While I’ve heard of people (particularly women) doing a ‘background check’ on a guy they’ve dated, how often do you hear of people checking a person’s credit history? I swear I’ve seen a blurb in the news here or there about the phenomenon, but honestly it kind of creeps me out.
To me, financial matters are private. If you’re willing to share how much money you make/how deep do-do you’re in the the bank, thats one thing, but you shouldn’t be forced to give up that kind of info if you are not comfortable. And further, if you’re just going on a flipping blind date, not a marraige proposal or business venture, what business is it of theirs to know your credit history?
Thank you! I’ve gone on lots of dates, blind dates/internet dates, etc and nobody (that I know) has pulled this stunt. But maybe its because I’m interested in dating people that don’t have trust issues (or gold diggers?)
How are you able to access someone’s credit and financial history without their social security number and date of birth? I’m having a hard enough time trying to get my own credit report, much less someone else’s.
If she’s able to get that information before I even date her, then something is seriously wrong with her.
I’ve seen this happen in movies. I’ve NEVER heard about it happening in real life. Any sort of factual basis at all to this? I’d be extremely surprised.
Do they glue mirrors to their shoes to be able to do this?
There’s a joke about doing this in John Landis’ movie Amazon Women on the Moon (where she not only gets her prospective date’s credit rating, but his dating history, too).
I have to admit I’m not surprised. People are probably Googling prospective dates as well to see what turns up.
If I was going to marry someone I would definately want to know about their financials but for dating? No way.
Most people are careless enough to leave their social security number around some place and you can easily get a date of birth out of someone.
Then again, if whether someone wanted me or not depended on my credit rating, I would rather them just come out and ask. I’ve dates so much that I’m thoroughly sick of all the games.
If someone is gonna dump me 'cause of my credit or if I don’t have washboard abs or if my hair is not cut just so, I’d rather have them do it right away. It sounds rude to ask but in the end it just saves everyone a lot of time
It is reasonable to want to know someone’s financial habits if you are entering a long term, committed relationship.
But to do a surreptitious credit check implies a level of sneaking around (getting the SSN number, etc) that is incredibly creepy. I can’t imagine this not being a deal breaker.
Also, I do not think it is possible through legitimate channels to simply get another person’s credit report as an individual. I think you would have to resort to some sort of fraud. More deal breaker material right there.
I don’t think the motivation is to land a rich guy. I think the motivation is more to weed out guys who have a lot of free time but claim to make good money in something vague like real estate, marketing, start-ups, or investments. I suspect that kind of guy asks out more than his fair share of women. If I were the kind of woman compatible with *genuine *free-range entrepreneurs, I would be very concerned about wasting time with the fraudulent posers.
I agree that there are probably practical, and even legal, barriers to doing this without the person’s consent. Maybe in some circles it’s something people consent to, though. For some people dating turns into “going away for weekends together” fairly quickly. At that point it makes sense to know for real who you’re dealing with, IMHO.
Oh, men do this too. One man I met through an online dating service demanded that I provide him with all kinds of information about my financial status before we went out on a first date.
Wasn’t there a thread (could have been a long, long while back) where someone was dating a woman who pretty much mentioned her bad credit and fraudulent past and asked to borrow money, all on the first date? I balked at the OP at first because I thought it meant someone was doing this before dating someone, but if they sense that maybe this person isn’t being straight with them – that they’re using them for money, or lying about their career (and, likely, living and romantic situation) – and have no mutual friends or Facebook accounts, maybe a credit check isn’t that crazy.
