Is Bad Credit A Deal Breaker?

[Mai Tai]

Just realized I never answered the question. Bad credit ALONE is not a deal breaker but when you pair it with an unwillingness to do anything about it, continued financial irresponsibility, living above one's means, or an overall lack of concern regarding the importance of paying bills on time then nah son. I'm good.

I once met a man who literally said "I didn't pay any of my credit card bills because after 7 years the debt will fall off my credit report anyway." When I told him that while the debt owed to the original creditor may fall off, once they sell that debt to a collection agency, that 7-year drop off time just starts over, and it starts over each time the debt is sold so it will NEVER drop off.

Collection agencies will sell and sell a debt over and over again to the point where you can't even remember who the original creditor is and that 7-year bottle of champaign you were ready to drink in celebration will never get popped. You should have seen his face!!! Like I told him Santa Clause was fake something.

 

[Crackers Phinn]

nope

if your money right i could give a huff about your credit.
cash is king & credit is fixable

a good man with liquid assets can have bad credit.

Fixed that for you. You gotta be careful. Good don't mean what it used to.

 

[MD_Lady]

I've been there... For me, the bigger questions were 1) how did he come to have bad credit and 2) what is he doing (not "planning to do") to improve it. DH faced some financial challenges before our marriage that impacted us for several years, but we had HONEST discussions about this issue BEFORE we got ENGAGED (if he's too sensitive to talk about it, he's too sensitive to THINK about getting married) and he made resolving it HIS (read: he felt improving HIS credit was on HIM, not US) top priority. That's many years in the rearview mirror now and you would never know it had been an issue.

I also feel that having bad credit isn't necessarily a reflection of financial irresponsibility ("good" people can find themselves in "bad" or difficult circumstances). Now, financial irresponsibility gets a "no" from me because that feels more like a person who refuses to learn from their poor choices and insists on making them in the future. We work too hard getting our financial houses in order to get latched onto some dude who refuses to do the same.

 

[TinyBlu]

Something else like missed payments, maxed out cards, etc. is another thing. Those are absolute dealbreakers to me.

This. I would give a pass for student loans.

 

[TinyBlu]

I get what everyone is saying about bad credit not necessarily being synonymous with financial irresponsibility, but that doesn't quite compute with me (unless it's a situation where someone's bad credit equates to a LACK of credit)

...and I am referring to men in their 40's (my age range).

Our group took it a bit further and considered men who have been burnt in divorces, etc, BUT on time payments on student loans doesn't equate to a low credit score. You can make a phone call and defer, re-negotiate, etc (I did it). I was speaking more in terms of delinquencies and high debt-to-income ratio.

In a past life, I dated a "financial advisor" who has a repossession and a bankruptcy on his credit. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN? Did he not take his own advice? Needless to say, that didn't last long... and I think he found another career...

 

[Mai Tai]

I get what everyone is saying about bad credit not necessarily being synonymous with financial irresponsibility, but that doesn't quite compute with me (unless it's a situation where someone's bad credit equates to a LACK of credit)

...and I am referring to men in their 40's (my age range).

Our group took it a bit further and considered men who have been burnt in divorces, etc, BUT on time payments on student loans doesn't equate to a low credit score. You can make a phone call and defer, re-negotiate, etc (I did it). I was speaking more in terms of delinquencies and high debt-to-income ratio.

In a past life, I dated a "financial advisor" who has a repossession and a bankruptcy on his credit. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN? Did he not take his own advice? Needless to say, that didn't last long... and I think he found another career...

I think the older I get the more I realize that "life" happens. Job loss, medical issues, divorce, changing financial priorities, etc. Acute bad credit can happen to the best of us at any age but chronic long-term credit problems/delinquencies and an overall lack of financial responsibility is a huge red flag.

 

[lesedi]

Can't believe how expensive tuition is in the US! Here in the UK we get student loans from the government with minimal interest and legally, any student loan you take out has no impact on your credit score. You only repay it when you make over a certain amount and even then the repayments are relatively low. Also, if you haven't paid it off by a certain age, the loan lapses and you don't have to repay it.

And the cost of tuition is significantly lower in the first place. $180k in INTEREST???!! Unbelievable.

 

[Crackers Phinn]

I get what everyone is saying about bad credit not necessarily being synonymous with financial irresponsibility, but that doesn't quite compute with me (unless it's a situation where someone's bad credit equates to a LACK of credit)

...and I am referring to men in their 40's (my age range).

Our group took it a bit further and considered men who have been burnt in divorces, etc, BUT on time payments on student loans doesn't equate to a low credit score. You can make a phone call and defer, re-negotiate, etc (I did it). I was speaking more in terms of delinquencies and high debt-to-income ratio.

In a past life, I dated a "financial advisor" who has a repossession and a bankruptcy on his credit. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN? Did he not take his own advice? Needless to say, that didn't last long... and I think he found another career...

The 2008 recession (which was really 2006-2011) and the whole housing bubble burst shook a whole lot of credit scores for folks now in their 40's and 50's. I dated a dude who walked away from his house because it was worth less than half the buying price and because of the high amount of defaults his homeowners association fees quadrupled. He eventually got a modification loan but I'm sure his credit score was trash. That was a very common story in LA during that time so I yeezy shrugged it and enjoyed them free dinners and dranks.

 

[Lylddlebit]

I answered this then deleted it because I wanted to word it right. I will just say it: It wasn't a deal breaker for me. I have been dirt poor with excellent credit. DH has been wealthy(grew up in wealth) with horrible credit lol. It worked for us. I am really good at logistical stuff, managing money, paying bills in advance, paying off debt with a attainable goals along the way, living below my means and being very conservative with money. I basically manage money with the mentality I had when I didn't have much of it(I see it as a responsibility) and that does well for raising a credit score. DH is used to wealth. He is used to spending freely not worrying about the fine print because if he needs money he can leverage skills and brand in different business circles to make money both quickly and easily. He didn't care about paying a bill late. He didn't care about utilization percentage because if he needed to pay something off he did it when he was ready. If he needed to buy something he would get it no matter what his credit looked like. The older I get the more I realize how important it is to NOT BE FOOLED BY WHAT IS ON PAPER. No matter if it's finances, "the list",reputation or anything else people present to you. Look at the real life experience. That will tell you what you really need to know. My husband's skill at making money is what my money management skill needed combined to create a better financial situation for both of us. Now I did make sure I never cosigned on anything and had my business matters handled in my name for a while but after I started managing all the accounts it really didn't take long to improve the on paper credit stuff. BTW my husband still doesn't care about credit or his credit score lol, he just makes sure if we need something in the moment no matter if it's cheap or expensive we get it when we need it.