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Credit as a deal breaker?
With the economy the way it is, it seems as if many people's credit is taking a nosedive. There is a credit report commercial with stupid jingles. The latest one shows a couple who have just gotten married and he's going on about how bummed he is that he didn't realize her credit was bad before they got married.
The logic in this commercial is ridiculous because you can still rent with bad credit so they wouldn't have to live in the parent's basement, but that's not the total point of my post. When looking for a special someone or thinking about getting married, is the other person's credit score a factor? |
Well, and you think the parents would cosign a loan for them or something, jeez...
And no, it's not. The implications of that ad are ridiculous. |
When I meet a new woman (and this is for the sake of the argument here, not that I'm looking for another woman, just their pantsless bicycle riding) I have my STD report, my credit report, 3 professional references, 2 personal references, my most recent pay stub, a copy of last years tax filing, a photo of the last 3 generations for genetic compatibility, my medical records, military discharge papers proving it was honorable, a letter of recommendation from my boss, and my itunes card to show that I don't pirate music.
I'm all set for dating. |
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I thought the commercial was funny, but yeah the implication is kinda silly. To me it seems dreadfully shallow to break up with someone because they don't have good credit.
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Ummm...ratbastid? I'm sure you've read the forum rules...they're here if you need a refresher. But to save time, I'll quote them.
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And I hate it when that song gets stuck in my head. |
I don't know, I'd be willing enough to say maybe.
Shit happens and sometimes you have to float on credit when the cash isn't there but an absolutely horrible credit score very well may be indicative of a whole host of poor lifestyle choices. Or maybe not even poor choices but choices that aren't conducive to bringing about the sort of lifestyle you've always imagined for yourself. I don't know about the rest of you but the idea of scraping by whilst only being able to pay down the interest on your debts doesn't sound to appealing to me. Unappealing enough to kill the romance? Possibly. |
This does seem very ridiculous. I know I see it as such, but I have known a lot of people who do take a possible significant other's credit score into account.
Probably seems ridiculous to me because I have horrid credit! |
I've not seen the ad (don't watch much tube). But I assume he marries the girl, finds out her credit sucks and regrets the nuptials? And I assume it suggest he should have checked her credit first. That would be a dick move.
However I would be hesitant to marry a person I knew had bad credit based on her lack of responsibility. Bad credit due to a divorce is one thing. But because she would not pay her bills or had too many credit cards is another. Nevertheless, I wouldn't do a credit check. |
If credit were such a deal breaker, the population would be in decline.
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Maybe it should be then. Maybe it would get people to become more financially responsible.
Credit matters. |
The commercial's ludicrous as far as I'm concerned. If the guy's living in her folks basement, they'd be working on cleaning up her credit.
I don't know if it'd be a dealbreaker. But I think you can usually tell by the way a guy does or doesn't spend his money. I might find a guy who always forgets his wallet less attractive. |
It would seem stupid while dating. But once you are married, it would become HUGE.
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Giving a person of interest the brush-off for a relationship based on their credit is ridiculous. Unless you're just a pathological non-payer of bills, bad credit doesn't prove anything except that at one point or another, you had no money or you had serious life trauma.
Personally, if I had money, I'd have amazing credit.... |
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I think caring about your 'credit' is a scam.
Unless you are going to buy a new house, or buy a new car, who gives a shit? Don't live beyond your means. I know I don't care what my score is, and I won't for atleast 10 years, when I settle down to buy a house. Just like a lot of other things, credit is just a racket, and another way for multiple companies to fuck you. |
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Now although bad credit might not be a deal breaker, being in a good position to get a house and pay it off in under 15 years would do wonders for the relationship, I'm assuming. Oh, that and credit companies don't operate rackets, because what they do is legal. You should always care for your credit because everyone's watching it. Finances are a big factor in virtually all relationships. |
It's a deal breaker for me in marriage, plain and simple. It's an indicator of responsibility, money management, the ability to have 'delay gratification' and save appropriately for expensive items, and the ability to hold down meaningful employment.
Credit is absolutely not a racket. However, far too many people use credit irresponsibly. If you can't "afford" to purchase things with appropriate saving, it's probably beyond your means. Instead of finding a credit card or a credit company who will extend you that money at a high interest rate, you should spend that same amount of time searching for more appropriately remunerated employment. I use credit only for things that I can afford in the short term. I similarly plan to put a sizable majority of my mortgage down at the beginning. If you like throwing away money, I recommend using credit. If you like having money, I recommend putting your money places that it works for you. Interest rates are great if you're on the right side of them. ALL of those things are important to me in a future spouse. The ability to marry and not ruin my otherwise impeccable credit is an added bonus, considering the time I've spent responsibly managing my credit and saving for the things I want. For a girlfriend? Not so much - you're not sharing many meaningful assets, and your credit score isn't so summarily lumped together by credit agencies as it is for married couples. Every US law enforcement agency I've ever looked into uses a credit report as one of many factors for hiring new peace officers. From what I can gather, they do it for two reasons: 1) It's an indicator of financial responsibility, and by extension, general responsibility. 2) It's an indirect indicator of the likelihood that the officer will accept a bribe or favorable treatment in exchange for leniency - someone who is deeply in debt is more likely to be willing to compromise their morals to alleviate the financial strain. |
If anyone wouldn't marry someone they "loved" because of some credit card debt, I feel very very sorry for you.
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I'm also not one of those who subscribes to fairy tale ideal of "better poor and in love than rich and unhappy" mindset. I don't intend to be destitute, and the 'happy' or 'unhappy' status is not mutually exclusive with that goal. I'm not talking about being extremely wealthy here, only comfortable. It should be "better comfortable and happy than poor and happy or rich and unhappy." |
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I have stopped using credit. I'm riding out my 7 years of shitty credit, which is situational and immaturity based. I'm not proud of it, but I've learned from it. Quote:
Watch Maxed Out! if you want to see some of the effects credit is having on people. |
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I generally took issue with the other items because of their shortsightedness and falseness. (Rackets are illegal activities.) Quote:
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I am not a fan of playing the victim card. However, sometimes a person's credit turns bad without the person fully realizing what is happening. I think that people who see what is going on and continues to use credit irresponsibly are the ones to avoid in relationships if you are looking for character through credit. Quote:
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I used to work at one. Hated it. So sad. How is 1800% APR legal? |
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It is far to easy to do credit checks on people these days and the results are used in many ways to determine behavior and lifestyles that may be problematic. An attitude like this would be considered a problem with many employers. |
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also, if someone has creditors calling for them, or owe huge debt they may not be able to focus on the job and are worried about payments etc. I don't believe it but it is what I've been told by HR. |
I understand that you need to keep impeccable credit for getting a house, auto loan, and to work in financing careers. They are also basing auto insurance rates on credit scores in some states (AZ is one of them). But, how do you explain this...
I'm not ashamed anymore about it so I'll use me as an example. My name is Shesus and my credit score is low, like 500s low. *insert Hi Shesus here* BUT, I qualified for 60 month 0% APR loan on a vehicle... If you have to have good credit to get a decent car loan, how do you explain that? The only thing I can think of is that maybe they were clearing out inventory and just needed to get rid of last year's Jeeps. Or the credit system is a sort of joke like is implied by some in here. Oh and I also just moved into an apartment with no problem. Maybe, I'm a freak of the credit system. |
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Yes. Yes, they do.
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Obviously, I'm probably a bit biased as a loan officer, but I'm going to have to say that credit would probably be a dealbreaker, as it is such a strong indicator of the level of responsibility that someone has. Granted, there are always exceptions - huge medical expenses, divorce, ect, but as a general rule it would make a difference to me. Especially considering that finances are one of the leading causes of divorce - it would be silly (in my opinon, of course) to disregard one of the tried and true methods of determining whether or not someone is fiscally responsible or not. Now, on to "Maxed Out!" - I thought that documentary was pretty much a pile. I didn't mind the majority of it, but I really wasn't a fan of how it portrayed companies "preying" on consumers - not to spoil it for some, but basically there is a portion in the show where two mothers are discussing how their college age kids commited suicide because the big, evil credit card companies offered their kids credit cards, and they used them irresponsibly and got themselves into a ridiculous amount of debt. Where is the personal responsibility? I cannot even begin to count the number of times I've been taking an application for a client, and they ask for something that is a very poor decision for their long term financial well being - like taking out a home equity line of credit to go on vacation and buy that pair of ATVs that they've always wanted - and regardless of my professional advice, they want to go ahead and do it anyway. Realistically, who am I to say whether or not it's worth it to them, as it's a very personal choice, but I could personally never put myself in that situation - I value my financial health more than I value my expensive "wants." Some people simply live beyond their means - it's a personal choice, and banks simply make it possible - they certainly don't force you to make poor financial decisions. Educate yourself, get some solid advice, and weigh the true cost of your next splurge - there is lots of great info out there, all it would take is a couple hours of research. Quote:
It pretty much just boils down to paying bills on time - if you aren't, you're very likley damaging your score... |
I've seen "Maxed Out" as well, and I generally agree with NoSoup. While I do think that some practices of the credit card industry take advantage of the financially ignorant for maximum profit, the thing that was never discussed was personal responsibility. While I sympathize with the parents of the teenagers who committed suicide as it's a very sad story, did the parents ever teach their kids about credit cards and personal finance? If they had, there's no way they would have found themselves in that kind of situation.
If this population of this country had better financial literacy, I strongly believe that we wouldn't be in such dire straits with our economy right now. As for the discussion about the credit rating of your significant other, it matters. Finances are a big reason why married couples divorce, no? Scores matter when you get a car loan or a mortgage, and the couple want to own the property jointly, right? I suppose the partner with the better credit score could apply for the loans individually, but that'd probably get awkward if the couple divorced... |
I've read over this thread a number of times and typed up a half-dozen different responses....
:shakehead: That's right. I've left it to an emoticon as all my words have failed. |
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My husband won my heart in part by his frugality, excellent money management skills, and yes, good credit. These things matter to me. I'm careful with my finances. I wasn't about to marry someone who couldn't hold up their end of things. Granted, I wouldn't go so far as to check his credit score. Didn't need to. I've known far too many women who were in debt up to their ears because they never learned how to manage their money. Honestly, who wants to take someone like that on? |
So much for "Can't Buy Me Love."
We've become so materialistic that we actually think credit determines who we should fall in love with? |
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Guess I'm just a romantic :) |
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+10 points! |
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