4 ms·

if you use cash exclusively, then you have no credit to exploit. equifax knows about me, but no one will give me a loan.

dragonwriter 9y ago
> if you use cash exclusively, then you have no credit to exploit If you have income and have and pay any recurring bills (even utilities, etc.) you have credit to exploit; it may be a fairly weak credit history, but if you have no substantive debt, you probably also then have a good listed debt-to-income and debt-to-asset ratio, which can (potentially more than) offset that sparse history when opening a new line of credit. To be not exploitable you either need to be completely invisible to the system or appear so uncreditworthy that no one relying on the system would loan you money at all. (Of course, personal data leaks from credit tracking DBs can be used for identity fraud for things unrelated to securing credit, too, and being visible but not creditworthy doesn't protect you from that at all.)
- jschwartzi 9y ago
  Can you file for bankruptcy without having any debt to discharge?
- everdrive 9y ago
  >If you have income and have and pay any recurring bills (even utilities, etc.) you have credit to exploit; I was always told this was true, but I waited for years to finally get a credit card or try to apply for a loan. Everyone informed me I had ZERO credit history, despite paying apartment and utility bills for years. I don't have any explanation for why this is true, except that I started my credit from scratch in my late-20s.
- IncRnd 9y ago
  > If you have income and have and pay any recurring bills (even utilities, etc.) you have credit to exploit; None of the three major bureaus track any of this information, so in practical terms they do not factor into a credit history. Income is not collected by itself and placed on a credit report. It's not a weak credit history but non-existent.
nkozyra 9y ago
> equifax knows about me, but no one will give me a loan. reply While that should be the case, unfortunately, that's not true. And it may make you less likely to notice if someone does in your name.

dragonwriter 9y ago

> if you use cash exclusively, then you have no credit to exploit If you have income and have and pay any recurring bills (even utilities, etc.) you have credit to exploit; it may be a fairly weak credit history, but if you have no substantive debt, you probably also then have a good listed debt-to-income and debt-to-asset ratio, which can (potentially more than) offset that sparse history when opening a new line of credit. To be not exploitable you either need to be completely invisible to the system or appear so uncreditworthy that no one relying on the system would loan you money at all. (Of course, personal data leaks from credit tracking DBs can be used for identity fraud for things unrelated to securing credit, too, and being visible but not creditworthy doesn't protect you from that at all.)

jschwartzi 9y ago
Can you file for bankruptcy without having any debt to discharge?
everdrive 9y ago
>If you have income and have and pay any recurring bills (even utilities, etc.) you have credit to exploit; I was always told this was true, but I waited for years to finally get a credit card or try to apply for a loan. Everyone informed me I had ZERO credit history, despite paying apartment and utility bills for years. I don't have any explanation for why this is true, except that I started my credit from scratch in my late-20s.
IncRnd 9y ago
> If you have income and have and pay any recurring bills (even utilities, etc.) you have credit to exploit; None of the three major bureaus track any of this information, so in practical terms they do not factor into a credit history. Income is not collected by itself and placed on a credit report. It's not a weak credit history but non-existent.

nkozyra 9y ago

> equifax knows about me, but no one will give me a loan. reply While that should be the case, unfortunately, that's not true. And it may make you less likely to notice if someone does in your name.