Bed Bugs?

Creditworthiness is an odd game, anyway.

While my overall score isn't perfect, my credit with American Honda Finance is. I've financed 4 cars through them since 2004 (OK - really 3, but this last one I bought out the lease, so I technically did a new loan), and I've pretty much been told that, since my payment history with them is spotless, they're more than happy to give me premier financing any day of the week.

That's the biggest thing that needs to become a factor - when it comes to the "important" things, like transportation and living arrangements, we're always on time and in full. I'm of the mindset that those things need taken care of (house payment first, obviously) before anything else. I think that should carry more weight than something like retail (which I think is important, and I do pay 100% on time, too - don't get me wrong, but if it came down to it, those would be less important than house/car). To me, that feels like something a responsible adult would do.

So what we're getting at here is that bed bugs are being discriminated against and can't get insurance or a job at a nice, upscale hotel, all because of their credit rating? I am absolutely incensed!

;) Carry on.

Jeff said:
But at the same time I knew the risks around buying a house, however remote, so it's on me.

I get the idea of trying to draw the parallel of losing based on a greater stupidity, but I'm not really sure that's the same or even a related reply to the discussion of the concept that having bad credit or being black or whatever could correlate to higher risk for auto insurers - and more specifically how valid that line of thinking is within the industry and to where the line should be drawn before you're stretching the idea of mitigating risk too far into an area where it barely applies.

A little too apples-and-oranges for me.

But yeah, it sucks that your house investment lost value.

I have to take exception to the idea that people are (more or less) in control of their credit. We can make good choices: financially, career-wise, health-wise, whatever. But ultimately the world is an uncontrollable place. Hurricanes (metaphorically, and literally) plow through peoples' lives. Events that are beyond individual control routinely play havoc with livelihoods, marriages, whole communities. Spouses get cancer, saddling their husbands or wives with single parenthood and mountains of unpayable medical bills. Bankruptcies happen to the wisest of savers. Even CEOs lose jobs, and sometimes don't find new ones. Sh*t happens.

It's idiotic, and cruel, and immoral, to rely on credit reports to determine if someone is fit for any job that doesn't include managing money.

Lord Gonchar said:
Well, you skipped a step and moved on to where I was potentially heading. :)

I'm so proud of myself right bow. I out Gonched Gonch.

Every year it's something new that the media blows out of proportion. The media does not care about positive news...negative news sells and they jam it down our throats until we are a nervous wreck. I hardly watch the news anymore because of this. This year it's bed bugs, last year it was H1 flu, before that it was bird flu, before that it was mosquitos, before that it was SARS. I'm not taking these conditions lightly, but the media acts like 90% of the population is going to get these conditions, when in reality the percentages are very, very low, and probably would not have even been mentioned in the media 20 years ago (for example).

Screw bedbugs, this year's fear is the (relatively harmless, but annoying) stinkbug.

I hate those things. They're ugly, and they smell terrible.

Stink bugs are so last year. I'm pretty sure this year's irrational sensation will be how much radiation is in rain.

I'm looking forward to getting a raintan!

+1