FROM: Greg Fisher, greg@truthandfalsity.com
TO: Greg Powel, Ad Practitioners, LLC (via I. Robertson)
CC: Support, money.com (public email address)
DATE: July 27, 2020
SUBJECT: credit score, employers, money.com, Powel, truth

OPEN LETTER at creditscoring.com/interaction/2020/07/27-money.html

Money and truth - Start at the top with the new guy

Greg Powel
CEO Ad Practitioners, LLC
Puerto Rico

Dear Mr. Powel:

Employers do not use credit scores. I looked into it a long, long time ago.

However, an article on one of your websites states

Your credit score affects your life more than your probably realize. Sure, your score is called up when you apply for a credit card, a car loan, or a mortgage. But credit scores are being used more and more to determine whether you can rent an apartment, get a utility hook-up without paying a hefty deposit, get a new job, get a college degree, or even get a date.

Indeed, that scary stuff is the first paragraph and giving the error such a prominent place is common. It shocks the reader. He continues reading. He must know more about this omnipotent number. What he learns is "unsettling" and "startling."

Eek!

And, there is a typographical error in the first sentence. That means that nobody cares.

I call your error of fact Credit Score Myth 2. And I call it your error because you are the top person of the organization spreading that false information. I also call it yours because this is not just about a writer's misunderstanding and an editor's failure. This is about truth, itself. After a decade of tracking this silly nonsense about employers, I think I can make that case.

The article was written by Jim Trumm and is on your website at consumersadvocate.org.

Another article falsely states, "Increasingly, insurance firms, landlords and even employers are using credit scores as a proxy for figuring out how responsible you are."

That came to my attention (again) because I read your most recent item about credit scores, written by your money.com reporter Malika Mitra. She states, "A hard credit inquiry will knock 5 to 10 points off your overall FICO score on average (that score is used to determine how likely you are to pay back a loan)."

That sentence links to a page by the credit bureau Experian that states, "According to FICO, a hard inquiry from a lender will decrease your credit score an average of 5-10 points."

In turn, that sentence links to a page by the same Experian author that states nothing about such an average. And, in fact, on the contrary, Fair Isaac, the FICO credit score company states, "If an inquiry does impact a score, it’s typically by a small amount—less than five points, on average."

But, the "average of 5-10 points" statistic has me going.

Is Ty Cobb's batting average .360-.370? Is the average height of a man 5 to 6 feet? Is the mean of 2 and 6 somewhere around 4?

If you find it hard to believe that Experian is involved, see the company's claims about the so-called credit utilization ratio.

I got a million of 'em. Also, see "Letters to the editor, Time Magazine, false information." Henry Luce is turning in his grave.

Finally, I am going to use the word civility (in this sentence).

Please reply today.

--
Greg Fisher
Truth and Falsity
truthandfalsity.com
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio 45409-0342
mobile/text 937-681-3224
creditscoring.com.vcf