Perms

When running a trailer park, marina, or even a hotel or motel, you have to make a hard choice about letting people become "permanent" residents, or "perms."

In my posting Liveaboards Welcome, I noted that some marinas take on a run-down look when they let too many people live on their boats.  It is an interesting equation, to be sure. If you run a marina or a trailer park, you may charge $50 to $100 a night for someone to park their RV or tie up their boat.  On the other hand, if you let someone stay perpetually, you may only collect $400-$800 a month in docking fees.  Clearly one approach is more profitable than the other.  So why allow liveaboards or perms?

For some marina and park owners, it is a matter of laziness accompanied by circumstance.  If your marina or RV park (or motel) doesn't get a lot of visitors, then having full-time residents may be your only choice.  But many park and marina owners tell me they like the "no hassle" convenience of monthly checks from permanent residents.  Overnight or even weekly visitors are more labor - you have to show them to their slip or site or room, and someone needs to man the desk to check them in.

Others take a hybrid approach - with maybe less than half the sites, slips, or rooms rented to "perms" and the rest to "transients".   The problem with this approach is, of course, that transient visitors (often on vacation) don't want to park next to, tie up next to, or sleep next to, someone whose life has gone so far down the drain they are forced to live on a boat or in an RV or in a motel.  Perms drive away transients, and eventually, you end up with all perms.  Income drops, but occupancy is near 100% so the place gets a lot of wear-and-tear but the management has no money to invest in improvements.  The place starts to fall apart, which in turn makes it even less attractive to transient visitors.

The problem with that model, in addition to the decreased revenue and the circling-the-drain effect is that you may raise the ire of local authorities by turning what is suppose to be a marina or an RV park or a motel, into a half-assed apartment building.  In fact, you may be breaking laws by doing so.

Our own little marina is a case in point.  The previous "owners" (leaseholders) allowed a lot of liveaboards in some pretty sketchy craft.  They were not bad people, these "perms" but the boats looked like holy hell - plastic sheeting stapled over broken windows and obvious holes in the hull just above the waterline.  If there was ever a storm, it would be a real mess.   One slip had an 18' sailboat on it, sans mast or rigging, with a young man living in it.  This is just not right.  And we get traffic up and down the intracoastal - people with big, expensive boats who want to spend the night somewhere nice.

But they bypassed our marina.  You're not about to park a million-dollar yacht next to a guy living in a dingy, or a dingy person with 500 houseplants crowding the dock, along with rusty bicycles.  So we lost that business, under the old management.

Although managers of such places claim that "perms" are less effort, I am not sure this is true.  The nice thing about transient visitors is that they leave.  If you have a "problem" client, well, they are not a problem for long.  On the other hand, if you have a long-term tenant, well, not only will they create problems, but they don't leave - and they may have more rights as tenants than as motel guests.

In our little marina, we had this happen.  Some residents started some shit with other residents - over parking spaces of all things.  Someone got mad and called the authorities and let them know that people were living in their boats, which the marina wasn't licensed for.  So the Department of Environmental Protection is called, and all hell breaks loose.  So much for the easy care-free model of perms.

Speaking of Department of Environmental Protection - if an abandoned boat sinks at the dock, the marina owner may be liable for expensive cleanup and remediation fees.  We know of one little old lady in Ft. Lauderdale who decided to rent out the boat slip behind her house to a local who was "living aboard".  The 45-foot boat sank a the dock and the owner disappeared.  The little old lady was on the hook for $50,000 in cleanup and removal fees.  And no, that wasn't covered by her homeowner's insurance, either!

Well, as you have noticed, if you followed this blog, our little island is being gentrified.  As little as two years ago, you could buy a house on our island for about $400,000 or so.  Today, a similar house is selling for $600,000 to $700,000 and up.  The marina now has dozens of brand-new condos for $500,000 apiece, all of which sold out almost immediately.  And we have a new marina manager (lessee) and the "perm" model was tossed in the trash.

The 18-foot sailboat is gone, as is the leaking old wooden Chris-Craft.  In their place are yachts that you might see in Ft. Lauderdale during yacht week.  And the docking rates have gone up accordingly.  We can no longer afford to keep a boat there - not that we could afford it when we did.  Things change, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.  But quite frankly, the "perm" model of the marina was simply not sustainable nor economically logical.

But there is another aspect of "Perms" that I didn't address before.  And that is the tendency of people who live at a motel, marina, or RV park to take on the attitude that they own the place - and it is their responsibility to police others, particularly the transient visitors.  They tend to view transients with suspicion - which is odd, because the kinds of people who live in RVs full-time or in clapped-out boats or run-down motel rooms are usually the ones to be suspicious of.  So your visitors get the cold shoulder if they are not, in fact, treated badly by the "perms" and this in turn drives away your transient traffic.

There is also the problem of work-campers.   Some RV parks, marinas, and even motels, will offer reduced rates or even a free place to stay, if someone agrees to clean the restrooms or perform other maintenance chores - sort of like being a building superintendent back in the day.  The park or marina owner argues that this is "free labor" paid under-the-table and makes the whole place run on auto-pilot.

But it isn't that easy.  To begin with, it is illegal to pay people under the table, whether with cash or goods in kind, in this case, a free place to stay.  All it takes is one disgruntled former tenant to call the department of labor and you are facing an investigation and possible fines.  This actually happened on our island golf course.  The island relied on "volunteers" to do various chores and in return got free rounds of golf or other amenities.  Someone got pissed off and called the Department of Labor and... well, today the "volunteers" are paid employees, albeit at minimum wage.  When you try to do an end-run on the tax man, you end up with a big target on your back, with anyone you rent to being able to pull the trigger.

So why would someone blow you into Johnny Law?  Well, that is the other problem.  If you tell Clem he can stay for free if he cleans the bathrooms, he will do the minimum amount of work necessary and even complain about that.  Since he is not an employee, you can't fire him.  And if you complain about his shoddy cleaning work, well, that's when he gets pissed-off and gets even with you.  One phone call is all it takes.  Pretty stupid way to run a trailer park - hoping no one ever gets mad at you.

Of course, there is an end-game to all of this. As I noted in an earlier posting, such run-down RV parks or marinas end up being sold by the owners to some more aggressive person who evicts all the old tenants, raises the nightly rate, and tries to attract a more upscale crowd.  The old-timers never see it coming of course, even as the story is repeated time and time again, across America.  You feel sorry for them, but it is like student loan debt - how could anyone going to college in the last decade not be aware of this trap?  It's not like the media has ignored it - every day for the last decade, we've had student loan sob stories on the television.  Guess the kids don't watch television.  Good for them - but then they should be smart enough not to borrow 50 grand for a philosophy degree.

Ditto for people who crash-land in trailer parks.  Sure, the lot rent is cheap - but you can't expect that to go on forever, particularly as land values around you skyrocket.  But we've seen it time and again - people protesting increases in lot rent, when they should have been looking to move on, ages ago.  And no, there is no law in place saying you can live wherever you want to at whatever price you want to pay.  Some people think there should be such a law.

There is one more thing about "perms" to address and that is abandoned RVs and boats.  It sounds odd, but in every marina we've been to, every RV park (that allows perms) we've been to, there have been abandoned boats and RVs.  In many cases, the owners are paying monthly lot rents or storage fees, often for years or even decades.  They started out going to the marina every weekend in the summer.  Then ever other weekend.  Then once a month.  Then they stopped coming.  That was five years ago.  It is like people who pay monthly fees for storage lockers for years and years - to store things that are hardly worth one month's locker rent!

Now the boat is half-sunk at the dock and covered with mildew and algae - and a coral reef is growing off the bottom.  RVs fare no better, turning molding and green with algae, surrounded and covered with dead leaves and maybe a dead golf cart.  Some marinas and RV parks will pull such units and put them in storage, particularly after the owner stops paying the lot rent or docking fees.  Problem is, the marina or RV park owner can't take possession of an abandoned boat or RV without going through a lot of hassles to obtain title - by attaching a lien for the overdue dock or lot fees.  It would cost more in legal fees than the decrepit boat or RV is worth. As a result, the back lot of such places fills up with broken-down old boats and trailers.  And you wonder where those came from, didn't you?  And you wondered why they don't get rid of them.  They can't - not easily.  In a worst-case scenario, the park or marina owner sells off a derelict boat or RV only to be sued by the owner, who, of course, will claim in court that the vehicle was not derelict but in fact in good shape!  You can't win at that game, your only choice is not to play.  But such scenarios illustrate why astute marina operators and park owners have detailed contacts in place, which assign ownership of the vehicle to the park or marina owner, if fees fall into arrears.  Most of these run-down RV parks and marinas have no such agreements - everything is on a handshake.

The presence of abandoned boats or RVs deters the vacationer from staying.  Moreover, it takes up valuable spaces that could be rented out at a decent profit.  For example, one RV park we know of has perhaps 80% "Perms" but of those, perhaps only half use their rigs regularly.  Some have not used their RVs literally in years.  Sure, they pay $350 a month for lot rent, but that space, rented out for one weekend would yield them nearly $200.  But the owners of the park are turning away visitors because they have no space.  It is simply leaving money on the table.

Crazier still, we tried to check into one park and they told us they were "full."   I noticed more than a dozen empty spots and the manager said, "Well, we have 'regulars' that like to come for the weekend, so I set aside spaces for them!"  These were not people who had firm reservations, just folks that might show up.  An interesting gambit, but suppose those regulars don't come?  And in fact, not all of them do, and as a result, they have empty spaces every weekend when they could have hundreds if not thousands more in the till.  Some people are just not cut out to run a business.

The problem is even more acute in gay campgrounds.  Many were started by one person or a couple, who either inherited their parents' farm, or bought an old Christian revival camp (irony alert) and never thought about the end game.  They get old and infirm, which is one reason they choose these "easy ways out" to run the place on auto-pilot and let it run down.  As I noted before, we went on a tour of 11 gay campgrounds last summer - eight were for sale with no takers.  No one is paying a million bucks for what is, in local terms, about $250,000 worth of land.  The "improvements" in terms of shower house and game room or whatever, really have a negative value.  We like to play a game at such places, called "how many dumpsters?" - as in "how many dumpsters would it take to clean this place out of all the junk laying around?"  Usually we lose count after 50.

Camping went nuts in the last two years, due to the pandemic.  People wanted to get out of the city and away from other people. RV sales skyrocketed and campgrounds and State Parks were full to capacity.  But I wonder for how long.  Once the cruise lines are back in operation and the airlines are going full-tilt, perhaps the glamour (such as it is) of RVing will wear off.

Of course, with a whole generation of people retiring with no savings.... maybe the "Perms" will fill up these places!

MTG to Marry AOC in Lesbian Ceremony!

Politics makes for strange bedfellows!

(Washington DC) - Radical representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Marjorie Taylor Greene have announced their intentions to get married in a Lesbian wedding ceremony.  The unlikely match seemed bizarre to some, but as Ms. MTG explained it, "I thought we had nothing in common, until I realized we both wanted to destroy the United States of America!"

"For sure!" Ms. AOC chimed in, "I thought we were politcal adversaries, until I realized we both wanted to overthrow the existing power structure and replace it with a dictatorship!"

"We have so much in common," Ms. MTG explained, "I want to ban books and tell people what they can't read..."

"...and I want to tell people what they have to read!" Ms. AOC added, completing her love partner's sentence.  Both women giggled at that intimate moment and squeezed each others' hands.

The two women said they have so much else in common.  "We both pine for impossible and impractical solutions to trivial problems - or problems that only exist in our minds!" Ms. Ocasio-Cortez noted.  "Yea, for sure," Ms. Green interjected, "Abolishing student loan debt makes about as much sense as banning Critical Race Theory - it is just grandstanding to get attention!  Once we realized that neither of us had any commitment to anything other than accumulating and wielding power, our differences seemed pretty trivial!"

When asked when they realized they had romantic feelings for one another, Ms. AOC stated, "Well, I've always enjoyed saying outrageous things to get attention.  At first, Margie was annoying to me, as she was hogging all my limelight.  But I admire women who aren't afraid to wield power and speak their mind.  Our eyes met across the floor of the House, and, well, it was Kismet!"

"Kismet?  That's not a Jewish thing, is it?" Ms. Green asked.  Alexandria shook her head no.

Nuptials are planned for this June, in a private ceremony with friends and political supporters.

Such marriages between political opposites are not unknown in Washington. Most famously, James Carville, a Democratic political operative, as been married for decades to Republican consultant Mary Matalin, with no apparent repercussions.  "You can make it work, if you put your mind to it," Mr. Carville noted, when contacted for comment.  "You just have to leave the politics at the bedroom door and realize the real enemy isn't the opposing party, but the American people themselves.  The name of the game is to bamboozle and distract - both parties have that in common.  In fact, they pretty much are indistinguishable from one another, if you think about it."

When the newly engaged couple was asked who was the "butch" in their relationship, both Ms/ Green and Ms.Ocasio-Cortez simultaneously replied, "She is!"

P.S. - I hear the wedding reception will also be very simple. They'll be serving just gazpacho.

Civil War - Anything But Civil!

People today actually pine for civil war without knowing what it really means.

When I was a kid growing up in the North, we had this sanitized view of the Civil War.  It was "Johnny Reb" fighting the Yankee Blues and we knew which was the more interesting character.  It is like the Nazis - they had much snazzier uniforms, backstory, and symbolism.   Perhaps that is why both Confederate battle flags and Nazi swastikas are still so popular today - it is a style thing.

Of course, we were taught the South was wrong and slavery was bad.  But even back then, the teachers waffled about how the war wasn't just about slavery. Something, something, State's rights.   But as we know now, that was just apoligism for the South, perhaps as an attempt to heal.  A lot of bad was swept under the rug as a result.

And of course, in the South, the "War Among the States" or the "War of Northern Aggression" wasn't really ever lost.  "The South shall rise again!" they said, and in a way it has - as a low-cost, non-union far-right haven in many instances - although that appearance can be deceiving.

As I noted before, we were in Maine last summer and some local was trying to egg me on. "So you're from Georgia?" he said, "All I hear about Georgia is the KKK and rednecks!"

"Really?" I replied.  "Funny thing, but which State gave all its electoral votes to Joe Biden? Was it (a) Georgia, or (b) Maine?  And which State gave the Democrats the majority in the Senate?  Was it (a) Georgia, or (b) Maine?  Times up!  The answer to both as (a).  You lose!"

Because, you see, Maine is chock full of rednecks too - as is Pennsylvania, rural New York, and just about every State in the Union - whether "Red" or "Blue".  Maine is famous for its "rugged independent" Senator, Susan Collins, who claims to be an individualist who doesn't march in lock-step with Donald Trump except that she does and has a spine of wet spaghetti.   Maine also had a famous governor who was just slightly racist (thanks to perpetual three-way governor's races - something blocked with ranked choice voting in that State - progress is possible, even in Maine!).

So the idea that "The South" is one cohesive mass of like-thinking right-wing Republicans, and that "The North" is one mass of left-leaning Democrats, is flawed.  Even California - particularly California - has a lot of right-leaning folks, particularly up North and outside of the cities.  Remember it was California who elected Ronald Reagan governor and Arnold Schwarzenegger as well (although both would be considered "RINOs" in today's political spectrum).  We are no longer divided, State by State, but divided nevertheless.

The romanticizing of the Civil War was perhaps inevitable.  The song above - "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" was first recorded by The Band and written by a Canadian.  It was made famous by left-leaning Joan Baez.  Why would liberals feel sorry for people who fought for slavery?   I guess it is the natural tendency to feel sorry for the vanquished, although I don't recall much sympathy for defeated Nazis after World War II.  Of course by then, everyone was a "civilian" or was "just following orders."   I guess we do feel sorry for people who were lead astray by opportunistic political leaders.

But the reality of civil war - any civil war - is brutal. It is literally neighbor killing neighbor.  Most civil wars don't have clean State boundaries as ours did in 1860.  And if a civil war broke out again in the USA, it wouldn't have such neat boundaries, either.   You might wake up one morning to a knock on the door and a gunshot to the head.  That's how civil wars are fought.

And even our Civil War was fought that way, in part. In addition to orderly lines of uniformed troops shooting at each other with minnie-balls, we had "Bloody Kansas" where neighbor slaughtered neighbor, or the Confederate "raiders" in West Virginia who slaughtered entire towns.  Not the sort of tidy stuff that "re-enactors" (who are creepy as fuck) engage in.

Of course, many say the talk of civil war in the United States is "over the top" rhetoric.  I am not so sure.  We are the most heavily armed country on the planet, not only in terms of our military, but in terms of our citizenry.   On the way to a campground the other day, we saw signs in Florida advertising a machine-gun range.  "Fun for the whole family!" it cried, and only $24.99!  You can let your 9-year-old daughter shoot off an Uzi - and the instructor's head off as well.  Family fun.

The point is, we have a disorganized army of people who have massive amounts of firearms and massive amounts of ammunition.  And they have been training - at the gun range or at "retreats" offered by right-wing organizations.  While they are not organized into one cohesive unit yet they are being constantly fed a stream of visceral hatred of their fellow citizens, who are viewed as less than human and worthy only of extinction. Same shit as the Nazi's in 1936.

But what about our military?  Surely the US military with all its tanks and planes and nuclear missiles can out-fight a rag-tag collection of rednecks with knock-off AR-15s?  Right?  Well, the problem is, the military has been infiltrated with a the same sort of people.  Or more precisely, the military is a reflection of the population of the country - particularly among the poor, who often join because they lack any other economic alternative.  So the frightening scenario is, if we have another insurrection, a substantial portion of the military might go along with it.  One of the loudest voices for insurrection is "General" Flynn, who is still agitating to overturn the 2020 election.

So what are we doing in response?  We have investigations with no consequences.  The capital rioters get sentences measured in months, often no more than "time served".  Meanwhile, two women caught attempting to vote illegally are sentenced to years in jail - for trying to vote Democratic.  Down in the Villages, a number of people are caught actually voting twice and are given a slap on the wrist.

Does it take a mind reader or a crystal ball to see how this is going to play out in 2022 or more importantly, 2024?  If Trump is still alive in 2024, he will run, and win or lose, it will get ugly - uglier if he loses, because of course, he never lost in 2020, right?  The next time around, the insurrection will not be half-assed.

The January 6th committee and the various investigations by AGs and Grand Juries are like the Ghislaine Maxwell case - even after conviction, none of the men who actually had sex with underage girls have been named or charged.  It's like Ms. Maxwell doesn't know their names.  It's not like the victims don't know their names. But for some reason, these folks are not named-and-shamed, most likely because they are wealthy and powerful people.  That sort of shit feeds these crazy Qanonsense theories.  I mean, come on, a pedophile ring operated out of a pizza shop by Hillary - that's just too fantastic.  On the other hand, a guy who flies royalty and Presidents to a private island to fuck 17-year-old girls.... that actually happened.  And it was nearly swept under the rug, too.

It seems like we are on a runaway train - a slow-moving one, but one nevertheless.   Democrats are like deer in the headlights, assuming that people will vote and be allowed to vote and that the electoral college will mysteriously evaporate by 2024.   People will "come to their senses" after they barrage them with attack ads (which have been shown to be effective only against Democrats) and by the way, Bob, will you please send me some more money?  Nancy Pelosi promises that if the Democrats win in 2022, she will abolish insider trading for Congress!   Of course, she realizes that it is likely they will lose the Senate and/or the House in 2022, so it is an easy promise to make.

It is the same scenario we saw coming down in Germany between the wars.  The Wiemar Republic was a weak government, and was unloved by almost everybody in one form or another.  The far-left Communists wanted it gone, as did the far-right Fascists.  One got their wish.

Today we see the same thing happening - Ms. AOC tweets daily about how Joe Biden can legally abolish student loan debt and then threatens him with losing re-election if he doesn't comply with her demands. She would rather see the USA destroyed than saved - if it means she doesn't get her say.

Sadly, this is the feeling of most people these days, it seems.  No one is gung-ho about America or our government anymore.  Republican or Democrat, the feeling is the same - the government is corrupt and vile and nothing short of revolution will fix things.

Problem is, historically, people end up losing everything including their lives, in revolutions. And usually it is the revolutionaries who end up going to the guillotine or lined up against the wall.

I would say that people should be careful what they wish for, but I'm afraid it's too late for that.

And sadly, moving to Canada doesn't seem like a viable alternative, either!

PayPal Credit? No Thanks!

PayPal really sucks.  And it doesn't surprise me Elon Musk was involved in it.

Recently, I tried to "steal the cheese" as one reader encouraged me to do.  Mark wanted to paint our dining room chairs, as a neighbor of ours had done.  They are old, solid oak school chairs, but kind of dingy.  They would be fun with a nice coat of paint on them, so we thought why not try this heirloom "all-in-one" paint kit.  They sell a "free" sample with a coupon code and you can buy a "kit" for $40.  I bought one of each, and the "kit" was only $20 by signing up for a  PayPal credit account ($20 bonus).  I figured I would just cancel the card later one, which I did - or tried to do.

I wrote about PayPal before and how they were kind of shady.  They still are - the latest thing is pushing Bitcoin, which an astute reader notes really isn't Bitcoin but... whatever. I'm not biting on that piece of turd.   You can just tell that all this crapola is a scam - Bitcoin, Crypto, Stonks, NFTs - whatever.  It is just kids playing with money and adults taking it from them.  There are a lot of stupid gullible people in the world.  A simple trip to Vegas will illustrate that for you, if you are observant.  Of course, today, gullibility is the new norm.  Look at all these idiotic protesters (of every stripe) or anti-vaxxers and flat earth people.  You just know they are all broke and heavily in debt - that is why they are so angry all the time.  Life is just not working out for them the way they thought it would be.

Act rationally in an irrational world.  If you do that, you'll easily end up well-off and comfortable.  But if you pine for a Bernie Presidency (or a Trump redux) and refuse to do anything in your own best interests until the revolution comes, well, you'll end up sad and broke.  You'd be surprised how many pick the latter option.  And by that, I don't mean poor people living in the ghetto, but educated young white kids from affluent middle-class families who threw it all away in a fit of pique.  It is an old game, too - my siblings all fell for that stupid "anti-materialism" trap as well. 

But I digress.

The upshot was that PayPal gave me my twenty bucks (where's my money, bitch?) and I thought I would close the account as I don't like having a lot of "dormant" credit accounts laying about.  Closing the account was about medium hard, I would say - they force you to "chat" with a retention specialist.

After the chat, they asked me to take a survey, which I did, giving them all 5's except for the ultimate question - the "net promoter score" - which is the whole enchilada.  I gave them a 1 and the survey HTML bombed out and gave an error message.  I guess that is one way to improve your net promoter score!

Not also how the "chat" bot said they could help me with my Amazon credit account - which I don't have.  Silly chat bot!  I guess "Synchrony" financial handles both PayPal and Amazon credit as well.

PayPal just comes across like a carnival barker, and because of that, I don't trust them.  Then again, the major banks are playing this game as well.  I guess this is the new way - everyone scamming everyone else - the scam economy.

Of course, I am waiting for the other shoe to drop - they probably want their 20 bucks back!

Hi there, I’m Sydney! I can help you with questions on the topics below, or you can ask me a question!

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Hi , Thank you for contacting Synchrony regarding your Amazon.com store card. My name is Kat and I am a live representative.

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How are you doing today Robert?

I would like to close my paypal credit account.

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I am sorry to know you wish to close the account. I will help you with it.

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May I know the reason for the closure and if I could help you with it?

I don't use it. Too many open accounts.

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"Please be aware once any [PayPal Credit] account is closed it cannot be reopened. If there is a balance on the account, payments are still required. In addition, any rewards will be forfeited immediately".<br />"Robert bell would you like to keep your [PayPal Credit] account open?"

No. Please close the account

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Thank you for the authorization Robert. I have gone ahead and closed the account. Thank you for being our valuable customer, We wish to have you with us again in future.

Why Credit Scores are Stupid...

Pay off all your debts and live debt-free and they punish you!

At a reader's suggestion, I used annualcreditreport.com to space out my three credit reports over the year.  I have "locked"  my credit on all three reporting agencies, so there is little risk of being hacked or whatever.  But it is an interesting exercise to look at credit reports and of course, it is good blog meat.

I tried to log onto annualcreditreport.com to check my Experion report, but Experion gives this odd message that "something" prevents them from showing my report.  At the same time, I get an e-mail from Experion telling me my report and score is ready - just log in!  I set up an account with them during a security breach years ago, and still have it.  Yes, it is handy as you can lock and unlock your report with the click of a mouse.  But like CreditKarma(whore) they try to sell you credit cards and car loans and whatnot.  Turns out the credit score is a good selling gambit.

Anyway, our scores went down a bit - at one time we had "perfect" credit scores, but since we paid off all our debts, our scores actually dropped.  Here is Mark's score report - a "777" score - note the explanation at the bottom as to why our score isn't higher:

FICO® Score 8

Experian data 2/7/2022

Your score is above the average of U.S. consumers and demonstrates to lenders that you are a very dependable borrower.

What's helping

No missed payments

• You have no missed payments on your credit accounts.
Number of your accounts with a missed payment or derogatory indicator: 0 accounts
About 98% of FICO High Achievers have no missed payments at all. But of those who do, the missed payment happened nearly 4 years ago, on average.
• The FICO® Score evaluates if there are any missed payments being reported. Staying current and paying bills on time demonstrate lower credit risk.

Recent credit card usage

• You've shown recent use of credit cards and/or bank-issued open-ended accounts.
• FICO® Scores evaluate the mix of credit cards, installment loans and mortgages. People who demonstrate recent and responsible use of credit cards and/or bank-issued open-ended accounts are generally considered less risky to lenders.

Not seeking credit

• You're not actively looking for credit.
Your applications for credit in the past year: 0 inquiries
About 70% of FICO High Achievers did not apply for credit in the past year.
• Each time a person applies for credit, a credit inquiry is usually added to your credit report. Your credit report shows relatively few or no recent credit inquiries, which indicates that you are not actively looking for credit. People who are actively seeking credit pose more of a risk to lenders than those who are not.

No collection or public record

• You have no public records or collections on your credit report.
Number of public records on your credit report: 0 public records
Virtually no FICO High Achievers have a public record or collection listed on their credit report.
Number of collections on your credit report: 0 collections
Virtually no FICO High Achievers have a public record or collection listed on their credit report.
• Lenders would consider the fact that you have no public records or collections on your credit report as positive. The presence of a public record (such as a bankruptcy) or collection is a powerful predictor of future payment risk - people with these items on their credit report are much more likely to miss future payments than those without them.

What's hurting

No loan activity

• You have a lack of recent activity from a non-mortgage installment loan.
• Your credit report shows a $0 balance on your non-mortgage loans (such as auto or student loans) or a lack of sufficient recent information about your loans. Having a non-mortgage installment loan with no missed payments and a low balance along with other types of credit demonstrates that a person is able to manage a variety of credit types. Having a 0% installment loan balance to loan amount ratio is considered slightly more risky than having a low installment loan ratio.

So you see the problem - we are no fun at all!  We are not playing the game!  We are not giving a sizable chunk of our wealth every month to a bank - no mortgage!  No car loan!  No debt!  What's the point of that?  The credit agencies are in bed with the lenders, and they ding us for not borrowing.  It is like people who go to a casino, eat the free shrimp and then don't gamble!

People like that cause unrest.  Worse yet, they may give the other sheep ideas.  Ideas like living in perpetual debt is not normal or desirable...