Equifax removed the $125 claim payout option after millions submitted claims • Hacker News Board

Re: Equifax removed the $125 claim payout option after millions submitted claims

#391

Post by ubermonkey » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 1:29 PM UTC

gregcrv wrote: post #365

tarsinge wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In France we don’t have credit scores and credit monitoring companies, but everytime you take a loan you are asked for a ton of proof of solvability, and basically give your full bank statements to the credit lender so that they can check your incomes vs spendings (and see what you spend on btw). Don’t know what’s worse.

In the US you still have to provide the same amount of paper work for large loans like mortgages or for renting an apartment even though they already have all the information they need.

I wouldn't compare the paperwork involved in a mortgage to the fairly simple rental applications I've seen.

Re: Equifax removed the $125 claim payout option after millions submitted claims

#392

Post by rubyskills » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 1:32 PM UTC

bluedino wrote: post #389

atombender wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many places offer interest-free deferred payment. For example, Design Within Reach, through Synchrony Bank, lets you pay in equal installments over 24 months (or less, if you want) [1]. APR around 20% kicks in if you go past the time limit. [1] https://www.mysynchrony.com/mysyf/paymentestimator.html?intc...

Back when I was younger I bought about $1500 in furniture from Art Van on credit, and did not pay it all off within the 18 or 24 months Then I got smashed with a HUGE interest charge, they charge you ALL of the interest from the 18/24 months at the end of that time if you have a blance I buy $300 couches from the clearance center now, in cash.

If you have the $300 in cash, why would you not put it on a credit card that earns you cash back or points?

Re: Equifax removed the $125 claim payout option after millions submitted claims

#393

Post by officeplant » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 1:37 PM UTC

basch wrote: post #379

ryanmercer wrote: post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you filled out the claim it also asked things like how many hours have you spent disputing fraud etc and requesting documentation for over so many hours with additional compensation for each hour you spent trying to fix identity theft. You'd include copies of dispute letters, police reports, receipts for monitoring services, legal expenses etc.

And im asking what legal expenses and police reports there would be since the Equifax data has never been publicly seen? As far as we know, it has never been used in any way to assume anyone's identity or to steal any money. Im kind of shocked at the HN community ignoring that the fact that the attack never lead to any public data leak. Any time you spent disputing fraud or fixing identity theft, if submitted as part…

Because it caused a panic for many people during the initial breach when you went to the website about the breach to check to see if your information was involved. Many people opted for monitoring during that time or spent effort getting freezes, etc.

Re: Equifax removed the $125 claim payout option after millions submitted claims

#394

Post by officeplant » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 1:40 PM UTC

ryanmercer wrote: post #373

ars wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No, no it does not. You would really pick a check for under $1 over credit monitoring?

When I filled out the form it said I would receive 125$, not 1$. I am owed 125$, you can't go "whoa whoa, way too many people want restitution so we've decided not to give restitution" after the fact. Worst case it needs to be paid out first come first serve.

Best case we bleed all the money out of equifax and they go away.

Re: Equifax removed the $125 claim payout option after millions submitted claims

#395

Post by rubyskills » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 1:41 PM UTC

lostlogin wrote: post #178

freetobesmart wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there is no such thing a good credit unless someone can verify it. I can give all of my current credit cards in a background check, but what about the past ones I defaulted on??? Are you saying credit scores should not exist? Is it because you are a fraud that defaults alot and likes to steal money?

Credit scores are bs. My credit isn’t good. I’ve paid a lifetime total of approximately 10c (attempting to convert to $US) interest on credit cards and have never missed a bill - I pay them off before they arrive. 90%+ of my payments are credit card. My score reflects something other than my likelihood of paying back debt.

Have you tried asking for credit limit increases on all of your cards? You may be going over your utilization ratio (typically anything over 30% will deal I your credit score down) of your credit limits are too low.

Re: Equifax removed the $125 claim payout option after millions submitted claims

#396

Post by mLuby » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 1:44 PM UTC

g051051 wrote: post #343

tbyehl wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would 'some agency' have anything to say about your credit risk if issuers of credit weren't feeding them information about your credit performance? What's more bothersome to me is that these companies are scooping up every bit of information they can about me and selling it to anyone. Did I consent to TheWorkNumber? I definitely did not with the first few employers / payroll processors who have sold out my payro…

> my birthday, most of addresses I've had since the mid-90s, every family member I've shared an address with since 1999, information on two vehicles I presently own and one former, Your existence in the world isn't a secret. Every scrap of that is public information. You have a postal address to get mail, you register your car with your state to pay taxes on it, etc.

But it really doesn't need to be.

Maaaaaybe birth certificates should be public, but why should who owns what car be public? Or who lives at what address?

Re: Equifax removed the $125 claim payout option after millions submitted claims

#397

Post by rubyskills » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 1:45 PM UTC

lurquer wrote: post #240

lonelappde wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Update this post if you ever default on a loan. Otherwise, you are a good credit risk.

He may be a good credit risk. But he's not s profitsble customer (if I'm reading the post correctly.) If you pay credit cards off early each month and don't pay interest, your score will be horrible. Nobody wants to lend to someone why merely pays back the principal... all the profit is made off the interest and late fees. My credit score was precisely 0 for many years. I didn't know until I went to buy a car. There…

This is false. Paying my credit card on time for several years boosted my score by a ton. It took my score from 0 to 700s in about two years after opening my first card, then two more, then increasing my credit limits on all of them and load balancing my expenses to keep under the 30% utilization rate. As a business owner, a good credit score is worth its weight in gold.

Re: Equifax removed the $125 claim payout option after millions submitted claims

#398

Post by JshWright » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 1:46 PM UTC

josteink wrote: post #376

fluffything wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also a human being from planet earth, and if I'm ok with paying X in cash to buy something, and the other persons offers me paying it in interest-free rates, it would be stupid for me not to. Worst case, I move the cash to a 2% interest rate bank account and let it sit there. Best case, there are other investments I can make now with that capital, and end up paying less overall for whatever I was buying because h…

> if I'm ok with paying X in cash to buy something, and the other persons offers me paying it in interest-free rates, it would be stupid for me not to. Disagree. This severely complicates my economy. Instead just having X funds less available, I still have the same funds at disposal, but have to remember I owe X to Y which must be paid by Z. Even just once this makes the simple question “How much disposable funds do…

This is not a hard problem to solve... Personally I use YNAB[1], but there are plenty of other options out there.

[1]: https://www.youneedabudget.com/

Re: Equifax removed the $125 claim payout option after millions submitted claims

#399

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 1:47 PM UTC

bootlooped wrote: post #58

greedo wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, most of us did opt in. If you look at the credit agreements we sign when we buy cars, open credit accounts, enter into a mortgage, we give the lender the privilege to share our data with these credit reporting companies.

I read or heard a phrase for this recently and it's "consent theater".

[deleted]

Re: Equifax removed the $125 claim payout option after millions submitted claims

#400

Post by halr9000 » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 1:58 PM UTC

josteink wrote: post #376

fluffything wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also a human being from planet earth, and if I'm ok with paying X in cash to buy something, and the other persons offers me paying it in interest-free rates, it would be stupid for me not to. Worst case, I move the cash to a 2% interest rate bank account and let it sit there. Best case, there are other investments I can make now with that capital, and end up paying less overall for whatever I was buying because h…

> if I'm ok with paying X in cash to buy something, and the other persons offers me paying it in interest-free rates, it would be stupid for me not to. Disagree. This severely complicates my economy. Instead just having X funds less available, I still have the same funds at disposal, but have to remember I owe X to Y which must be paid by Z. Even just once this makes the simple question “How much disposable funds do…

What I do has worked great for >10 years: - Direct deposit paycheck into checking account 1(the main account) - automatically transfer spending money to checking account 2 (I call it the Petty Cash account) - auto transfer $x for the large recurring or known but infrequent bills into savings account 3 (I call it the Escrow account) - Only issue bill payments from the main account - Only walk around with debit card for petty cash account. I also use this for online purchases, Amazon etc - As needed, transfer from escrow to main to pay off something big, like property tax or car insurance.

Play with the transfer amounts to suit your budget. This helps you not have to think about spending money, or if you have enough to pay rent that month.

Back to the furniture example from grandparent comment, I simply ensure that main has enough in it each month to cover the monthly expenses. HTH