Finance companies and PMB address changes

Jim & Betty wrote:

kcmoedoe wrote:
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.

So what do you think about Dave Ramsey?

JimR

I have a problem that he calls bankers and loan collectors "scum of the earth". His program makes sense if you cannot handle credit. However, most people can and do use credit wisely. People start and expand businesses, buy homes, cover emergency medical needs, get educations and do countless other things that improve their lives using credit. Credit is a tool, just like a hammer. If you constantly smash your fingers every time you pick up a hammer, maybe you shouldn't use a hammer, but that doesn't mean that properly used a hammer isn't useful.

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.

Not quite. The residential or business street address of next of kin or of another contact
individual can be used.

Taxman2004 wrote:

What we have is a law created for good reason that says everyone must have a physical address when it is just plain not reasonable.

It's probably unconstitutional as well, but I don't have enough $$$ to challenge.

Post 9-11 congress passed the Patriots Act so the authorities could easily find the bad guys. So it is illegal to open any account with any financial institution in the US using a PO box. (either USPS or private). It was too easy for the bad guys to hide if they used a PO box. Later they passed the New Drivers License law so that states had to get proof of a person's residency at that address like a utility bill or rental agreement. Also so that it would be easy to find the bad guys. Apparently no one in congress is smart enough to know about full timers or people that share apartments or houses. States were forced to spend millions of dollars and taxpayers were forced to put up with horrendous lines and multiple trips to the MV office to comply with the new laws. 75 year old women were forced to find decades old marriage or divorce agreements to prove that the name they were using was legal even though social security had already verified all that information. Fast forward to implementation and we have full timers and people who do not have the appropriate utility bills in their name for very legitimate reasons.
The law was put in for very good reasons, but just like many of our laws, they don't work. Option A prevent that class of people from obtaining a drivers license and opening a financial account. Option B, find an alternative like a notarized letter from a real resident that says the person really does live there even if they don't, or a utility bill from a camp site that you will be leaving the next day. Option C repeal the law when it was obvious that it could not work effectively. Congress chose to go with B. After all we will still get all the dumb terrorists that aren't smart enough to figure out one of the loop holes that had to be put in for real folks like us.
I have been threatened with closing a bank account long before 9-11 by B of A because it was a favorite of fraudsters.
I believe a previous poster made an error in claiming that his PMB is his physical address. I believe he is confusing the resolution of the voting rights fiasco which was resolved.
What we have is a law created for good reason that says everyone must have a physical address when it is just plain not reasonable. Why do we have to live with such nonsense. (Last word changed for politeness, not my first choice.)

kcmoedoe wrote:
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.

So what do you think about Dave Ramsey?

JimR

docj wrote:
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.

X2...just bought a new CRV...same thing...

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.

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.

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

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.