[caymanjim]

At least in the US, you are wrong on both accounts. Employers regularly check credit history, and every apartment rental agency I've ever dealt with has as well. They might not have an explicit numeric FICO threshhold that they use (or at least admit to using), but that's just semantics. They will pull your credit history, and if they don't like what's on it (or if you simply don't have one), they won't deal with you.

I lived outside the US for years, and even when I'm in the US, I don't participate in the credit market. I'm completely unable to rent apartments in NYC unless I work out an unofficial sublet arrangement (and get treated like a second class tenant at risk of eviction at all times), and even in the suburbs, it severely limits my apartment choices. The only reason it hasn't hurt me with employers (that I know of) is because I have a solid resume and references.

[turtlebits]

You should be able to do what most people with not to great credit do, prepay some amount of your total lease. Credit is to show that you pay on time. It makes total sense you're not able to rent without some validation that the landlord will get paid.

[nraynaud]

everybody prepay some amount on the lease, credit score or not.

[caymanjim]

Alas it's not really like that. The NYC rental market is incredibly tight. Most places already want a deposit plus first and last months' rent, which really just means double the deposit. Even if you have the cash for yet another deposit on top of that, they often won't entertain the idea. It's easier if you can deal directly with a landlord; agencies will generally have nothing to do with you. That and proof of a job/income should be way more than enough proof, but it's still not.

I'm a capitalist and a bit of a left-leaning libertarian, so I'm not saying landlords shouldn't have the right to act like this, or that I think the government needs to step in and regulate it. If I owned a property, I wouldn't want the government telling me whom I can rent to (more than they already do). Just providing examples of the creeping social credit system we have. I don't think it's about financial security once you're already asking for three months' rent just to move in; the financial part is pretty well covered by then.

[turtlebits]

The government has little to no say in who you rent it to. If I as a landlord want 100% of rental term up front, that's up to me and has no bearing on credit score, that is just a metric that helps me make a decision.

[r00fus]

Employers don't only check your credit history, they check your background history using 3rd party verifying services (HireRight, Sterling, etc), which usually include credit checks.

[adrr]

This is a discussion on a social score. Would you argue that what you do on social media is the same as a social score? Difference being semantics.