Finance companies and PMB address changes

they probably used your home as part of your net worth, etc. in calculating out the loan. if you no longer own that asset you are a worse credit risk.
bumpy

We did and they didn't say anything. We just did the change of address. We just put # rather than the letters PMB. It's just like an apartment number. Bumpyroad makes a good point.

Honda Financial gave us a new vehicle loan at a great rate a few months ago using our PMB address. So not knowing where the vehicle actually is must not have spooked them.

As a banker, I can tell you it absolutely matters. First, the Patriot act requires that any new account be tied to a physical address, not PO boxes. Second, all financial institutions use internal scoring systems that may be proprietary, but are all based on standard credit scoring algorithms that consider residency type when calculating an aggregate score. A PO box would be just about the lowest scoring option one could choose lowering the overall score. It is only one piece of the much larger puzzle, but it does have a negative effect.

SD is different. I am a verified legal SD resident with a little gold star on my drivers license. It just happens that my physical address happens to be a PMB. The apartment I live in at the 514 Americas Way address just happens to be very, very tiny!

kcmoedoe wrote:
As a banker, I can tell you it absolutely matters. First, the Patriot act requires that any new account be tied to a physical address, not PO boxes. Second, all financial institutions use internal scoring systems that may be proprietary, but are all based on standard credit scoring algorithms that consider residency type when calculating an aggregate score. A PO box would be just about the lowest scoring option one could choose lowering the overall score. It is only one piece of the much larger puzzle, but it does have a negative effect.

What does a financial institution do when a person lives in a town where there is NO mail delivery except to a PO Box? The only "physical" address is maintained by the FD/EMS and is NOT used by anyone else. Funny, but I have a credit score in the top 5% and have recently received several loans(mortgage & vehicle) with ONLY a PO Box address.

Having a PMB in your billing/physical address sets off all kinds of red flags for the banks. We were using PMB in our address and B of A discovered it. They sent us a letter that they were going to cancel our account unless we had a physical address. We were at the bank for about an hour before the wonderful young lady at the bank was able to get the PMB changed to a #. We've had zero issues with anyone since. As previously stated, this is the result of the Patriot act.

We have never used PMB in our address, always the #. We opened our BOA accounts using our Escapee address with the # and never had a problem. Vanguard doesn't have a problem with the # nor does TIAA-CREF. And in Texas our Livingston address is a legal PHYSICAL address.

Barb

I appreciate that fact that a PO box may constitute a legal address, but it will be a detrimental factor when a financial institution considers whether or not to extend credit. There is much more to extending credit than a simple credit score. Lenders take into consideration collateral, income, stability, the purpose of the loan and a multitude of other factors. For example, it does not matter how good your credit score is, if you are trying to borrow an amount you cannot afford to repay, you will be turned down. Today, most lending is done by composite scores generated by the financial institution's own scoring system of which credit score is an element. If the total score is high enough, loan approved, miss the cutoff by a couple of points, no loan. Housing is one of the many factors that go into that scoring. Homeowner, no mortgage, generally gets the most points, homeowner with mortgage a few less, renter a few less than that, border, even less. Every lender's software will quickly recognize that a Private mailbox address is being used, even if it is in Livingston, Texas or Rapid City South Dakota. That will mean your application will score far fewer points than the guy that lives at a real address in those cities. It doesn't mean you will not be approved. You might score plenty of points with your income, your collateral, your personal credit history, etc. But for some people it will make a difference that causes a denial.
By the way, there is no residential property in the United States that does not have a physical address associated with it. That was mandated by federal law multiple years ago. It is a safety issue, first and foremost. Fire and police response is predicated on knowing where a property is located, going to a post office box won't help put out a fire at your house.

Very evident you do NOT live our west where many place do NOT jump when told to do so. We do NOT have an assigned physical address, but if I call EMS and give them a box number, they know exactly where to go.....MANY town in our neck of the woods are exactly the same as RFD addresses are nothing but a box number and widely used.