employers do not use credit scores.  Pay no attention to that attorney general behind the website.

Did your interviewer ask the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director about employers allegedly using credit scores?

It’s complicated.

When do you air corrections?

Have you been to Tuvalu?

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

[next message]

Do you mean to tell me that you actually believe that the national average credit score could have decreased by 22 points in 11 days?

No way.  Really?

Chicago Union Station, TO ALL TRAINS

On a recent whistle stop trip to New York (via Chicago), I was able to make a small dent in the misinformation about credit scores.  However, these things have a life of their own, and I am not sure that Oprah Winfrey got my message (sent directly to her lawyer, however!).  The inaccuracy on her website still exists.  She even published this: “That history is digested by a company called Fair Isaac and converted into your credit score, which ranges from 350 to 800.”

Ha, ha!

That’s not true, of course, and it’s an old story.  But, even the New York Times fell for Experian’s campaign, so don’t feel bad.  Like the Times (until enlightened), you’re just in a Funk.

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

[prevous message]

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2012 11:28 AM
To: L. Michael Hager, former director general, International Development Law Organisation; L. Michael Hager, former director general, International Development Law Organisation (2)
Subject: credit score reason codes

See this message and your response at http://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=3826 and http://blog.creditscoring.com/?tag=the-hill.

You wrote about the “‘key elements’” affecting one’s credit score.

Credit score company FICO’s illustration of the disclosure of the “Key factors that adversely affected your credit score” contains four “factors.”  They are required to be listed in order of their importance.

What is the first one on your disclosure?

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

See this message and your response at http://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=3822 and http://blog.creditscoring.com/?tag=nbc.

On March 29, you published: “In January 2010, the average credit score in the United States was 692, according to Experian’s National Score Index... [t]oday, it’s between 700 and 710… ”

However, according to Experian, the “National Score Index” is 687.

Your error correction format is honorable.  But, accuracy aside, the efficacy of email is in question.  Did you get my message of March 1?

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