Have an opinion? Contact us at opinions @theotherpress.ca @ Opinions The importance of credit reports for college students By Naomi Ambrose o you know about the importance of doing a credit report? I won't be surprised if you answer “not really.” Maybe that’s your answer because you don’t care or maybe you said to yourself: “T’ll think about that when I get older.” Or maybe you said “that’s the kind of stuff my parents should have to deal with.” However, my fellow students, your personal credit is more important to you than you think. A credit report is important because it shows you your credit history. This history includes all of your credit accounts and loans with retail stores, banks, finance companies, and credit unions, and shows your balances, credit limits, late payments, and even your on- time payments. When you know this information, you’re able to monitor your account to ensure that the details are accurate, as information stays on your credit for up to six years in British Columbia. Your credit report may also determine whether or not you get your dream apartment. According to the Credit Counselling Society, “Lenders can use credit reports to verify information about you, your borrowing activity and your repayment history.” So landlords can enquire into your credit report, but only with your consent. Flash forward to two years after you’ve graduated and you're eager to rent a beautiful apartment in Yaletown. Your prospective landlord tells you that he’ll need a copy of your credit report. You happily give your consent because you assume there’s nothing to worry about. However, the landlord checks your report and sees that you have overdue credit card balances— information that you forgot about or didn’t even know because you never checked your report. So thanks to this revelation, you can kiss your Yaletown apartment goodbye. Perhaps if you invested in obtaining your credit report a few years earlier and addressed the overdue credit card balances, then you could’ve enjoyed eating Timbits while overlooking downtown Vancouver. Too bad! You could’ve also gotten your dream job if you had enquired about your credit report while you were at college. Did you know that prospective employers can also look into your credit report? So you graduated at the top of your class and got an interview to become a junior financial advisor at a reputable firm. You ace the interview, but your prospective employer tells you that they'll need a copy of your credit report before he can make a decision. He checks your report and discovers that you’re 150 days late on your credit card payments. Do you think that you'll still get the job? I doubt it. The employer will probably think “T can’t hire you. If you can’t manage your own personal financial obligations, then how can you possibly advise our clients on theirs?” But if you checked your credit report a few years earlier, you could have been spinning around in your swivel chair at that firm. If you’re interested in obtaining a credit report, you can contact Equifax and TransUnion which are the two main credit bureau companies in Canada. They can send you a copy of your report once a year for free. The companies’ contact information are as follows: Equifax Canada, Consumer relations: 1-877-323-2598, www. equifax.ca and TransUnion, Consumer relations: 1-866-525- 0262, www.tuc.ca So don’t forget to get a copy of your credit report today—your personal and professional future may depend on it! By Jacey Gibb, Opinions Editor ust when I thought Christmas was done for the year, the Douglas College bookstore anded me a belated Xmas present. It was something only money could buy: a receipt for $460.95. I know what you're thinking: come on Jacey, it’s the thought that counts. But when the thought behind the gift is “I’m going to take this student’s bank account out back and then have my way with it,” I’m left feeling a bit perturbed. Anyone that’s taken a post- secondary course knows that a The tyranny of textbooks that’s approaching my month’s rent. The receipt I mentioned above doesn’t even include the “required” textbooks that I’m choosing to ignore, in favour of being able to buy groceries for the next couple of weeks. An arguable upside to the textbook game is being able to get rid of them when you're done. The bookstore sometimes buys them back (for a fraction of the original price, I might add) but more than a few times, I’ve joyfully trotted down with a pile of books, only to be informed that the edition will no longer be relevant to the “Some people might think | look intellectual with a Geography of British Columbia textbook, but the facade is hardly worth the financial setback.” required text is the equivalent of asteroid insurance: sure, it might sound like an okay idea, but outside of nutjobs, who really needs it? Especially when it comes with such a hefty price tag. This isn’t my first semester at Douglas, so I know to play it cool and not rush out on the first day to buy up everything listed on my courses’ syllabuses. For one, the line up is usually equivalent to something you'd see at Disneyland. But also, the books often end up being nothing more than filler on my rag-tag bookshelf. Some people might think I look intellectual with a Geography of British Columbia textbook, but the facade is hardly worth the financial setback. The real problem occurs when the textbook is actually required. I don’t mean that in order to get an A+, you need to do all of the readings, but rather when professors assign homework out of the book and take the majority of the exam questions out of the chapter summaries. At this point, I’m forced to slam my head against the nearest weight-bearing column while the cashier rings up a bill course next month. Because the pre-Confederation history of Canada changes dramatically over a semester’s time, no doubt. You can also bypass the bookstore bigots and try to pawn your textbooks off on the next sucker of a student. The problem with this is it turns normal, decent people into cash-hungry fiends, looking for whoever is willing to pay the most for their scholarly leftovers. I had a girl agree to sell me her textbook for $50, but then informed me half an hour later that someone was willing to pay $55. She asked if I was willing to pay $60, to which I inquired if she was at least going to take me out for dinner before she tried to screw me. I ended up just paying the $70 at the bookstore, and the girl went on to become a homeless crackhead— or so I like to believe. The start of the semester is meant to be an exciting time to meet new people, soak up some fresh schooling, and find creative new ways to procrastinate. I’m sick of playing this stupid game where no matter who wins, my bank account loses.