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LOAN OFFICERS & GENTLEMEN

Online Racism Could Cost You a Loan

Rude use of social media could soon be factored into one's credit score

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by Dain Fitzgerald

Staff Writer t +

Image: New York Daily News

Could cranking out a racist screed on your laptop just before bed ruin your credit score, making it next to impossible to get a loan? Yes, if certain techno-trends are any indication.

TIME reports on efforts by a number of high-tech startups to help banks determine credit risks based on a history of rude online behavior. A past that includes typing in ALL CAPS out of anger on Facebook, or making racist remarks on Twitter, could be considered an indication of one's poor credit risk. And while any connection between such actions and loan worthiness sounds far-fetched, there appears to be a legitimate link.

"We can correlate almost exactly productivity, their success at work, to positivity on social media pages," says Heidi Golledge, founder of CareerBliss.com, who believes that when it comes to creditworthiness, the same correlations are at play.

Think you'll get around the problem by simply ditching Facebook? Be warned: having a thin to non-existent online presence is being increasingly treated with suspicion by society's all-seeing eye...

Via TIME and Forbes.
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Should bad behavior online factor into one's credit score?

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117 Comments (view in Forum)

  • dances-weebles
    !
    like yours? what's your real name, address and telephone number? what are your childrens' names and where do the attend school/church?

    you'e faked an identity. in fact, you're not even a 'conservative'. you only say that for the sake of argument.

    not only that, but there is no way that you can 'fake' your identity. as soon as you connect to the internet both the state and federal gov'ts know who you are and where. they can also access absolutely everything that you say... didn't you know?
  • NTBFW
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    @dances-weebles and you wonder why I fight so hard to defend the constitution ? Privacy rights are just as important as first or second amendment rights. I don't cherry pick when it comes to the constitution.

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  • NTBFW
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    Just more control. They at working on all the amendments now. I don't support racism but even a racist could have good credit.
  • MadAmerican
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    @harold_lloyd Up yours Harold-I have a job and do not have the hours for research. Keep your assinine comments to yourself when addressing me.
  • harold_lloyd
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    @MadAmerican
    It's tough to address you in any other terms, you seem to have strong opinions based on very little knowledge.

    With your attitude and your ignorance, you must be a teabagger in elected office.

    ...or just a jerk.

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  • Rocker
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    You'd be surprised at the stuff connected with credit scores, and FarceBook, and credit card companies with purchase history.
  • Rocker
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    Personally, I think it is a low point using on-line social networking as a benchmark for being "team players" on the work front. Little ol ladies become raving maniacs where anonymity is concerned.
  • ST_Louie_Sue
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    @KyleMFb The lower a FICO score the higher the interest rates or houses, credit cards and insurance. If you don't pay your bills on time or as agreed with creditors you are a higher risk than someone with an excellent payment history.
  • dances-weebles
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    not according to the studies done by the folks who came up with this. they say that there is a direct correlation between your hatred and how you function in other areas of your life... like paying your bills.
  • dances-weebles
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    @falco_alba btw... it's fine now, but let one hateful comment slip out online and see how long that lasts... and no, it's not really messed up. there is absolutely no such thing as 'anonymity' online.
  • falco_alba
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    @dances-weebles

    I say don't discriminate. Hate people equally and it's not prejudice at all. I was raised to judge based on words and actions, not characteristics. As far as I'm concerned, most people suck. But I have no reason to be pessimistic this weekend.😄

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  • PayThatCEO
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    This has nothing to do with government. It has to do with corporatism. The end of our country as we know it has to do with corporatism.

    Companies are invading our privacy, controlling our personal lives, telling us what we can and cannot do and say, withholding jobs and opportunities based on how we view the world, and will now deny us credit because of our personal opinions.

    Yes, people. Blame government all you want; but the true demise of this nation is business and it's power over the rest of us.
  • Thunderchicken
    !
    "A past that includes typing in ALL CAPS out of anger on Facebook, or making racist remarks on Twitter, could be considered an indication of one's poor credit risk. And while any connection between such actions and loan worthiness sounds far-fetched, there appears to be a legitimate link."

    Ok I can see where this shows impetuousness but to deny a loan over it, that seems unwarranted.
  • Knightkore
    !
    Okay....interesting....look... .if congress can continue getting loans based on their....less than savory business practices and continuing to tank the economy how does what one says or not say on these social nets impact anything? Indeed....this is a violation of privacy on so many levels it isn't even funny....

    How about progressive liberal companies like Facebook and GE that don't pay taxes? This would show an irresponsibilty on major levels that should make the banks deny them loans....
  • BelinKS
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    I get tired of the piling reasons to not give a loan! But social networking is a newer way to gather information about a person. I have a Facebook account I barely ever use and a twitter account I have never used. I never type anything ugly on Facebook and never put photos of myself. The ones that are there were posted by childhood friends, remembering our past. I reject any photo that could hint at impropriety.
  • BelinKS
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    Forgot too add that we are looking for a day house keeper and we are using social media to find or reject any applicant along with a background report including a picture just in case some one is trying to slip by using a false name and social security number.
    I am sick with SLE lupus, so there would be times my 7yr old little girl will be up and about with this person when I am unable to get out of bed. My daughter doesn't need a nanny, she is very smart and knows how to do things for herself. She just has to come to me for permission to go outside to play with her friend. She doesn't have to ask to go in the back yard, it is very secure!
  • lochlomond
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    The first amendment is based upon the words of Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire. He wrote "I may not agree with what you say but I defend to the death your right to say it." Who, pray tell, is going to determine what is racist and what is not? The lyrics of some rap songs might come under this category but can also be considered "art." Are we going to give a pass to African Americans if they post these lyrics but penalize Caucasions who post the same words as racists? Some years ago the courts wrestled with the matter of defining pornography. They were unable to define it as to some an object might be offensive but to others it is art. Certain words and expressions have become part of the vernacular. In other cases it is not what we write or say but how someone else interprets it. Much has been made of the Mark Twain classic, Huckleberry Finn because of the author's use of racist terms. Twain's intent was quite the opposite, to raise social consciousness and to satirize the carpetbaggers and scalawags and other vermin who would exploit the intellectually deficient and the the freedmen for personal gain. It's about context. Huckleberry Finn was not the celebration of childhood as Tom Sawyer was. It was a bitter indictment a societal values or their absence in his time.
  • Hireman
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    Credit scores help determine financial risk for organizations that don't know you. These are not the be-all, end-all for local banks, for to lenders who really don't have interaction with you, they're constantly looking for factors that make you a higher risk. Case-in-point, Facebook/Twitter postings can get you fired or sued. Both of those contribute to inability to pay bills, or delay them. I think it's fine, but prefer to still go to local lenders who know me as (like someone already mentioned here) you can have hacked accounts, false or misleading information about you, etc. on the internet.
  • Clarke12
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    so instead of using hard data like credit score, debt to income, assets, etc., this company is going to use the "feel good" method. good luck with your bottom line.
  • Your_Name_Here
    !
    How about holding credit reporting companies liable for the accuracy of any information they provide? Fine them for providing incorrect information. If they want to include social media information then they should be required to prove beyond any doubt who wrote it. If I am not mistaken, racism is an inalienable right guaranteed by the Constitution.
  • PoliticalSpice
    !
    You are indeed mistaken. The 13, 14 and 15 amendments are all aimmed at barring racism in one form or another. Each contains a clause authorizing congress to pass legislation to further enforce those acts. Congress in the same periods passed section 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1985 of the u.s. code all of which banned racism of various forms...
  • Your_Name_Here
    !
    @PoliticalSpice If I, as a person, refuse to associate with another person because of their race, am I breaking the law? That is my basis for the 'racism is a right' statement. What do you think?
  • PoliticalSpice
    !
    @Your_Name_Here You have a right not to associate as an individual. But under section 1982 as well as the civil rights laws adopted in the sixties you must not discriminated with regard to dale or rental of real or personal property, housing, or public accomodation in businesses. This means that you can not refuse the person you wish not to be associated with the roght to rent from you, eat food in your restaraunt, buy your home, rent a hotel room from you, and you can be required to share facilities with persons you do not wish to associate with, so the right not to associate is limited.

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