As someone who is always on the receiving side of this nonsense (I have no credit, never take on any debt and have always paid my bills), I'm completely with yo

As someone who is always on the receiving side of this nonsense (I have no credit, never take on any debt and have always paid my bills), I'm completely with you. if I were* a creditor, I'd find it pretty valuable to know if a prospective lender was a deadbeat. just trying to find a middle ground here. my score is awful because I never borrow any money. i think that should be qualitatively different to a potential creditor than someone who doesn't pay their bills. for some number of years that meant traveling (car rentals, hotels) was a huge effort. getting leases on apartments was easier because of references. a mortgage was possible in the seedy 2000s, but not any longer.