So many of us know hard-working Americans and members of our work forces (past or present) who ended up losing their homes to foreclosure or have had trouble getting a mortgage. Since the financial crisis, only individuals with stellar credit ratings could qualify for a loan that didn't carry a sky-high interest rate.
Recently, FICO, the leading credit-scoring agency in the country, announced it would change the way it scores unpaid medical-bill debt, which mars the credit reports of some 64 million Americans – many of whom aren't even aware of the problem, possibly assuming their health insurance carriers ultimately paid the tab.
Starting this fall, unpaid medical bills in collection will be given a lower weight than non-medical debt, and not held up as proof of a consumer's lack of creditworthiness. But tell your staffers not to go house-hunting just yet: the new scoring won't go into effect for at least a year.