I love the google ads for this thread. :rolleyes:
Yeah, the only way that would work in a commercial is if they show him spending the time to FIX his credit score so he can get a decent car. THAT’s the only value of knowing your score. Understanding your credit score and how it affects you, though, is something an amazing number of people are never taught.
It was ordered by the govenrment, I think, so easy mistake to make.
Have you signed up at that site (www.annualcreditreport.com)? Any problems of any kind?
I’ve used them to pull my credit reports for a couple years. I haven’t run into any issues.
I’ve used it several times. I pull my report three times a year, each time from a different agency, so I should catch anything untoward within four months.
You have to put in your state, then it pulls up the three credit reporting agencies, and you pick one. I believe then, you are directed to that reporting agency’s site, where you can view your report once you give them the proper identifying information.
You don’t really “sign up” for anything.
Thanks!
Yeah, what **ivylass ** said, Revtim.
I’m getting “Undo Circumcision Damage!”… 
Except that it’s illegal. Now, asking them to order one of their own so you can check it is an idea.
Any idea why that’s a law? If there is a relationship more fiduciary in nature than life-partnering, I can’t imagine what it would be.
Well, they were all ads for credit check companies. ( :rolleyes: at the advertisers.)
As to the OP – I get a giggle out of the two commercials I have seen for this. I haven’t seen the one where he’s living in a basement, though. As to the whole working in a restaurant thing – I guess I have a different take on it. I always assumed the point was that he had to take a second job to fix his credit score after being a victim to identity theft. No one wants a second job, and his is pretty humiliating to boot – having to dress like a pirate and sing like a butt-pirate. Meh. YMMV.
As for the one with the car, again, it makes me giggle. I know a lot of (supposedly) adult men and women for whom the car one drives makes a difference in his/her date-ability. This is the South, where when you say “hey, do you know John Smith?” the response is almost always, “maybe, what kind of care does he drive?” No joke, I am probably the only person I know who can’t tell you what kinds of cars my friends drive – let alone details like the year, the engine size and the brand of tires. If my daughter were to be abducted by her current not-boyfriend, I would be telling the cops “he drives a retarded police car – you know, it’s all black with white doors.”
As for asking your SO for a credit report – well, yes and no. The guy I was married to for three whole months lasted such a short time because I found out (2 days after we got married) that he was committing check fraud/forgery – his credit was awesome, but he fucked the shit out of his employer’s credit. My husband’s credit was pretty shitty when we got together, but then again so was mine. We’re both working toward fixing it. I kind of figure if you’re going to have any joint checking/savings/finances, then you need to know what your SO is like financially, but a credit score isn’t always indicative of that.
If you wanted to do that, you’d have to check their credit before you got married (it’s much harder to back out afterward if you find a deal-breaker). Before you get married (or, for the sake of this argument, form some sort of civil union or domestic partnership), you have no relationship with that person that the law recognizes. AFAIK, being engaged to someone carries no legal weight these days, and being someone’s boyfriend or girlfriend certainly doesn’t.
If you were allowed to check their credit report before making your relationship legally binding, that would allow you to legally check anyone’s credit report at any time for any reason. Surely you can see why that wouldn’t be a good thing.
I suppose so. Therefore, the operative strategy is simply to ask the person to see his/her credit report. If they balk, that itself is all you need to know.
Maybe I’m missing something, but we run credit reports all the time…we have a rental property, and part of the application fee goes to run a background check and a credit check on the prospective tenant.
Now, if you’re talking about snooping through someone’s wallet to get their SSN to run a credit check without their knowledge, I see your point.
Yes, I was talking about an individual doing a credit check on a potential significant other without their permission or knowledge.
I haven’t seen these for some reason, and count myself lucky. It’s wrong for all the reasons you say.
I DO encourage people to go to the legitimate site, annualcreditreport, and get their credit checked. You can actually do it every four months by going to the different reporting agencies at different times.
You have a potential financial relationship and their permission. When you order a CR you have to sign forms or click your way through legal boilerplate that sez you have those.
In theory, if you just ran one on your friend, co-worker, etc, that’d be a crime.
Knowing your credit does not change your credit…
IS WHAT I YELL DRUNKENLY AT THE TV WHEN I SEE THESES COMMERCIALS!!!
I’m usually drunk, thanks to MY CREDIT!! 
(actually, good credit is all I have)
>>Hijack<<
Having read the link posted by Anne Neville I have to ask.
How on earth does anyone get to owe the tax guys 1000s of $$s?
I know that in the US you don’t have PAYE (Pay-as-you-earn) and that you have to file tax returns annually but surely if you didn’t file the tax guys would be on your arse pretty quick.
Apologies for hijack