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The careless errors of credit reporting agencies

washingtonpost.com

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Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies

#91

Post by ghaff »

ourmandave wrote: post #42
MichaelBurge wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Individual states already issue identification cards, and people use that all the time for this purpose. In a system like the US, I think it's better for the states to handle identification cards, not the federal government. There's a lot of details that go into identifying someone, and your local state is best equipped to handle that. To give a few examples: What's the procedure for changing your name? A lot of peop…

> If the federal government runs it, now they have to own or rent a bunch of land in every major city in every state so they can service id card requests. Don't we already have that with the post offices and the passport system? Couldn't they expand passports into a Federal ID system?

Sure. You could require every American to get at least a passport card. Maybe even waive fees for those below a certain income level.

I'm not qualified to comment on constitutional issues so I won't.

I will say that, even if it's mostly an emotional issue (people already need at least some sort of state government-issued ID to do lots of things), there's a huge resistance in the US to anything that smells like "papers, please" or universal ID that people are required to carry and present upon request.

Which is how a lot of people view the idea of a Federal ID system. That may seem silly to a lot of people outside the US but it's how things are.

Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies

#92

Post by MiguelVieira »

PSA: If, like me, you sign up on www.transunion.com to view your account, be aware that the sign-up process uses dark patterns to stealthily sign you up for a $19.95 / month subscription.

The 'Cancel Membership' page is hard to find, but here it is:

https://membership.tui.transunion.com/tucm/cancelMembership....

Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies

#94

Post by asddddd »

thechao wrote: post #61
necessity wrote: post #56

More effective than any regulation would be a legal system that actually made it possible for the small guy to sue the big guy for damages.

For instance: Time Warner Cable screwed up my cable package, charging me 220$ (a la carte) rather than 90$ (bundle). I contacted them, they admitted the mistake, and fixed the next month---I still ended up out 65$. I'd really like that money (moral imperative), but there's no legal way for me to seek relief for that small amount. If TWC messes up 1/50 accounts, once a year, for 50$, then they stand to make 500k--1mm$…

File a complaint with the FCC or BBB and (at least with Comcast) they'll suddenly be very eager to fix the problem. Ran into a similar issue where I was told one thing and billed for another, a few days after a BBB complaint they had someone from "executive customer relations" calling/emailing me to get it resolved ASAP.

Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies

#95

Post by cesarb »

ThomPete wrote: post #83

The US is as far as I know the only country in the world who have a positive creditscore system. At least in Europe it's mostly based on a negative creditscore i.e. you are trusted by definition but if you don't pay your bills you end up not being allowed access to credit. In the US they don't trust you per definition and instead you have to prove that you are good with money by basically creating debt and then payin…

> The US is as far as I know the only country in the world who have a positive creditscore system.

They are trying to bring something like that to Brazil too. Fortunately, it's opt-in, at least for now.

Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies

#96

Post by jsprogrammer »

ThomPete wrote: post #83

The US is as far as I know the only country in the world who have a positive creditscore system. At least in Europe it's mostly based on a negative creditscore i.e. you are trusted by definition but if you don't pay your bills you end up not being allowed access to credit. In the US they don't trust you per definition and instead you have to prove that you are good with money by basically creating debt and then payin…

I don't think this is the cause, but it does appear to be a virtuous feedback cycle: the creation of debt must continue for the economy to function. Practically forcing people to create debt allows the system to continue.

Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies

#97

Post by ghaff »

marcosdumay wrote: post #51
ourmandave wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So how does a real ID work? Here, places verify you over the phone by the last 4 digits of your social security number, so you have to keep it secret. If I'm evil and know your ID what can I get away with without a card? And what can I do with a decent fake card?

You need your card to do anything. You don't use it to authenticate over the phone, but lesser levels of authentication are available by other means. You can impersonate somebody with a decent fake card, but just having one is enough to go to jail.

>You need your card to do anything.

I have not had a physical social security card in many decades. I think it was in a wallet that got stolen in the 1970s and I've never gotten a new one and never needed one (or even been asked for one that I can remember).

Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies

#98

Post by ropiku »

loeg wrote: post #25
codegeek wrote: post #17

Some steps to monitor your credit (USA): 1. Signup for https://www.creditkarma.com . Yes, you can argue about giving your credentials to a 3rd party company and they show you ads but credit karma sends me real time activity on my credit report FOR FREE. I get offers etc but I am happy since I can keep an eye on my credit report from all agencies. (except Experian who want you to pay them for report). 2. Get a free cr…

> 3. Get your FICO score from discover [0] for free OR Open a credit card with Citi cards [1] and I think for $95/Year fee, they give you free FICO score which is the score that majority of lenders use. There are many other companies that offer FICO score for a fee but this was a good way for me since I needed that type of card anyway. As well as Discover, Barclays and USAA credit cards both offer (one of) your credi…

American Express too.

However the bigger issue is checking the whole credit report not just the score.

Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies

#99

Post by bsbechtel »

sschueller wrote: post #14

The whole credit reporting system is a money making racket and there is zero interest in keeping the information in it accurate. No one is held responsible for mistakes and the suffering people go thought because of it.

So do you have a suggestion for a system that works better, or do you prefer banks lend the money from your savings account without any sort of evaluation of how likely it is to be paid back?

Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies

#100

Post by kmonsen »

xanderstrike wrote: post #59
waterphone wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Multiple government systems rely on Experian for identity verification. If you don't have credit, you don't exist in the system according to the government. I've run into this personally with healthcare.gov and state medicaid applications, as well as commercial uses like Amazon Payments.

Same. I complained about the rates I was given by my auto insurance company and they said it was because I had no credit. I told them I could easily pay 12 months up front, didn't matter. I told them I could prove my income was more than enough, didn't matter. They told me I should get a credit card. In order to get a service I'm required to have by the government, I had to have my name in a system run by private, fo…

You don't actually need car insurance (I know, this mostly a technicality): http://www.dmv.org/insurance/alternatives-to-auto-insurance....
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