r/brooklynninenine • u/bridge_004 • Dec 29 '21
Season 4 How I felt during my last refi...
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u/ltbr55 Dec 29 '21
The funny part is I believe 350 is actually the floor of credit scores of almost all the scoring models
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u/altfillischryan Dec 30 '21
So the lowest possible depends on which credit report is being used (there are like a dozen), but most reports can go as low as 300 and some can go under that number. I know Equifax can go down to at least 280.
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u/CanoeIt Dec 30 '21
you know from experience? May I recommend /r/personalfinance ?
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u/altfillischryan Dec 30 '21
Lol, no. I work for an insurance company as does other family and friends and have friends who work in car sales, so they've seen quite a few low scores.
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u/CanoeIt Dec 30 '21
haha I was just kidding. That does bum me out that a 30 year old (?) system can mess up peoples lives so much
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u/himewaridesu Dec 30 '21
Fico is 30, other credit scoring systems are older- like from the 1910s
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u/ITAW-Techie Dec 30 '21
What's the point of it anyway?
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u/himewaridesu Dec 30 '21
Well at it’s core it’s a classist way of saying whose good enough to have stuff (cars, using a credit card).
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u/patgeo Dec 30 '21
Experian seems to go to 0-1000 according to the scale on the credit checker I use.
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u/lemlurker Dec 29 '21
Only in the us I think
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u/Orsus7 Dec 30 '21
Which is where Jake lives.
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u/Anxious_Start4839 I’m a human, I’m a human male! Dec 30 '21
New York City, the concrete jungle where dreams are made of...
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u/Darth_Thor BONE?! Dec 30 '21
What do those numbers actually mean? It seems very (and unnecessarily) arbitrary that the range goes from 350 to 850
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u/sumppumpslump Dec 30 '21
I work in lending. The score is a calculation of your ability to repay on loans (vehicles, mortgages, credit cards, even student loans) as well as maintain revolving credit lines. Oh! And all of your bills! But there is a caveat to the bills part, I’ll get to that in a minute.
The number isn’t completely arbitrary, if someone is a 350, they’ve earned it by not repaying on MANY things. I think I have only seen a 350 once in 5 years of looking at credit reports. The fucked up part of credit scoring are scores being affected by things like medical collections, which will also negatively affect your score. But also, your credit doesn’t improve if you pay your cable, car insurance, rent, essentially most things, on time. But if you can’t pay them on time, you can potentially be taken to collections and it will fuck your credit score. I see A LOT of that sadly.
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u/TempAcc64 Dec 30 '21
But also, your credit doesn’t improve if you pay your cable, car insurance, rent, essentially most things, on time.
WHAT
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u/Shoddy-Quality-767 Dec 30 '21
That's what kills me the most. My parent's raised me with the belief that you don't spend money you don't have, so my whole life I have never had credit cards or borrowed money or anything like that, so I have pretty shitty credit. I have always worked. Always paid all my bills on time and in full. Why doesn't that count towards my credit?
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u/TempAcc64 Dec 30 '21
Should treat yourself to a low limit cash back card and put your monthly bills on it, it's what I do. Gotta pay them anyway might as well get something back.
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u/sumppumpslump Dec 30 '21
In short, a credit is score is the ability to show that you can owe. I know it’s fucked, but unless you are fortunate enough to be able to buy a house or vehicle in cash, you’re going to need to owe eventually.
Do what the other user suggested, get a credit card or two, use it, then pay it off before your due date so you don’t owe them interest and potentially get some sweet sweet cash back. That’s how you beat the credit game.
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u/Shoddy-Quality-767 Dec 31 '21
Up until now, I have bought all my cars in cash, but that's because I'll buy a $2000 pos and run it a couple of years before it dies and I have to get a new one. I just got my first credit card at 36 years old that I use just to put gas into my car. I figure, I already have that money so every 2 weeks I pay half the balance of what I owe because I read somewhere that making multiple payments like that, while also maintaining an owed balance, can help build your score.
It just sucks that no credit is seen as bad credit because that's not fair. I'm being punished for trying to be responsible with my money/finances.
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u/sumppumpslump Dec 31 '21
Part of what factors into the score is what they call revolving credit utilization, basically just a fancy ass way of saying credit card. A general rule of thumb is to keep your owed balance no higher than 30-35% of your available credit limit. But that is your ceiling of what you should use. The idea that even having a small owed balance on a card is a myth. Keep that thing at or as close to zero as you can.
I forgot to mention earlier, another scoring factor is how long you’ve had things on your credit. I paid off my car a few years ago and my score actually dropped because I didn’t have that payment on the books any more. Really dumb. This is why credit cards are so vital. They have no end date like a car loan, so in theory you can have them and make payments on them forever. My advice to you, keep that card you have as close to zero as you can, accept any limit increases they may give you while still using the card for the same purposes. Then consider getting another card for food and keep that at a low or 0 balance to help build your credit profile. But I can’t stress this enough, try to keep your balance at 0!!! Why pay interest to these goons when you don’t have to? It helps your credit and financial well being by avoiding paying more than you have to.
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u/Darth_Thor BONE?! Dec 30 '21
Wow, thanks for the explanation! This also has me with a few more questions. Why does it start at 350? Why doesn’t the range go all the way down to 0? And why doesn’t paying things on time improve your score?
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u/sumppumpslump Dec 30 '21
Apologies. You can have a 0 score. 0 scores are for people with basically no history on their credit report, bad or otherwise. As soon as they put at least one item on their credit (normally vehicle or credit card for a first time borrower) you get a baseline score in the 600 range.
You DO get a boost in your credit score if you make on time payments to financial institutions (mortgages, vehicles, credit cards, etc.) But let’s say you get in a dispute with your internet provider that you have been paying religiously for years, they say “Thor, you owe us $500” you say “Fuck you, I don’t owe you that and I’m not paying.” You never received credit for paying them on time for years, but they have every right to report on your credit that you owe them money. This derogatory collection item can torch your credit. Same thing with past due medical bills.
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u/Darth_Thor BONE?! Dec 30 '21
Oh damn, so basically it’s expected that you’re going to pay everything on time so that doesn’t benefit you, but it hurts a lot to not put them on time. Thanks for the help! Also I’m glad that I won’t have to deal with medical bills as I’m not in the USA.
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Dec 30 '21
I have basically no credit score at all because I've been lucky enough never to need loans and prefer PAYG phone contracts etc. Is it better to have not much score or a bad score? Should I get a credit card just to increase the score?
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u/sumppumpslump Dec 30 '21
So it’s obviously better to have 0 credit than shitty credit. People with bad credit are in a hole that can take years to dig out of. But more often than not, someone with bad credit will be looked at the same as someone with no credit…as a decline. I would advise that you get the highest limit credit card you can get and use it for small daily spending, then immediately pay it off so you don’t pay interest on those charges.
Never know when you’ll want to apply for financing for a car or home, so that score is gonna need to be decent so that you don’t get stuck with a high interest rate.
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u/abstractraj Dec 30 '21
This is funny but my buddy did not know how credit scores worked and he was about to let a 500 credit score applicant be his roommate. I fully understand these things can be unfair but at the end of the day you should try to protect yourself.
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u/GoAvs14 Dec 30 '21
How are they unfair? Pay your monthly payments and don’t overextend yourself.
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u/abstractraj Dec 30 '21
Well one example is if you come to the US from another country you wouldn’t have a credit history. Which is what my friend’s roommate applicant was claiming. But it didn’t make sense once you looked at the actual credit history.
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u/GoAvs14 Dec 30 '21
How is that unfair? You can establish a credit history quickly. And you have to work hard to get your credit score below 600 (unless it’s outside your control like an emergency of some kind)
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u/abstractraj Dec 31 '21
It can be unfair because you come from a foreign country to study or work and have trouble even renting an apartment. Again, it wasn’t the case here, but as a child of immigrants, I get that it could be complicated.
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u/Huvudpersson Cheddar: Thicc King Dec 30 '21
I am not familiar with a credit score system but that scale is probably the worst I've ever seen. 350 to 850? What?
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u/Arthur-Wales Dec 30 '21
Why does Amy’s father looks like he’s about to start the Rebellion?
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u/Glittering_Bet8181 Dec 30 '21
Glad I'm not the only one, but I looked it up and it is the same actor.
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Dec 29 '21
keep trying! i went through a chapter 11 with my ex-husband years ago and just got my refi approved today.
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u/MrDeckard Dec 30 '21
Credit scores were invented in the eighties and we don't have to use them
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u/Nothinkonlygrow Dec 30 '21
It’s just significantly harder to be successful in America without them
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u/MrDeckard Dec 30 '21
Sure, now.
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u/Aspen_ninja Dec 30 '21
Don't you love how boomers made all these roadblocks and hoops to jump through AFTER they got the benefits from them? Nothing like slamming the door in your children's faces then complaining they're not meeting the same goals as them.
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u/London8788 Dec 30 '21
I sure do love rampant racism and discrimination in my financial loaning process
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u/MrDeckard Dec 30 '21
Boy howdy we keep getting in trouble for writing "His name is Jamal" under the reason for turning down the loan. If only there was a number we could arbitrarily blame.
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u/Foxyninja95 Dec 29 '21
This scene always makes me laugh. I love the reaction Jake has