How do we fight them !!!!????

[Imhotrodcrazy]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:
It's astonishing how much smarter I got when I hit 50! --and my kids have started to notice, too.

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HHMMMMM,  hope my kids notice, they are 47 and 44.

[armywifey85]

I'm sick and tired of everyone walking away from their debt. If you borrow the money for anything then you should by all means pay it back Just like paying taxes. If you don't pay then Just like the IRS someone takes your money from you until its all paid back. If you lose your job then as soon as you get one that little allotment starts back up and you start paying your debt off. We pay for all the mistakes of others with the attitude I wan't it now. I think the same should be for Insurance. I'm tired of paying for others not having Insurance. If you have a wreck and have no Insurance then you pay for all damages. I think everyone that owes past due debt then the IRS be notified and they start collecting from your Pay. Same thing goes for welfare you borrow from the taxpayers you gotta pay it back no questions asked. Just like Click it or Ticket ! U owe it U pay it Back I don't care about your problems get back on your feet and pay it back stop writing it off I can't afford to pay for your mistakes Period!!

[Itsmeagain]

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@armywifey85 wrote:

I'm sick and tired of everyone walking away from their debt. If you borrow the money for anything then you should by all means pay it back Just like paying taxes. If you don't pay then Just like the IRS someone takes your money from you until its all paid back. If you lose your job then as soon as you get one that little allotment starts back up and you start paying your debt off. We pay for all the mistakes of others with the attitude I wan't it now. I think the same should be for Insurance. I'm tired of paying for others not having Insurance. If you have a wreck and have no Insurance then you pay for all damages. I think everyone that owes past due debt then the IRS be notified and they start collecting from your Pay. Same thing goes for welfare you borrow from the taxpayers you gotta pay it back no questions asked. Just like Click it or Ticket ! U owe it U pay it Back I don't care about your problems get back on your feet and pay it back stop writing it off I can't afford to pay for your mistakes Period!!

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Methinks you are preaching to the choir . . . .

[Anonymous]

You fight them by surviving w/help of CCC that take a chance on you. I needed two TVs. Best Buy gave me a cheap two grand card online. I go to Sears in person and I am turned down. I called the toll free number and was informed that, according to Citibank,  Equifax gave me the boot for inquires. I wanted to take advantage of the 10% off w/their card. I have the money and sadly, due to inept help @ BB, Sears w/5% was the cheapest route and they delivered the same day w/o trying to extort 65 clams from me per BB. Sears wouldn't extend a cheap card but, they had no problem accepting my Chase card. I called Citibank, Sioux Falls, SD twice. The second lady made note that it was my second call in the same day. It is ambiguous to say inquires as a reason. I know who has denied me. I know my score and that I've always paid as agreed. 

Seven years ago I dated a lady that had bought 250 four wheeler. After the small teaser interest rates expired she became all too aware that the minimum payments she had been making were, for all practical purposes, falling short of reaching the principle. I bought it from her by paying off the note of $2400. I received no credit but, she looked good on her credit for a while. There are no rewards for using cash. The last bums to previously deny me was GEMB/GE Money Sports. I had purchased a grand worth of firearm via USPS MO through an online dealer. Several months down the road I decide to take advantage of their "instant," online credit approval

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=creditcard&thread.id=161804

No go. They outright BS me by stating, "Too few accounts paid as agreed." Then when you question them to explain exactly what that little ditty means they balk. It represents whatever they wish. It's financial doublespeak. I had six cards that were always paid on time and had the final $212 payment on a 48 month loan still on record, paid as agreed. It was OK for me to drop a grand cash on merchandise and mail it to the firearm dealer but, I receive no acknowledgement for that act. Thanks for nuttin' and be sure to purchase from us again. The CB lady told me to try back in a couple of months. I told her that Sears, K-Mart, Lands End and any other known affiliates along w/CB could walk off a cliff. I lost 75 clams by not being approved. I can use Academy Sports, Best Buy, WallyWorld or many others in the future.

Use the folks that extend you credit and refuse to buy from the others unless it's a better deal price match. 

[Anonymous]

Well, there's a little wisdom in all the responses here.  But "Hotrod" I'm with you.  I grew up in the early 70's Midwest and was taught that if you couldn't buy something with cash you either didn't need it (at least right now otherwise you would have planned for it and saved the $) or it was a true emergency and you needed help - a loan or cash advance.  Yes, the true measure of an individual is how they have kept their obligations and responsibilities.  But in my  50's now and looking for retirement, I find that having no debt has penalized me greatly over the past three years.  My own fault for not keeping an eye on what the CRAs were doing to my once strong 780+ FICO.  I learned my score had dropped down to the low 600's this past winter when I applied for a mortgage. I had closed my credit cards...didn't need them any more.  Use my corporate cc for business.  I have a 1 year old car paid cash, my 4 year old Harley Heritage Classic was bought with cash.  My five mink coats and gold and diamonds -  furniture clothing vacations, all bought with cash.  The people I trade with would give me a stellar recommendation on how I manage my affairs.  So to crawl back up I set out first with a $1K installment, a $2.5K revolving store credit, an Orchard Bk cc with a measly $300 that actually knocked my score down becasue the CL is so low and then they reported a 2 day old card with a $150 charge as 50% utilization causing yet a 54 pt drop in my FICO.   So my friends, yes I'm playing the game.  I'm managing my credit as I do my investment portfolio and when I reach that magic 760 FiCO I'll negotiate a mortgage and plan to pay it off in 10 years.  Then I'll drop all the phoney debt and strive for a 0 FICO and check out of the insanity...I hate this game!   This whole thing is political, rift with special interest groups.  It's socio-economic as well.  I don't care what anyone says, it's still an honorable goal to not have debt.  Just my 2 cents.

[haulingthescoreup]

Great post, solorider, and I now have the awesome mental image of you blasting down the back roads on your Harley, wearing your mink and diamonds!

I'm glad you mentioned the game aspect of it, because that's what this is. And it's certainly not confined to personal credit. Just think of all the things you have to do at work to get acknowledgment for doing your job well. Or dating. * shudders *

Like any game in which we don't have a voice in the creation of the rules, we can choose to play or not. But it's important to know how the game works, what the rules are, and what the consequences are if we don't play.

[Anonymous]

DickC,

thank you for your post. This is so true that this post should be printed and given to everybody with the birth certificate.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Hmmm..."haulingthescoreup" how appropriate! 

Like any game in which we don't have a voice in the creation of the rules, we can choose to play or not. But it's important to know how the game works, what the rules are, and what the consequences are if we don't play.
 

Yes, the only way I can deal with this is to keep telling myself its only a game.  But let's not forget about how futile this new game is of bailing out failing companies, subprime mortgagors who were looking for the free ride, or the folks maxing out their cards and then finally getting caught when the 3rd or 4th refinance didn't come through for them.  And if they haven't figure out yet how to completely exhonerate debt,our beloved congress is proposing a bailout 1/2 balance forfeit for folks up to their eyeballs in cc debt...   Guess who the CCC are going to look to in an effort to recoup their losses?  Now that's a game we all need to call.

[Anonymous]

Although I completely agree with DickC, I must also agree with Creditchief. He has a point. I came to the US four years ago. So I had no credit, no credit score. Based on this I was NOBODY. You couldn't get anything, no one gave you a credit card, you couldn't buy a house, car, rent, nothing. When I first asked what shall I do I was told you need a credit card, go to a bank and apply for a secured card or get a store card to start. I do not complain, but without being thrown into this system I couldn't get anything and in emergency this could be disastrous. On one hand yes, it is a privilledge, on the other hand it is a must. We must do if you want to do something. It is our own prison. Is this right?

I do not know. I accepted this rule, because on the other hand it gives other parties some assurance on who I am, like DickC says he wants to know who will live in his property. Today I have excellent credit, own a house and live American dream and I am very gratefull for this life time chance which you won't find anywhere around the world.

But the point is do we accept this as sheep or shall we disagree with the system forcing you getting into a debt just because you need credit score to live?

Message Edited by Martin on 06-23-2009 06:04 PM

Message Edited by Martin on 06-23-2009 06:05 PM

[Anonymous]

And one more point. I think Chief is not complaining about scoring system, but how to maintain it without using CC. To start and maintain a good credit score is impossible without a CCC. So you have to accept a credit card and then CCC can abuse you anytime without you having a chance to fight back. For example if you borrow 2000 dollars on your credit card with interest let's say 9%, pay the debt as agreed and suddeenly you receive a letter that your interest is 24% from now not on any new money you borrow in the future, but on the same debt you borrowed previously! So you will pay higher interest retrospectivelly.

Isn't this Catch 22?

This is what is not fair, you must accept something to even rent a home and then get easily abused...