5 ms·
No it's not. You can be behind on payments without filing for bankruptcy. You can have a debt sent to collections without filing for bankruptcy. There are all
by Haul4ss 8y ago
No it's not. You can be behind on payments without filing for bankruptcy. You can have a debt sent to collections without filing for bankruptcy.
There are all sorts of cases where a person is not trustworthy with money that do not show up in the public record. That's why credit bureaus came to exist, and although their business practices and data security leave much to be desired, I understand why they exist in the first place.
- spaceribs 8y agoCredit bureaus came to exist because of this murkiness when it comes to contractual obligations. If you provide a grace period around a deadline, it's on you, and not something which should be punished against. If they broke the contract, it's on you to bring them to court. Apparently companies thought it was to expensive to enforce contracts, so they decided to create this extrajudicial system. My point is, if you can't physically pay your debts, you can file for bankruptcy. That is the public record.
- tptacek 8y agoThe average duration of a contested civil court case is on the order of 2-3 years. The courts are not going to resolve even a significant fraction of delinquencies, and are not a real recourse in the main for creditors.
- spaceribs 8y agoI agree! Until that aspect is solved, the standards of when you get reported and for what are entirely private, arbitrary, and have long-lasting effects on your overall wellbeing.
- tptacek 8y agoSo, like, in a parallel universe where we reinvent the civil legal system, you might have a point? But in this universe, you concede that Equifax has a practical purpose?
- spaceribs 8y agoI don't consider arbitrary systems practical. I don't define myself by what Equifax thinks of me, and neither should a bank. Unless a proper, accountable, civil system exists, call it for what it is: Bullshit.
- tptacek 8y agoI guess I can just accept that we're using different definitions of some of these words.
- harryh 8y agoArbitrary again. To quote Inigo Montoya, you keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.