Category: Enough to be Dangerous

Some have no credit score

In a commentary for UPI, Morgan Strong wrote

There is another thing far more certain than mere superstition that awaits the  newborn. There is a Social Security number and a credit rating. Beginning with  our squalling breech of the womb, we are marked by this obscenity. This marking,  indelible yet unseen, our credit score, will continue throughout our lives and  in effect compel us to make the choice of the path we are to follow.

That is inaccurate.  Consumer reporting agency files are not recorded and retained on the newborn.  If there is no information on a consumer, then there is no credit score.  According to the state of New York Department of State, Division of Consumer Protection, “The credit agencies do not knowingly keep credit files on minors.”

 

London publishing house hype

“Gah! If I read one more lie about credit scores, my head will explode! No, your lender is NOT required to consider ‘alternate measures.'” – @lizweston, September, 2012

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2012 11:32 AM
To: Liz Weston; Liz Weston (via Amazon.com)
Cc: Vivienne Cox, non-executive director, Pearson plc (via W. Spiegel); Glen Moreno, chairman, Pearson plc (via T. Glover); Marjorie Scardino, chief executive, Pearson plc (via C. Goldsmith)
Subject: credit score, employers, Pearson plc, Weston

See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=4215.

On the cover of the fourth edition of your credit score book, someone wrote, “Your credit score is more important than ever: not just for getting loans, but for getting jobs, insurance, rentals, and fair rates on all financial services.”

The cover continues—describing the book—saying: “Now, it’s completely revamped for today’s massive changes—from FICO 8 to ‘FAKO,’ short sales to employer abuse of credit scores” and “Whatever your score, you need this information—to defend yourself, and to get the credit, rates, work, and home you deserve!”

However, on page 185, you wrote, “I didn’t write about employer use of credit checks in previous editions of this book, because employers look at credit reports, not credit scores.”

What is the name of an employer who abuses credit scores?

On what date did you learn about the text on the cover?

What is the name of the person who wrote it?

What are the names of the persons who approved it?

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

 

QuinStreet and facts regarding credit scores

From: Greg Fisher
Sent: Friday, September 28, 2012 2:27 PM
To: Barbara Marquand, staff writer, QuinStreet
Cc: Doug Valenti, chairman, QuinStreet
Subject: Experian, Fox Business, Quinstreet, VantageScore; employers

Experian linked to an article on the Fox Business website in which you wrote, “VantageScores range from 501 to 990, and the breakdown of excellent to bad credit is similar to the scale used to calculate grades in school — 900 to 990 is excellent; 800 to 899 is good; 700 to 799 is fair; 600 to 699 is poor; and under 600 is failing.”

Who designated that tier as failing?  And, at what are those in that tier failing?

Also, you wrote, “Even employers sometimes check credit scores to gauge applicants’ sense of personal responsibility.”

What indicates that employers use credit scores?

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

Who is the Washington Post’s source?

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2012 5:29 AM
To: Donald E. Graham, chairman, Washington Post Company
Cc: Michelle Singletary, columnist, Washington Post; Patrick B. Pexton, ombudsman, Washington Post; Danielle Douglas, reporter, Washington Post; Ylan Q. Mui, reporter, Washington Post; Ylan Q. Mui; Meredith Hooker, managing editor for Internet, The Gazette; Allan Lichtman, professor, Department of History, American University; The Washington Post Company; John Temple, managing editor, Washington Post; Ken Harney
Subject: credit score, employers, Washington Post, 2012-09-25

See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=4205, https://blog.creditscoring.com/?tag=trope-even-employers and https://blog.creditscoring.com/?tag=washington-post-company.

You published, “Credit agencies have come under greater scrutiny as consumer advocates question the accuracy of the scores, which affect the ability to get a mortgage, car loan, credit card and sometimes even a job.”

Who is your source regarding credit score use by employers?

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

credit score, employers, Athens Patch, AOL

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 3:14 PM
To: Tim Armstong, chairman and CEO, AOL (via Maureen Sullivan)
Cc: Rebecca McCarthy, editor, Athens Patch, AOL; Jon Brod, CEO and co-founder, Patch, AOL
Subject: credit score, employers, Athens Patch, AOL

See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=4132 and https://blog.creditscoring.com/?tag=aol.

You published, “Your credit score can actually persuade a company to hire or not hire you if you are seeking employment.”

Employers do not use credit score because they cannot even get them.

Who is your source regarding credit score use by employers?

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

[RESPONSE FROM A PATCH EDITOR]

credit score, number of accounts, America Now, Raycom Media, Leeza

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2012 10:19 AM
To: Leeza Gibbons, famous person
Cc: Paul McTear, president, CEO, Raycom Media; Ryan Houston, reporter, WALB TV, Albany, GA, Raycom Media; Rebecca Bryan, vice president, corporate counsel, Raycom Media
Subject: credit score, number of accounts, America Now, Raycom Media

You introduced a report whose associated document states:

You know all those ways you’ve heard for improving your credit score? Some of them may be bad advice.

So we’re out to bust those credit myths and put you on the right track to building better spending practices…

Having more or fewer accounts will improve credit? False.

There’s a happy medium for the amount of credit you have. Too many accounts makes you top heavy. That creates more risk. Your credit will reflect that.

In addition to the obvious contradiction, one of the factors of a credit score is “Number of established accounts.”

What is your correction policy?

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

Canada Day: Reuters falls for math myth, moth-to-flame

In this bicentennial year, with apologies to a gracious nation of people of warm hospitality, here is the belated Canada Day update.  Try the wines of Niagara-on-the-Lake, and the mussels and ice cream found there, originating at P.E.I.

And, now, on with the show.  It’s a doozy.

On his little Reuters website, a real media baron published this quote from a Fair Isaac spokesman, “‘Credit utilization (amounts owed as a percentage of available credit) counts for 30 percent of a person’s credit score.'”

It must have been given in writing (unless the dude can inflect parentheses).

The Fair Isaac statement is false because it is mathematically impossible.  Here’s the doozy part– a mind-blower:  The credit score company’s spokesman in the Reuters item even replied, “I understand well that ‘amounts owed’ is driven by half a dozen factors not just utilization.”

Yikes.

Credit score expert John Ulzheimer calls this nonsense a myth.

Win column:

Losers column:

— and more.

But, consider the source– not the one in the journalistic sense, but the source of the reach of the repeated rumor: Reuters.  For another eyeful, see Canada Day, 2011: Reuters on employers and credit scores.

This monkey business about the so-called “credit utilization” is all Dr. Veghead‘s fault. A Kat Malone he is not.

A message to the really wrong Reuters rumor repeating rookie writer: Let me know when you have completed Poynter’s Math for Journalists: Help With Numbers.

Evidence that Rupert Murdoch is unfit

So, the problem is this: Mass media have repeated this myth so long and so loud that it will never go away. In statehouses, there has even been legislation passed and signed into law by the snookered to outlaw the notion behind the myth– even though the notion is not true. Meanwhile, even as it tries to own up to its errors, the (mis)information machine just keeps on churning, out of control.

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?

Jean Chatzky’s dilemma

Employers do not use credit scores.  Can’t even get ’em.

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 responsible 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?

New Young Broadcasting errors and corrections

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2012 11:12 AM
To: Deborah A. McDermott, president, New Young Broadcasting Holding Co., Inc. (via Nashville Bank and Trust); Deborah A. McDermott, president, New Young Broadcasting Holding Co., Inc. (via Leadership Nashville Foundation)
Cc: Angela Kennecke, news anchor, KELOLAND Television, New Young Broadcasting; Press office, U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Corrections, KELOLAND News, KELO-TV, New Young Broadcasting
Subject: RE: The News at Ten and its corrections, .tv II

Please reply.

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

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