@Anonymous wrote:
My dear Sidewinder, Take the time to read wahat I've said, please. My son's payment was due in late November. The CCCs lowered my credit limits in early December, more that a month PRIOR to the reporting agencies recording that late.
I think there's more to the story. I haven't read all of your posts, so please forgive me if I presume anything incorrectly!
You live in Florida (so do I) and I know from oodles of friends (and personal experience) that because we're in one of the highest foreclosure-affected states, credit, regular credit is being kept on a tight leash. Had one friend who, presumably (because there weren't any other issues occurring) had their AmEx CL cut by 2/3 simply for living in Florida, using the card infrequently and having a mortgage serviced by CountryWide (as we do).
Again, please forgive me if I presume too much.
No, I believe that a person who, in good faith, promises to make good any debt by another should not be penalized significantly by a single 30 day late of which they were not aware. They should be penalized if they fail to make that debt good,however. When you guarantee the performance of another person, you should have the right to be made aware and to correct the situation before you are penalized.
But the lender/creditor *assumes* that if you care enough to lend your good name to the debt, you care enough to keep tabs on it, as well. I'll bet you 100 FICO points that if you had called up the office holding the debt and asked the status of the account, they would have told you. They'd HAVE to, since you co-signed on the debt.
I'm not trying to argue with you or point a finger, just making the point that that *is* the assumption made -- both by FICO and the creditor.
Bottom line is that you had the right to correct the situation simply by communicating with the creditor and being able to ask the status of the account.
If the creditor *has* to "hold your hand" in getting the account paid, it's not really a reflection of how well you pay your bills, is it?
When I cosign, I am giving my bond that I will guarantee the lender against default. I am guaranteeing that I will pay if the creditor doesn't. There is no way that I can possible guarantee every action or inaction by that creditor. Your insurancce company gaurantees that they will pay for any damages that you may cause if you have an accident. They in no way can guarantee that you won't have one! Get my drift? My son's being 30 days late in no way refects on my perfomance, either past or future. Therefore i should not be penalized unless I failed to make good.There will be legislation addressing these shortcomings soon I hope.
Again, legally, yes it does reflect on you. You agreed to be equally responsible for the debt (basic contract law) and that includes recognizing the necessity of keeping track of its status. If that means picking up the phone and calling to ask a question, that onus is on you as part of taking responsiblity.
The only reason why creditors call when a payment is a few days late is NOT because they want to help YOU (or anyone else) -- its because they want to mitigate their losses as much as possible. Legally, they can just keep their mouth shut and let you accrue late notations. It's not their responsibility to hold your hand and nag you into paying the bill -- it's just their responsibility to notify you of the charges, break-down the interest, and notify you of when it's due.
Thirty five years of history should weigh more heavily. I'm not saying that these things shouldn't be considered, I'm just saying that the weighting is off and that the Banks and other lender missuse the FICO information, most assuming that it is worth more that it truly is. The Idea is OK but the algorythm needs more than a little tweaking.
Every Banker who looks at my credit report can't figure out why I'm not in the mid 700's. That has happened time after time. even in periods of 0 credit card debt just a mortgage payment, no car payment, The highest I've ever scored is 695(though I'm usually around 675 or so.
Tell me why I get fluctuations of 60 points or more month to month?
Message Edited by TampaBrian on 04-26-2009 03:01 PM
Message Edited by TampaBrian on 04-26-2009 03:02 PM
I don't mean to be a jerk. I really don't. And you have valid points on weighing variables in FICO scoring.
BUT to blame the creditor for not notifying you is inappropriate. They're not legally obligated to notify you if you're late (and since you co-signed and took equal responsibility under the law for the debt, you ARE equally late) -- that's *your* responsibility. Your son's responsibility FIRST, but yours, too.
The first "entity" to notify you that the payment was going to be late should have been your son, not the creditor. They're running a business ... and I think their taking the time out to look up your contact information would have taken far more time than your son would have in mentioning it in passing.
Keeping your credit safe and secure isn't their job.
