CreditCards.com | The Credit Score Blog

An Unexpected Error has occurred.” – myFICO message board

It’s back (unfortunately).

TIME (indeed, with the help of Fair Isaac) helps it along.

And, a CreditCards.com story titled “8 Quick Fixes for Your Credit Score” states:

If there are problems like late or missed payments on your credit report, it can sometimes pay off to ask your card issuer for a ‘goodwill adjustment.’ This is especially true if you have good credit and you otherwise have been a model customer. Write your card issuer to ask – you may be surprised by their answer.

Writers will be writers, but here is something even more confounding. A former Fair Isaac executive and witness to Congress makes a similar suggestion on Credit.com:

Matt may try and work with the lender to see if they will delete the judgment if he satisfies it in full (this is sometimes referred to as a ‘pay for delete‘ agreement), but there are no guarantees the lender will agree to that (and there is no requirement they do so).

Try the “GW LETTER” hyperlinks on the page Goodwill adjustment – Influence: Media, lying that used to lead to myFICO message board comments about the so-called goodwill adjustment (lie). The links no longer work.

A myFICO forum contributer wants to keep it quiet about the lying:

It’s fine to have one-off success stories here and there and various contact info scattered across many posts. However, creating a single ‘database’ that broadcasts creditors’ willingness to provide GW adjustments may actually be counter-productive and discourage creditors from granting this nicety. Remember, anyone can read these message boards.

Whoops.

Recently, Experian (“the leading global information services company”*) announced that it and CreditCards.com “will co-host a live, interactive, online town-hall discussion of credit reporting and scoring.” CreditCards.com made the same announcement, replete with countdown clock to the exciting event.

Experian’s newfound public outreach/reach-out for goodwill follows the drubbing it took at the hands of Congress and the FTC regarding the FreeCreditReport.com debacle. Among other adventures, Chairman John Peace and Experian have traveled the the viral video route recently. There’s a fab, telegenic, “STYLISH, SMART, & SASSY” (click “HOSTING REEL” for a demo if you’re interested), newly-minted credit history expert and a bevy of B-list stars. It’s all packaged up with cutesy, sprightly and playful plucking strings to indicate when it is time to laugh (and you will need it), similar to scenes on Wisteria Lane and at Seattle Grace.

If you think that you can manage all that (and would want to), Experian is still looking for you.

CreditCards.com knows Enough to be Dangerous. They would have you believe that credit score factors include “employment, income” (FICO scores do not consider income and employment), and even “debt to income ratio.” And, speaking of experts and employment, the consumer reporting agencies do not provide credit scores for employment purposes. But today, while a battle rages in statehouses from coast-to-coast, one of the CreditCards.com’s “experts” wrote that employers use credit scores. It wouldn’t be the first time that that happened. And, they are in good company.

Take what these two tell you with a grain of salt. And if you participate in their forum, be sure to ask about your AWOL Experian FICO score, and what they are talking about with the line: “Credit scoring helps potential lenders, landlords, and employers quickly gauge an applicant’s credit history.”

*as opposed to Equifax, “A global leader in information solutions” (and, indeed, “Leading with Integrity“), or TransUnion, “a global leader in credit and information management.”