Yesterday, I got a call on my cell phone…

Me: Hello, this is Tim.

Caller: Hi! I am a personal mortgage broker and I’d like to see if I can help you save money.

Me: (Annoyed) I already have all of the funding sources I need.

Caller: Are you sure? What if this call was opportunity knocking and you ignored it. What if I was your key to success.

(Interesting approach)

Me: Okay, tell me about your programs.

Caller: Sure, what do you estimate your FICO to be?

(Ah, one of THOSE types.)

Me: I have no idea what my FICO score is and more to the point, I don’t care. Since I carry very little personal debt my FICO probably varies wildly.

Caller: All lenders rely on the FICO, it has proven to be a very accurate predictor of risk to the lender and will impact your interest rate and fees required.

Me: Not for me. I don’t use lenders who rely on desktop underwriting. They don’t want me and I certainly have no use for them. Besides, we are currently seeing how well FICO underwriting worked in the sub-prime area. Can you tell me about your lending programs?

Caller: Sure, but I need some kind of idea of the FICO a range would be fine but I need something to work with here.

Me: You mean to plug into your software. Let’s cut to the chase. I don’t use the lenders you work with. All of my investment properties are with private lending sources. I don’t think there is any business we can do together.

Caller: Well, how about referrals to your friends and family? I’m sure they could use my services.

Me: Not likely, I couldn’t recommend anyone who doesn’t understand the real risks in lending to anyone.

Caller: But…

Me: Thanks for calling and you are now on notice not to call again.

I’m sure it left him scratching his head and I did feel a little bad about it afterward but this FICO thing is definitely out of hand. The really dirty little secret is the FICO model is not even remotely accurate for anyone who avoids debt. There is nothing in the model that actually measures the ability to repay a loan. It gives a weighted and some argue distorted view of recent history of a debtor with their leash-holders, I mean, lenders. But, as all investors know, past history does not accurately predict future results.

Do you really think Warren Buffet cares about his FICO?