Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) passed a measure that would study how credit scores are being used in housing decisions and examine whether individuals are being discriminated against in those decisions based on race, gender, age, sexual orientation, or other factors.
“Credit scores impact our lives in so many ways – from rates on car loans and mortgages to whether you get hired or can find a place to live. Credit reporting agencies, however, are notoriously under-regulated and unaccountable to consumers,” said Congressman DeSaulnier. “With credit being so important, we have to take the next step to get to the bottom of how inaccuracies come up and how they can cause negative repercussions now and in the future.”
According to a report from the Chase Credit Journey website, DeSaulnier’s amendment would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study the ways in which credit scores are “weaponized to discriminate against borrowers and segregate communities along racial and economic lines.”
54 comments
Whats new…The Democrats make every thing about race. Mark you are a
Puppet Clown.
“Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) passed a measure”
Wow, that must have hurt.
I actually laughed out loud with that one Cellophane. All my co-workers were looking at me like I was crazy…well I guess I am a little bit:)
Me too…
What part of his body did he pass it out of?
In all seriousness, the House, and not an individual, ‘passes’ a bill. And first, it has to pass through several committees. And that’s why most laws end up smelling so bad. BTW- it doesn’t become law until the Senate passes it and the President signs it. Civics 101, for reporters and other victims of our public education system.
Right, Civics 101, Schoolhouse Rocks, I’m just a Bill.
Vote out yet another puppet (Mark) in the next election. Cleanse the state of the liberals, Nanny babysitters, entitlement vote getters and vote in politicians with morals and guts to push back at long last and enforce law and order. Save California.
Wait, I’m far from a conservative, but this is too much. If you rent out your home, now some areas won’t allow a criminal background check and next not a credit check? What’s after that, not allowing to charge rent?
Friends don’t let friends vote Democrat!
In all seriousness, the lack of accountability in California politics, where we are under single-party rule, is the problem. And in the end the blame lies with the electorate and/or our education system.
Credit Scores are the strongest predictor of behavior. EVERY business uses your credit score: employers, insurance companies, any place where you have some element of risk that may impact them. Live below your means and always pay off your credit cards, on time, every month.
EXACTLY.
all this complaining about the political nonsense has absolutely NOTHING too do with the true topic at hand for which he, or any other person has finally realized and put in motion SOMETHING to address it. I have been victimized by identity theft 6 times; all to which have been able to DESTROY my personal credit file over and over and over. I have someone elses social showing with mine, on my report since 2009. This person lives in Kansas, has a name-Kathy *****, and owns a home, amongst many other lovely things that show in use or her possession with a noted asterisk on MY report. Since the first attack on my credit, at age 19, I have been unable to successfully buy a car, rent or buy a home, get ANY extension of credit, and most importantly, GET ANY POSITIVE or even FAIR attempt at accuracy, resolution, let alone JUSTICE! It maddens me to the core! there is NO consumer protection in place to guarantee our securities in this matter, and the most basic of them, like a simple f*ck**g pin number for start, would do wonders! I just got my latest slew of nonsense for which my credit is yet again affected with 8 more breaches; courtesy of Equifax. Thank you, im not sure what too say anymore. But the one that takes the cake: My notice, Document CP01E that states: ‘What this notice is about-
You may be a victim of identity theft because someone other than you used your Social Security number for employment.’
OK, tell me more please…oh wait. what?! THEY CAN”T?!! or they WON’T? heres what it says further, when inquiring on the details I need to attempt a fix at this HUGE problem: ‘If you received notice CP01E, and want to know more about it,
can the IRS tell me any more information about the use of my SSN?’
‘No. We know that someone used your SSN on a Form W-2 while filing a federal return. Federal disclosure laws prevent us from disclosing any taxpayer information to you.’…
SERIOUSLY? So now the protection lies in that of the offender? BULLSH!T! You’ve got to be kidding me! What needs to happen is either wipe out the credit system entirely until its fairly designed and safe to utilize for all, or CRIMINALIZE the ones YOU KNOW are abusing the lives of others, let alone destroying something such as credibility and value of life! As a survivor of domestic assault, and lifelong physical injuries to deal with every day-I can tell you the effects Ive experienced emotionally from the lack of accuracy in my credit report have been much more debilitating to my person than my traumatic injuries from repeated assault. It’s sick, and I don’t particularly give a flying F*ck which color of politics finds it in themselves to take the step and challenge this credit system, but I’m all in support of the efforts. Good ‘Ol red, fight, and blue…l prefer to stand somewhere in the middle. The irony of our non-discrimination laws is all but demonstrated at it’s finest with the ridiculous division we hold of the red and blue…its counter-productive displays of idiocrasy. Democracy was thrown out long ago…and this articles comments highlights that very extreme; the percentage of comments relative to the problem vs the comments related to political opinion irrelevant to the cause?…in other words-IRRELEVENT!…it’s no wonder sh!t sits idle and goes nowhere in a hurry…Peter, Paul, Mark or RuPaul…I don’t give a damn who attempts this, but I appreciate the attempt, because my own have proved a worthless and futile result, for which I’ve all but given up the last 20 years of my creditability and livelihood as every attempt to fix and resolve is only temporary; and no concrete measures are in place to protect me or my information permanently. The damages I experience are immeasurable…clearly y’all haven’t had the pleasure…just wait. breaches are occurring everyday. Your day will come. Your views will be drastically changed, I can promise you that!
I do agree with this measure and its function, although I think race is no part of it for me.
A good credit score has the potential to be an indicator of financial responsibility. But technically all it does is say that you’re good at borrowing money. Obviously a bad credit score means something went wrong at some point, but at this point are you really expecting perfection from people? I know that landlords use credit scores because it’s simply one of the last legal ways you can filter out applicants. But ultimately, pressuring people to have good credit scores is pressuring people to engage in the worst money habit of all – borrowing.
Look at it this way. Two applicants want to rent your place. One has a 760 credit score, the other has no credit history whatsoever. If all else is equal, all that tells me is that person one liked to borrow money instead of saving up and paying cash. Person two opted for patience, has no debt, and no history of financial misstep. So who’s really the better candidate?
In the case of someone with no credit history, in most cases that is someone just starting out maybe trying to rent their first place with roomates. In that case landlords usually ask for a co-signer.
On the flipside someone can have a credit history with no debt as well. Many people pay their credit cards off in full each month vs carrying cash. This helps build their credit profile and can give them perks (airline miles, Cash % returns) w/o being in debt.
Sorry Bob, but I must point this out: A good credit score is not indicative that you’re “good and borrowing money.” Rather, it reveals you’re “good at repaying debt you’ve borrowed.”
I’m a lender and rely (partially) on credit scores for determining the likelihood a borrower will repay money lent. Inaccuracies do occur from time to time but are often taken into account by competitive lenders seeking business. A borrower with one or two past late payments (say, 60 days past due) but is presently current is no big deal…often a sensible explanation as to why is more than enough to dismiss it as an issue. People do fall on hard times (lost job, unexpected medical expenses) but where they resumed repaying debt on time it’s not impossible to get a secured car loan or other credit. Chronically missed payments, charge-offs, repossessions and foreclosures are another matter…a lender or landlord would be foolish to extend credit to such individuals.
But “weaponizing” credit scores? Nonsense. DeSaulnier seems to want to ruin another convenience to modern life in order to pander to his constituency of miscreants. Live within your means, pay your bills on time, communicate early with your lender when difficulties arise, and credit scores are never a problem.
If you’re going to enter the reactive, best to own the proactive. Start with Right of Ownership 1.0
“weaponized” DeSaulnier you’re a race baiting clown. Do you remember the years 2007- 2008?? People were obtaining loans that didn’t have the collateral or credit score.. Are you stupid? You and Barney Frank must be related.
Is his suggestion that keeping your credit clean is difficult for certain races? Racist!
Landlords can not ask if Tennants have a criminal record, Rent Control at 5%, now this ? Rental Property is becoming a losing venture, quick
To see how credit score is used. For Pete’s sake vote this idiot out
Wow Mark that was a really tough one Usually and mostly credit is rated on how well (or not) someone pays their bills and other obligations along with the debt to income ratio. The one thing i have never agreed with tho is having to submit to a credit check when applying for a job. And the race thing?? Um I have never used an app that asks for “race”
He “passed” a measure? You mean he voted for it?
There’s a BIG world of difference.
Good one, cello!
According to MyFico.com, a credit score tells lenders about your creditworthiness (how likely you are to pay back a loan based on your credit history).
It doesn’t say it’s based on race, ethnicity or any of those things mentioned in the article.
No, it’s not based on race, ethnicity, and other protected characteristics, but it does correlate with them.
In theory this could happen if the data on which credit score is based are hand-picked in such a way that certain minorities are put at a disadvantage. And other data are intentionally omitted from the calculation because their inclusion would benefit the same minorities.
Of course, this has nothing to do with reality, and credit score is based on the data that are most predictive of future behavior, irrespective of race and ethnicity.
But when did reality stop Mark from blaming the mirror for his not-so-pretty face?
Can you say “condo conversions”?
Seriously Mark?? Who wants to be forced to rent to potential deadbeats?
How did this clown get elected?
This guy is such an embarrassment to CA. I cannot fathom why people keep re-electing him.
If credit scores are separating you, it’s because you’re not paying your bills on time. It has nothing to do with race or economic status. You can be a billionaire and not pay your bills on time, or make less than 25K and pay everyone on time. If you have inaccuracies on your credit report, it’s your responsibility to see to it that it’s removed.
Exactly!
Boy, you sound like such a compassionate person…
It is true that a person’s income, assets or net worth aren’t directly included into credit score models. So in theory a minimum-wage worker with 3 kids on food stamps and in public housing can have a FICO of 850.
In reality people in low income bracket have average FICO scores ~130 points lower than those with high income.
Meaning that economic status does have an impact on credit score, and can contribute to the never-ending circle of poverty. Where living paycheck-to-paycheck means that you’re more likely to default on payments due to the lack of savings. Which results in a lower credit score, which leads to higher costs of borrowing (e. g. resorting to payday loans in emergencies), which makes your financial situation even more precarious, resulting in higher default rate, etc, etc.
Of course, being a politician (and not a very good one), Mark tends to like simple, even if invalid, explanations. E. g. “credit scores are racist”. So let’s research how they got “weaponized”, then get rid of them – problem solved. Except it isn’t.
I don’t recall ever being asked my race in a credit application. As for credit scores, the scores are based on payment history, amount of credit, amount of credit accessed, length of time having available credit, etc. etc. In other words, it is all based on metrics on whether you use credit responsibly or not.
And that gives valuable insight for a landlord when they need rent to be paid on time in order to make the payments they need to make to insure, maintain, and keep property taxes paid.
This isn’t about race…unless you are a leftist desperately trying to pit races against each other for perceived political gain.
Mark, did Nancy tell you to do this?
Credit scores are built by paying your bills on time. Period. There is nothing in a credit score that indicates race. Having a low credit score is simply a way for a lender to gauge whether or not a prospective borrower has the ability to pay back the loan when it is due. In simple terms that Mark might understand: The credit score is really the only way that the lender can measure the risk when agreeing to the loan. It also helps the lender determine the rate that the borrower will pay (low credit score=higher interest rate or no loan offered.
The borrower might not qualify for the loan because: 1. Their income will not support the loan repayments. 2. Their income WILL support the repayment, but when you combine it with other debt, then their income won’t support the TOTAL payments. 3. They have a history of late/no payment.
As usual, Mark is blaming the wrong people. The housing problem is not caused by the credit agencies. It is your fault if you have a low score because you either don’t make enough, you are borrowing too much, or you don’t pay your bills like an adult. (Sounds like the perfect constituent for Mark.)
Think about it-What Mark is saying is,if you have an applicant with a good credit score it must automatically be a white guy(untrue),and how dare you rent to a white guy or just white guys,in other words it’s wrong a predudice to rent to those with a good credit score.?So who is is trying to say are the people with bad credit that are being wronged?
Can people understand when they are being insulted by someone that says that represent them?I think he receives lots of mail from teens and takes it seriously.
Last time I did a credit check on myself, I never answered any questions pertaining to race. He’s an abject idiot…
DeSaulnier is closely allied with the SF crowd. This is an issue they love. I just don’t see Mark as doing anything I care about.
Everything is always about conflict with politicians.
So,depending on my credit score,this will dictate what race I am by what number it is?Really?
A total racist baiter for the govt(as usual)
thr problrm is,no matter how many liberals he riles up,there will never be enough of them to win any important election from this moment on.The majority of the country has woken up and its ready to vote and kick ass.
James, I like your thinking.
Apparently, Mark believes that people with low scores must be minorities. High scores means white. The score dictates the race.
In my case, Marks logic is correct. My score is above 800 and my lineage is Scandanavian. But I guess that makes me the racist!
Mark accomplished more during Trump’s inauguration then he has in the 3 yrs since.
Now they are trying to screw people on credit scores.I pay cash for everything,and lats year my score was around 600,with no credit history,never had a credit card.Now when I check my credit score,they say due to inactivity with my credit,I don’t have a credit score anymore,trying to prompt me to go out and buy something on credit or get a card,because im not in their sheep yard,so now I don’t exist on paper.I’m a “non person” wasn’t that in an old movie about the future?
This is SOOOO true. I also pay cash for everything- but forced by way of my identity theft. Each time ive gone rounds to remove the errors and breaches, I find a small window-like only a month- where my report is stating this exact thing! So regardless, we get penalized for NOT creating debt! it’s nonsense; clearly, someone who doesn’t have a profile of credit extension has managed to get by on their cash flow. There should be a rating system for that, not a penalty for incurring no debt! It’s Ludacris; all these people commenting and bashing “low income, entitled, etc” is a far cry from the truth as a whole. Because the truth is, when compared, and statistically noted, just research-that the majority of the people who believe they are higher up, better, and more equipped to earn their place in their top societal circles are the very ones living beyond their rightful means. They are the ones whom truly CANT afford a single thing they have, and apply credit to finance the façade of their image. Not a SINGLE thing-down to the clothes on their back- is OWNED by them. They are entirely financed. BY Mercedes, Macy’s, and Wells Fargo Mortgage…so forgive me for saying so, the sense of entitlement as commented on here is all but jaded. As is the opinion of self worth. Financing is not WORTH my friend- it’s precisely a LACK there OF. And this is where the delusional aspect comes forth to the crowd who is more worried about the size of their hummer next to their neighbors, vs their core of worth within humanity…
Again Anon,you are confused.I can rent a car like I have several time by leaving a ridiculous $200 cash deposit.Call any place in Conccrd.If they only rented to CC holders they would have no business.
Buying a home doesn’t take a credit card,you have toy show your tax returns.
I’m calling BS on renting a car w/o a cc with a $200.00 deposit.
You call BS on anything you don’t agree with.Look it up on line or call a rental co.Why would someone need to lie to a liberal?
“If you want to anger a conservative,tell him a lie,if you want to anger a liberal,tell them the truth”-Mark Twain.
I posted that response at a time where you could have had someone show you how to use your phone to actually call someone and not text them,and they could have taught you how to make a call,and have you call a rental company to see.When I go on vacations I rent a car all the time.The $200 is useless but it makes them feel better.Rental Co onConcord avae by Walgreens,but they all do ,agoin,if they didn’t,they would have no business.At least we know you dpnt have money but live on plastic as a cash substitute.I spend $5000 per month cash.
Thank you Mr Trump for this good fortune.
Okay James, maybe times have changed since I spent 25 years making travel arrangements full time and occasionally spent a good while little calling every rental company in town attempting to find one who would agree to rent to the v e r y occasional client without a credit card. I think I remember one once who would, but they required a cashier’s check for $3,000.00 to be received 10 days in advance to be held as a deposit. No sweety, I’m won’t be doing that again.😉
Oh James! Hey Mr. Cash Moneybags! Wheredja go?
DeSaulnier probably has a 620 FICO…
So someone who is irresponsible with their finances, racks up CC debt and chooses not to make payments in time, should be rewarded with better housing opportunities?
How is having a low credit score tied to some form of racism, Mr. D?
Please libby, stop with the conspiracy theories about how low credit scores is a form of racism against some minority groups.
Credit scores are a byproduct of your own financial responsibility which is built over a period of time. Make CC payments, pay off your car loans, save up for a home, pay your mortgage and continue to build up your score. That is the way it works, Mr. D.
The real culprits here are those no rate car loan agencies where they prey off people with low income and offer super cheap car loans, then jack up the rates once they drive off the lot.
Or how about your buddy Mr Tom Steyer who cheated people by racking up the interest rates on unsuspecting borrowers?
As long as he can race bait the minorities to believe him he thinks he can get their vote.Do the people he represents realize he is calling then gullible and unintelligent?His proposal insults those he is smooching a$$ on.
This study will illustrate what we already know: A credit score dictates how much money a person can borrow.
The credit score is not the problem. People who loan money to people who shouldn’t have it are not the problem. People who are willing to accept financing they know they can’t cover, are their own problem.
ITS. A. STUDY!!!
Not about the accuracy of credit scores, but about how lenders use the data.
Google redlining.
Walk into a car dealership and see what kind of auto loan you get with your stellar credit score.
Credit scores are designed to reward you for borrowing. A tool for the lending industry.
Credit scores are designed to reward you for borrowing AND repaying the debt. Lending industry is using them as predictors of default. Redlining (denying credit based on race) has been illegal for over 50 years.
Any questions so far?
Lenders are in the business of making money. They are allowed to collect the data about race, ethnicity, and sex of the borrowers. They can include these data together with credit scores, debt-to-income ratios, salary, assets, net worth, years of employment, frequency of job changes, etc. into their predictive models. Furthermore, they validate their predictive models by looking back at actual default rates stratified by any and all of these factors.
If credit scores are poor predictors of default in one of the racial/ethnic groups, and as a result this group is denied loans on which they were extremely unlikely to default, this means that lenders (all of them!) are making much less money than they could, if only they used a better predictive model.
Is that what you (and Mark) are implying?
And the reason for this irrational lending behavior is? A conspiracy to promote racial oppression?
Guess Markie is opening the door even wider for those who do not want to go about renting or buying like the folks who obey the law and over pay as we are over taxed on so many fronts already.
Looks like he is tied to the apron strings of the Libbies, Nanny’s and entitlement crowd and lest I not forget the mom’s group that took over the house in Oakland and then were bailed out, while the whole time breaking the law and getting all the media attention. How possibly can they pay for a home at fair market value when they don’t seem to have jobs and apparently part of the entitlement crowd we are already over paying???? Seems like the rest of us legal tax payers should have our names on the title also??????
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