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xoatoday at 11:09 AM0 repliesview on HN

>Social credit? Or money credit?

Neither. Above poster is wrong. You don't require anything to own a house or car in the US except your own cash/equiv. If you wish to borrow other people's money or property (in some cases at all when counterparty risk is high enough or buyers competitive enough, in most cases it's more a matter of interest rate), a sufficient credit score is the most standard and easy way to "make the case" that you will repay. But that's truly not at all required. I bought my current truck for $8100 cash on the table, I just showed up at the other guy's place and inspected it and chatted, looked good enough, paid him and we did the title change document, I screwed on a new plate and off I drove with it. Effectively zero dealers will not accept cash upfront. You can buy land and just build your own place.

Obviously, a lot of us find having credit very useful. And it's also both convenient and good for fairness/economic velocity/efficiency not to generally have to explicitly put up any extra collateral to get it or go through some complex old fashioned social dance. Hence "credit scores" that systemize a lot. But claiming they decide "whether you're allowed to have a house or a car" warps things badly.