insideyournwa.com

Everyone knows that in the United States it is hard to get along if you have bad credit. It is hard to buy a house, a car, or even furniture if your credit score is low. Everywhere you go in America you are offered something for nothing, as long as you pay interest over a period of time. Debt is a growing factor in every household and you know what? It’s not all bad. With the average house price rising over a quarter of a million dollars how many of us can go buy a house without a mortgage? I know I can’t. But wait, if I could buy a house without a mortgage would I, the answer is a simple no. The US Government allows me to write off the interest charged to me on my personal residence and so I would rather put my money in something that earns for me.

So with debt increasing some good and some bad all of a sudden we have a love affair with credit score. Now if you are trying to do any of the things I have mentioned, buy a car or home, then your credit score will determine how good of a loan if any you can get. This is because your credit score shows whether or not you have paid people back what you have borrowed in the past, presumably if you have paid everyone you will pay going forward. You will defiantly have a high credit score.

Now if you have a high credit score then it makes sense that people will lend to you. If your credit score is high then it would follow that you are also a more responsible person in aspects of your life that are not financial. Makes sense to the insurance companies. They have decided that a persons credit score should determine the amount of money they should charge for insurance. Makes complete sense given that they will cover you for a long period of time without charging you - and trust you will pay them back over time right? Your insurance company doesn’t cover you without prepayment? Huh, I guess that none of them do - so why does your credit score matter? They are saying that if your credit score is bad that you are more likely to wreck your car? Amazing.

Before you send me email saying that they are counting on me to pay my bill every month remember that I am not borrowing money from them, only paying them for a service. What is next are they going to run a credit check before providing other services? Should utility companies charge people with low credit scores more to have electricity? What about phones or cable? I am sure everyone loves that idea. What if when you went to buy groceries you were asked for your social security number before you checked out - and there was a mark up if you had a low score?

Nobody would ever do that though right? Maybe not but every day more and more people are asking for a credit check for things that have nothing to do with credit. If you try to rent an apartment or a house they will likely ask for a credit check. So now in a market that is being scared everyday by the media we are only renting to qualified buyers. That effectively takes more buyers out of the equation making a slow market worse. When was the last time you heard of a landlord that let you live for 6 months and then pay the rent over time later? I never have so what business is it of theirs what your credit score is?

Next time you are asked for a credit check and you are not trying to borrow money do like I do and refuse. Let the market know that you will not give your credit out to everyone and anyone that will do business without it will get yours. You will likely not be able to do this with insurance, but that is because we are too late for that industry. Let everyone know what you think of this when you are asked for your credit history for a rental or service.

Right now the places that ask for a credit check that I think are the most outrageous are insurance, home/apartment rental, job applications, and savings/checking accounts. If I have the ability to do a job it is none of your business if my credit score is low.

One last note on the credit score: if you do have a low credit score don’t worry, you can simply pay a company $100 - $2000 to artificially inflate your credit score legally. That’s right if you have bad credit - you can buy a better score. So if you have a high credit score it doesn’t mean you are responsible anymore now it simply means you could get a few thousand dollars together to raise up your score.