CREDIT

What This Book Covers

1. Chapter One - Before the Score
2. Chapter Two - The Rise of the Bureaus
3. Chapter Three - You Are Being Watched
4. Chapter Four - FICO and the Black Box
5. Chapter Five - Credit Apartheid
6. Chapter Six - Housing and Survival
7. Chapter Seven - Errors, Hacks, and No Accountability
8. Chapter Eight - Punishment by Design
9. Chapter Nine - You Can’t Opt Out
10. Chapter Ten - The Rent Trap
11. Chapter Eleven - Buy Now, Pay Later
12. Chapter Twelve - The Credit Industrial Complex
13. Chapter Thirteen - Who Scores the Scorers?

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE Before the Score THERE WAS A time when credit didn’t come from a database. It came from a handshake. You didn’t need a number to borrow money. You needed a name and a reputation. You walked into the bank, looked the lender in the eye, and made your case. Maybe they knew your family. Maybe they knew your business. Maybe they just had a gut feeling. But it was human. Messy, subjective, and personal. In some ways, it was better. In others, it was worse. Because the truth is, personal credit only worked for people who looked like the lender. White men lending to other white men. A small-town power loop of trust and familiarity. If you were an outsider, which meant Black, immigrant,...