Media | The Credit Score Blog

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

examiner.com replies regarding employers and credit scores

From: Examiner Legal
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2011 11:01 AM
To: greg@creditscoring.com
Subject: [JunkMail] Re: credit score, employers, examiner.com, wallow in economic despair II

Mr. Fisher,

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We are currently looking into your complaint.

Please be aware that the articles and other content contributed to Examiner.com by various independent third party authors (referred to on our website as “Examiners”) are selected, written, posted and controlled solely by the authors thereof. The Examiners are independent third parties who have selected a topic on which they wish to write, and when they deem appropriate, they contribute content to our website related to that topic. Although the Examiners have agreed to certain standard terms and conditions regarding the content they choose to write and post on our website, the Examiners alone determine the content of the articles, including any photographs or video they may choose to include with the articles. Because the Examiners are independent third parties, and the topics and substance of their articles are not controlled by Examiner.com, we are not responsible for, and cannot be held liable for, the content thereof. Examiner.com does not review all of the content posted by the approximately 70,000 Examiners contributing to our website, and we had not read this article before you brought it to our attention. However, when someone points out problems with material posted by an Examiner, we inform the applicable Examiner and request that the Examiner remedy the situation (or we pull the material from our site under certain circumstances, including if it violates our Terms of Use).

In addition, many, but not all, of the Examiners provide contact information on their profile page, which is accessible by clicking on their title. If you have concerns about the content of an article, we encourage you contact the Examiner directly, when possible. Again, thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.

Best regards,
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Content farms use same article with urban myth about credit scores

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 9:52 PM
To: Philip Anschutz; Philip Anschutz
Cc: Peter G. Kreysa, owner, Ultio, LLC
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, examiner.com, wallow in economic despair II

Please reply.

You published, “The recent suit filed against a chain of Restaurants is just the latest instance where many of today’s employers are taking advantage of the current economic crisis.”

Capitalizing the word Restaurants is another error.

Do you even read an article before publishing it?

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

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Content farm urban myth about credit scores and employers

From: Greg Fisher [greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 2:28 PM
To: Philip Anschutz
Subject: credit score, employers, examiner.com, wallow in economic despair

You published these sentences:

“All over the United States, employers continually discriminate not only because of age, gender or race they now use credit scores, religion, and even being unemployed as reason enough to keep one from landing a job.”

“It wasn’t until around 2000 that credit scores were actually becoming more of an issue in terms of eligibility for securing employment.”

“So, if a person falls behind in just one utility bill for example there[SIC] credit score suffers and so does that person’s ability to secure either a better job or just to get a job.”

“All because of the employer sets the criteria for employment not really based on ones[SIC] ability, experience, or knowledge on how to actually do the job, but solely based on a credit score.”

“Until a national awareness that any form of discrimination whether it is age, sex, religion, race, a low credit score, or just being unemployed deters real economic growth by allowing employees and prospective employees the ability to have access to gain mobility up the economic ladder the United States will only continue to wallow in economic despair.”

The consumer reporting agencies do not sell credit scores for employment purposes.

What is your correction policy?

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

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NASDAQ.com 1 click away from quiz containing myth spread by Kiplinger

After you read the NASDAQ.com story with the common title, “How to Improve your Credit Score,” the writer invites you to take her credit score quiz (titled with another tired cliche: “Do You Know the Score on Your Credit?”). Then, she slams you when you give the correct answer to one of her quiz questions.

Question 2 is “A bad credit score could affect your ability to get a job.”

If you respond with the correct answer, “B. False,” a message in bold, red letters exclaims, “Sorry, wrong!”

The consumer reporting agencies all state that they do not provide credit scores for employment purposes. The Kiplinger’s contributing editor is the same excited Today Show guest (at 5:15) in the creditscoring.com video of electronic media journalists spreading the employers-use-credit-scores myth. She’s been doing it for years.

For more about inaccurate information from NASDAQ, see https://blog.creditscoring.com/?tag=nasdaq.

credit score, TIME: FICO suggests goodwill adjustment

For a while, the idea of the “goodwill adjustment” looked like it was dead. It is a lie by a furnisher of information to consumer reporting agencies, and flies in the face of logic, ethics and, indeed, the law, which 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.

Regardless of that naive federal wish, Fair Isaac, the FICO score company leads the charge with regard to the practice touted by experts, disgruntled consumers and media.

According to TIME Moneyland, (myFICO.com consumer operations manager Barry) “Paperno says you can request a ‘pay for delete’ agreement or ‘good will[SIC] adjustment’: you pay everything off in full and they remove the black mark from your report.”

Previously, TIME made a correction to one of its articles, although you would not necessarily know it.

In a day of loss of trust in bond rating agencies, the credit report goodwill adjustment baloney is a similar confusing signal in the consumer segment. Taking the notion to the logical extreme, the consumer could withhold the last payment of an installment agreement unless the creditor agrees to remove all of the account’s history of late payments. And why not? Even FICO (with the help of TIME) suggests it.

You had better get on the moneywagon, too; the competition (the unethical consumer) is getting ahead.

“We have met the enemy and he is us.” – Pogo

credit score, employers, Miller-McCune.com

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Monday, September 05, 2011 10:16 AM
To: Michael Todd, editor, Miller-McCune.com
Subject: credit score, employers, Miller-McCune.com

See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=2460, https://blog.creditscoring.com/?tag=miller-mccune and myth.

You published, “If you’re unemployed and you’re behind on some credit card bills or you have a bad mortgage, suddenly your credit score might be another barrier to finding a new job and getting back on your feet.”

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

UK, credit score, employers, Stirling Observer

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Sunday, August 21, 2011 10:29 PM
To: Donald Morton, deputy editor, Stirling Observer
Subject: UK, credit score, employers, Stirling Observer

See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=2408.

You published, “Employers may check your credit score, and read your credit report to find out more about you.”

Who is your source regarding credit score use by employers?

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