

Can your online comments affect your credit? - iamelgringo
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/esandberg/detail??blogid=132&entry_id=55190

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jerf
I've skipped out on this social networking craze, and now I'm really glad. Now
I have to worry about the _credit implications_ of friending that guy from
high school that I never particularly liked but hey I don't want to be
impolite? (Who, by the way, turns out to be a deadbeat.)

People like me have been saying that young people are going to learn that
"letting it all hang out" is a mistake, but I sort of figured it would be a
mistake for social reasons. I have to admit I never figured that your credit
rating could be impacted. The second-order effects of that would rock the
entire scene. If Facebook is wise, they will fight this, but this probably
looks like a great income opportunity from their point of view.

~~~
mbrubeck
_"I've skipped out on this social networking craze, and now I'm really glad."_

Until the rating agencies' statistical models decide that not being on
Facebook is correlated with high credit risk...

~~~
jerf
While I agree that is some worthy snark and I am chuckling, I would point out
that for at least the forseeable future it is very likely to be the other way
around, due to the fact that young people have worse credit scores (if for no
other reason they've had no time to build them up) and Facebook will correlate
with younger people for a while yet. (Certainly older people are on there; I
said "correlate", not "be solely occupied by".)

~~~
pavel_lishin
So would you join Facebook, etc., if and when being on it is more likely to
raise your credit rating than lower it?

~~~
jerf
There isn't much I could do to raise my current credit score without becoming
fabulously wealthy, so, no. A hypothetical other me might consider it, but...
remember, it's not just "being on it" or "not being on it", it's who you are
friends with. The real problem isn't the direct effect on your credit score,
the real problem is that if you're even _thinking_ about your credit score
when considering who to be friends with it distorts the entire experience,
possibly to the point of ruining it. The net effect of everyone thinking about
that is going to change the dynamics in a generally unpleasant way.

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RK
_There are a couple of ways this information may be applied. It can help
creditors promote certain products, cutting down on marketing waste. Why sent
pre-approval letters to people not interested, right?_

Does this mean I can send one tweet that says "I do not want any credit card
offers, unsolicited calls, spam, junk mail, etc." and be done with it? Sign me
up!

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dangrover
I hate how opaque the whole idea of credit is.

There should be some kind of score for "general financial responsibility"
(based on income, spending, investment, bank account info), not "borrows a
bunch of money and pays it off reliably."

Right now, I have a little bit of debt, and about 10X that amount in savings,
and everyone's told me to pay the debt off over time because it looks good. So
that's what I'm doing, even though I hate the idea of having to pay interest.

My dad has even had trouble securing loans since he paid his mortgage off.

~~~
camccann
That's not what credit scores are _for_ though.

Imagine that you're going to be lending money with interest. What does your
ideal customer look like? Someone who just pays you back a month later? No,
because you're not getting much interest from them. Someone who has trouble
making payments? No, too much risk of losing what you lend. Ideally, you want
someone who consistently carries debt and pays it off slowly.

There's also the matter of "handling debt well" not being the same thing as
"general financial responsibility". While you might _intend_ to pay it back
quickly, that's not something the lender can just assume, and if you've never
carried significant debt over a period of time they can't judge how you'll
react if (for some reason) you can't pay it off quickly as you intended.

There's also the issue of wondering _why_ someone who's rarely carried debt
wants credit--what changed to make them need it, and how does that impact the
risk of lending to them?

Short version: credit scores aren't really about _you_ personally. They're
about roughly estimating whether lending money to you would be profitable.

------
josefresco
So what about real-life? If I'm hanging out in public with some _shady
characters_ can a credit agency ding my report or 'worthiness' based on that
activity? It's in public just like my Twitter posts so what would be the
difference?

This really should be illegal if it's true, and I'm not certain of even that
based on this one article. Would be nice to see some sources/corroborating
evidence.

~~~
Pahalial
Did you look at the company mentioned in the article, Rapleaf?

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapleaf>

<http://www.rapleaf.com/offers/free_screening>

While they don't come out and specifically say they offer credit screening
services, it's certainly a short jump from what they _do_ advertise.

Fake edit: In fact, I'm wrong, they do advertise it. Rapleaf directly links to
a similar story from November:

[http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/lucas-conley/advertising-
bra...](http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/lucas-conley/advertising-branding-and-
marketing/company-we-keep)

~~~
blhack
If you look at their "products":

<http://www.rapleaf.com/products>

They're basically a data-mining company...

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lutorm
How do they know they have the right person?

Seems sort of like having a no-fly list based on name and putting someone
named Ali on it... Even _if_ it seemed legit to use this sort of info (which I
don't), the potential for incorrect info seems significant.

The term "identity theft" now also includes having someone make a Facebook
account with your name...

~~~
ajg1977
Sadly it's not too different from the current situation where the activities
of people with similar names in your area can sometimes sneak into your credit
report.

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electromagnetic
Is this really surprising? Of course a bank is going to check up to see if it
can get any easy-dirt on you, and if you have a half-dozen comments over the
last year that you're barely making your existing card payments then it's
really your own fault.

If people dislike this behaviour by banks, there are banking regulations that
can regulate this behaviour. Alternatively, you could just maintain a good
online-image like most people try in the real world.

I've been online since I can remember, and I knew from an early age to keep
anonymity and privacy online. Why mature adults haven't figured this out is
beyond me.

~~~
mschy
The article notes that your credit will be affected (negatively or positively)
simply by facebook "friending" the right or wrong people.

That's hardly the same as having posted 'I am intending to default on my
loan.'

~~~
swolchok
You'd better hope that these automated scanners can detect quotes.

~~~
jerf
(S)He's doomed; (s)he used apostrophes instead of the proper double quotes.
Now (s)he's both going to default _and_ uses bad grammar, definitely bad for
your rating.

~~~
mschy
_Now (s)he's both going to default and uses bad grammar, definitely bad for
your rating._

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphrys_law>

~~~
jerf
Oh, I've long since given up on worrying about that.

Besides, this doesn't count. It's a humorous grammar correction.

~~~
mschy
I thought the error served only to add to the humor :-)

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GHFigs
_Should_ your online comments affect your credit?

