What if credit scores did not exist?

As a pick-up from yesterday (click here) regarding why credit scores are so important I thought I would offer another side of credit scores:  What if credit scores did not exist?  Having worked with borrowers for more than a decade I can tell you that a credit score is a real data point that banks and lenders have to know to determine what type of risk a borrower might be.

A credit score is the result of many different factors including the following:

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should

In keeping with my theme from yesterday (click here) I continue today with the question:  “Should renters be able to pay their rent with their credit cards?”  I fully appreciate that on the surface this may seem like a silly question however stop for a moment to consider the implication.  As with anything there may be a group of people who can handle their credit card properly and making a rent payment using their credit card would not cause undue financial strain.  However, I think it is fair to consider that there may be a larger group of people who would experience additional financial strain if they were given the opportunity to pay their rent with their credit card.