Strongly Worded

Who Ever Said Life Was Fair?

So I attended my second homebuying class yesterday, and was amazed, as always, by the persistence of classroom dynamics. The same people who bitched and moaned in high school about what was or wasn't fair game on exams; who asked picky, self-serving questions; who complained about the uselessness of learning geometry (OK, I'll admit I was among them)--all these people have grown up, and they are populating graduate schools and adult education classes, and, let me tell you, they haven't changed much.

Last night's class was actually pretty lively. First we learned about lead poisoning. Guess what? Adults can get it too. In fact, the presenter told us a sad story about a 29-year-old woman who lost her reproductive capacity because she breathed in lead-infested air during the replacement of the steps in her Victorian home. I squelched my desire to wave my hand in the air and ask about the symptoms of lead poisoning and whether my old-but-newly-painted apartment might pose a threat to my health. See? I squelched.

Some of my other classmates, however, can't do that. They have made some poor or uninformed financial choices in their lives, and are now learning that these choices may limit their ability to Realize the Dream of Homeownership. So they lash out.

The instructor was talking about credit scores, which are determined by a complex formula. The formula incorporates (among other things) one's credit history, the number of credit cards, and the number of times creditors have "pulled" one's score. In essence, whenever you apply for any kind of credit (like a Gap card or a mortgage), the store or bank "pulls" your score to deem you worthy or not. If you're shopping for a mortgage, the different banks will pull your credit to assess how much they'll loan. Bottom line: your credit score will be (very slightly) lower if it's been pulled a whole lot. And yes, that is unfair if you're just a good comparison shopper. Being self-employed is also a big barrier in a number of ways, and yes, that is unfair to self-employed people.

Bummer. But can we just move on?

Of course not. Our self-employed classmate has made maybe 14 comments about how the cruel world is blocking her path to homeownership. Not just because she is self-employed, but because her stellar repayment of student loans will not show up on her credit history since it was repaid so many years ago. She also challenged the instructor about whether she can get a 30-year-mortgage at her age. Wouldn't the banks balk at that, since she'll be retired in 30 years? Won't they? Aren't they all mean? Isn't it all so unfair? Hmm?

In fact, as the instructor calmly explained, banks offer 30-year mortgages to anyone, of any age. This assuaged the rage to some extent. But Ms. Self-Employed, and others, were really aggravated by the credit score thing. They kept raising their hands and asking persnickety questions about their "soft pulls" and "hard pulls", and they asked many, many specific questions that basically boiled down to: "I am being hunted down by creditors, and I have spent way more money than I have, but shouldn't I be able to buy a house anyway? This whole process is so unfair."

Who ever said life was fair?

Posted by Dori at 12:58 PM