Greg Fisher - The Credit Score Blog

Who renamed the BCFP the CFPB?

Hold up your mirror to the beam of light

www.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 President: Credit score can affect chances of getting job

In his weekly address, President Obama talked about submitting complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In that address, he said:

If you haven’t checked out your credit score recently, you should. It can have a major impact on your life. It can determine whether or not you qualify for a loan or what kind of interest you have to pay. It can even affect your chances at renting an apartment or getting a job.

However, the CFPB’s website states, “The nationwide credit reporting companies say they do not currently provide credit scores for employment purposes.”

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.”

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

Name one

Employers do not use credit scores. But, imagine what would happen if an employer actually did use a credit score to deny employment to someone.

There would be an inquiry to the consumer’s file with the consumer reporting agency. Using that datum, the agency could determine who obtained the score. Then, of course, the consumer could complain, publicly, and, finally, this nonsense would be over. We would have an actual name of an employer who used a credit score for employment purposes!

But, that’s not going to happen. They said it happened at Harvard, but it did not. The big question in this debacle: How could the employer have obtained a score when they are not even included in employment reports?

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2012 12:10 PM
To: Michael Denning, publisher, Main Street Business Journal
Cc: Michael Patrick O’Brien, lawyer, Jones Waldo; Allen Smith, manager of workplace law content, Society for Human Resource Management; Marc A. Taylor, attorney, founding member, Taylor English Duma LLP; Bruce S. Richards
Subject: Name one

See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=4193.

Regarding the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you published, “The new provision states that anyone who uses a third party provided consumer report including a credit score to deny employment must disclose: (1) that a credit score was used; (2) the score; (3) up to four key adverse factors in the score and the agency that provided it so the applicant can correct any errors.”

Employers do not use credit scores. What evidence indicates that employers use credit scores? What is the name of an employer who uses credit scores?

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