'Last Week Tonight' Host John Oliver Attacks Error-Filled Credit Industry
John Oliver recently used his "Last Week Tonight" platform to scour the system of checks and balances known as the credit report industry.
During his blistering take-down, Oliver pointed out that while passing judgement on countless subjects the whole system of credit reporting is filled with more than its own share errors.
It all had Oliver openly wondering how a system that's yet to prove any direct bearing on job performance has now become one of the most fundamental criteria in getting a job.
"Look at me, my credit is properly fine, but I routinely waste HBO's money on stupid costumes, pyrotechnic displays, and checkered dress shirts," he said. "I clearly cannot manage this company's money well."
Many Credit Reports Riddled With Errors
On a slightly more serious note, Oliver pointed out that many credit reports are riddled with errors to the tune of one in every four individuals finding some sort of error in theirs. Of that pool, five percent of the errors are reported as significant enough to result in the victim having to pay more than they should on a given debt.
Oliver claims data shows errors range from mixing up women named Judy Thomas and Judith Kendall, to branding one young man a terrorist.
"That is terrible, because 1) He is not a terrorist, and 2) I do hope we have a better strategy for dealing with terrorists than flagging their credit reports and denying them their dream apartments," Oliver added.
Among the other most egregious errors Oliver alluded to was an instance where a smaller company confused one man with three different sexual offenders by the same name, one of whom was several decades older.
Industry leading operations such Equifax, Experian and TransUnion have not been immune. Oliver found clips of TV news stories about errors in credit reports dating all the way back to 1991.
As retribution for it all, he and his crew imagined a world where they launched a fleet of companies with names "problematically similar" to the aforementioned main three bureaus.
Equifax became Equifacks, an animal shelter launched to lick peanut butter off random people's genitals. Experian became Experianne, which existed to send people to whisper passages from "Mein Kampf" into babies ears and TransUnion emerged as TramsOnion, a company that sells steaks made from the flesh of SeaWorld orcas.
"It would clearly be an absolute disaster for the credit agencies if they were mistaken for any of these companies," Oliver said. "But don't worry, I'm sure that won't happen 95 percent of the time."
Oliver Scours Donald Trump Over 'Wall' Idea
Not many have escaped Oliver's wrath of late, including Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, who was recently scoured over his idea to build a wall along the Mexican border to keep out immigrants.
"It's a big, dumb thing that only gets more expensive over time," Oliver said of the whole idea. "It's like getting a pet walrus: You think it's stupid now, wait until you learn what a bucket of cucumbers costs. You're not prepared for that."
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