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Are Credit Scores Becoming a New Excuse for Rankism?

Posted By stephanie On 28th February 2006 @ 02:16 In technocracy, rankism and disability, financial rankism | 4 Comments

I was recently denied housing due to my credit score, even though my rental history is solid, and my landlord gave me an excellent recommendation. I had explained my situation - that I had been on disability in my 20s thanks to chronic fatigue syndrome - and at the time was overwhelmed and couldn’t handle my debts. But that didn’t matter - I had “bad credit” and was therefore an undesirable.

Fortunately, I was able to find a better place to live. But I am increasingly disturbed by the tremendous amount of weight a credit score has in our society today. Even without having had a serious illness, there are plenty of reasons why a good person might have bad credit.

A friend of mine is going through a nasty divorce. Her husband used to make upwards of $200,000. She had joint credit cards with him. When they split up, he dropped everything, including the house payments.

Now my friend, through no fault of her own but loving someone, has bad credit in the tune of a home foreclosure and six figures worth of credit card debt that she has no way to repay with her own income. Her bankruptcy was denied. She has just given up on good credit for now.

Credit scores are now being used to judge people on things that have nothing to do with credit - including rentals and job applications. People who are better at managing their debts are seen as “better people,” while those who don’t have strong money management skills or have had serious life problems are seen as “bad.”

Sometimes, even someone who hasn’t done anything wrong with their finances ends up with bad credit. My neighbor has “poor” credit not because he defaulted on credit cards, but because he never uses them!

Credit cards can be a terrible trap for many families - but that doesn’t mean that people who can’t manage them are bad people or even bad bets when it comes to basic things like housing or jobs. We all need a roof over our heads.

Basing a person’s worth on their credit score is a sure-fire way to create nobodies. A dignitarian society should find a way to use credit scores appropriately, not abuse them.

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4 Comments To "Are Credit Scores Becoming a New Excuse for Rankism?"

#1 Comment By Elisa On 28th February 2006 @ 10:16

A major issue is that medical providers are now using collections agencies as first resort billing agents - even though the vast majority of medical bills contain mistakes (in the provider's favor), and it takes forever to get these straightened out. Therefore, the credit of people who've other wise worked hard to maintain a good credit record is being ruined. Often these situations can be straightened out, but it takes a long time and the burden falls entirely on the consumer.

#2 Comment By Bob Higgins On 28th February 2006 @ 18:27

I have a friend here in Dayton, OH who was once the director of Legal Aid locally. She speaks often about the accelerating creation of an underclass in our society which I suppose is analogous to the "nobody's' in your piece. It often seems that minor transgressions in the lives of the relatively powerless put them "in the system" often for life. The credit thing is another crowning absurdity in our society, the idea of charging those who can least afford it more for credit through higher interest rates has always driven me to drink. That reminds me....... Thank you for your work, Bob Higgins

#3 Comment By Elisa On 28th February 2006 @ 20:29

Thank *you* for taking the time to comment! I just added a category for "technocratic rankism" just to address the scenario you're describing. I suppose we're all nobodies as far as government-corporate machinery goes, but there's still various levels of crushed-ness. Once you're "in the system", those layers of rankism tend to pile on, getting heavier and heavier and heavier... What we need is advocates to provide some human balance, with access to resources and a clear mandate to help people out of the nobody hole.

#4 Pingback By Phony Echoes » Blog Archive » Breaking Ranks » Are Credit Scores Becoming a New Excuse for Rankism? On 2nd March 2006 @ 01:34

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