Should credit checks be used in hiring decisions?

How does a credit check unfairly discriminate against minorities?

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I do not think employers have an right or business filing through my credit report. They infringe enough already into peoples privacy looking at your MySpace and Facebook accounts as it is and other personal information.

What a person does when they are outside the workplace is THEIR business and employers have no business prying into it.

By the way, I do agree with companies doing background checks but I think they should only be allowed (in most cases) to only go back so many years. Five for instance. If a person got in trouble why back when they were a stupid teen or in their early 20’s should not have to come back and haunt them 20 and 30 years later.

But on the flip-side, I know there are states who have laws in place regarding background checks but I also know that most states are not required to tell you why you were not hired, so it certainly makes one wonder how far they went back anyways.

Lastly, Georgia is probably the most “employee unfriendly” state in the United States. Trying winning an unemployment appeal hearing in this state. It’s a joke. Both of the times myself and my wife appealed denial of benefits, we lost the appeal despite the mountains of admissible evidence that was accepted by the appeals judge.

Talk about getting bent over without using lube…..

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In the article there was the following quote “You have somebody who has fallen behind on their bills because they’re out of their job in this economy, and because they’ve fallen behind on their bills, they can’t get a job.” I disagree with this. They did not fall behind on their bills because they lost their job. I would say they fell behind on their bills because they had not anticipated such a thing happening and probably bought to big a house, had to much credit card debt and more than likely spent every penny they made in most cases. What ever happened to people saving some money for emergencies. I’m sick and tired of seeing these people losing their 200k-500k houses and come to find out that the mortgage payment was at least half of their net income. If you are paying more than half of your net income on housing then your an idiot and you deserve what is coming to you.

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Bryan,

Enjoy your little utopian slice of life. Your logic is flawed; your premise blows. Want to know why? Do you? If we followed MR. Bryan’s reasoning all fast food cashiers would need a credit check. Yep, they handle company money. Good luck getting lunch out today! Pud…

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To me this is completely nuts. As a result of the economy here in Georgia we have around 500,000 people unemployed (maybe more). Obviously, many of these people have experienced some personal financial issues that has negatively impacted their credit score/history. So, now, we’re not allowed to hire them because they lost their job and got behind in their credit card and mortgage payments or worse. And what’s even more nuts is that some of you out there think this is being RESPONSIBLE. I ask, how are we ever going to get out of this recession and put these folks back to work if we start judging them on how their credit score. We used to judge people on the color of their skin. If you were black then you didn’t qualify. We used to judge people on gender. If you were a woman then you didn’t qualify. How many of you RESPONSIBLE, more holy than thou, people out there want to return to those days? Well, here we are again.

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Credit should be one of several factors in the hiring decision. I’ve hired a number of folks over the years, and because of the nature of the job and industry I’m in we run credit checks. I can tell you that anytime we’ve made exceptions it’s backfired. Bottom line is this: the way people handle their business at home will absolutely translate into the way they handle their business at work. People don’t change when they are between the lines. Are there exceptions and outliers? Yes, there always are. But we’re talking about the masses.

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Wait a minute Margaret…I thought you wanted all those lazy people to get a job. Now you don’t want them to work? I think you need to make up your racist mind about all this.

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To answer your question, the answer is NO, credit checks have absoulutely nothing to do with job performance for anyone, but my question to you and all those like you is, who is regulating, and properly checking on the credit check agencies. I will bet that there are very few people that have erroroneous information in there current file. Anytime someone has as much power as they seem to exhibit should be regulated tighter than the banks, and we all have seen what has happened to our for profit banking system.

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Hate to pull up the rock you’ve been living under tim, but credit checks are run for those fast food employees that handle money.

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My credit score should only be considered when I’m trying to purchase a home or a car…etc..etc. and I’m not sure how this became a race issue, because bad credit has no color. However, it is a known fact that more whites file for bankruptcy than any other race.

In terms of employment. Many young professionals such as Doctor’s and Lawyer’s, find themeselves in debt due to student loans. Does this mean they shouldn’t be allowed to work in their fields due to some glitches on their credit? Lets go back to the old days, when people were hired based on their “ABILITY” and not on their facebook profile and credit rating……

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shadow 7071 says it best – kudos to you for explaining exactly the way it is

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So, I guess you are a manager now.

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Got out of that business nine years ago, when I joined the Army after 9/11.

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I agree total with the comments from Public Health Girl and yes you are so right bad credit has not color. Bankruptcy we all know who are the top of this list for filing than any other race on this earth.

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First Sargent TOCHE`!! My friend

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We can’t all be government workers.

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@DanO.

what’s your point?

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Sorry, but I have to agree with Chris. I work in HR, and we look at the overall history of the report, not just the last 6 months to a year. Hospital bills and Student Loan debt are not considered to be negatives as they are legitimate expenses. However, the employee that is applying for a job that has a history of missed car payments, past due utility bills, late mortgage or rent payments, late credit card payments, etc… are looked at negatively and for good reason. I’ll put it this way, if you don’t care about honoring your responsabilities to the people that have extended you money and credit in good faith, whay would i ever think you eill honor your commitment to me as your employer under the same circumstances? And by the way,I’ve had to go through a credit check at every job I’ve ever worked at, and never worried. Even with several lay offs and job eliminations under my belt.

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It is so SAD to use a credit rating to hinder a person from getting a job…those with good credit get a job and later steal….maybe the person has bad credit because he or she can not get a job because of credit checks…..STUPID thing and needs to be stopped!!! My credit has gotten bad because I was laid off and could not pay everything on time…I am sure this hinders me even though I am a college graduate….

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As a previous blogger said, this would theoretically disqualify Deal from becoming governor.

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A credit check allows an employer to see how you handle your affairs with the outside world. I hate to break it to you guys but every single person in law enforcement, firefighters and county employees (at least in cobb) all get credit checks. The type of person that forgets to pay bills on time is the same type of employee that fails to do lots of things obvious to all of us that pay our bills like we should. Granted a foreclosure or such isn’t going to hurt you, but crappy mishandling of your affairs does let the employer know that you most likely will not handle his affairs any better.

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Bo U, so what your saying is that you’ve been laid off for the last 5 years? because that’s the typical timeline that we look at. As i said, 6 months to a year is the accepted period for racking up debt due to being out of a job. Anything beyond that indicates that even though you were employed, you still didn’t honor your commitments.

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Credit checks DEFINITELY should be run on all job candidates when the position in question involves access to money, or serving in a financial or leadership role.

This would include candidates for Governor.

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1. Unless its a job that has to do with Finances a credit check should not be performed. Even if there is a problem in the report and you have a good candidate this information should be discussed before just firing that person.
2. What about privacy? I had a credit check for my current job as an administrative assistant? I don’t handle money at any time. Why is there a credit check.
3. What goes on in my house has nothing to do with my experience and work performance. How can people pay off there debts if they can’t get a job.

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Sorry guys, I have a corrections. I meant to say a credit check should be performed if one is applying for a job within the financial division of a company. Or least considered. But for all other employment I don’t think so. The fear of of jail far outweigh the excitement of having ‘free’ (i.e stolen) money at my disposal.

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I guess by the reasoning on this board, it should be considered discrimination if someone doesn’t have a college degree. Afterall, a higher percentage of whites have a college education compared to blacks and hispanics. And for that matter, why should I be denied employment becuase I don’t speak spanish?

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Right on point HR!

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George Bailey has it right. Thanks for saving me a lot of typing.

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George Bailey I have never meant a HR person that was not a lying scum bag only out to protect management, I have been working at large companies as middle management for years and HR sit around building a case against someone the boss does not like or wants to replace with a relative or friend of a relative. The person could be a great worker but out they go with some lame excuse, you can tell who replaced the hard workers just by reading this blog. Oh and I do blame the rich, who has all the money dope, like the conservatives give a rats behind what happens to the middle class, what a joke..

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“She never knew of an applicant denied a job because of his or her credit.”

Did you catch that in the article? I did. That’s what a lawyer tells you to say on the stand, so you can lie and not perjure yourself “not that I know of….”, ” not that I recall…”. People don’t talk like that in honest conversations.

It is absolutely, positively a blatant violation of your 4th Amendment rights, if we have a Bill of Rights anymore.

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I can understand credit checks and background checks for people who handle money, large accounts, or budgets for specific sections of a business. This could give the employer an idea of the subjects personal management skills and budgetting skills. I do not believe the credit score tells an employer anything about work performance however, your best employee could be losing you tons of money because they simply cannot keep a budget very well or they are even stealing to take care of their own bills. I worked in restaurant management for a period of time and had a few instances where other managers or staff would steal money to pay their bills.

If employers are going to use credit scores as deal-makers or breakers, then the potential employee should be given the opportunity to discuss/defend their credit report.

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Claiming that a convicted child molester would be more likely to be hired than someone who has missed a couple of payments?

I see you’ve missed the carpool to reality this morning. Luckily, the bus is still running. Be sure to catch it.

Greg – who is rich? What is that definition?

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Public Health Girl – So a convicted child molester or drug dealer would have a better chance of landing employment over someone with a few missed payments? what kind of world are we living in!!!!????

This is crazy talk! Have you never heard of a criminal background check? What company do you know has hired a child molester over someone with a 550 FICO score?

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I’m pretty sure a candidate with a conviction on their record would be declined before someone with bad credit Hopefully it would be a choice between the child molester, the financial delinquent and the candidate with a clean record on both sides with experience. If companies are only getting convicted felons and deadbeats, they are obviously looking in the wrong place.

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If you cannot manage your own personal finances why would an employer want to hire you? There are too many other applicants who have managed their personal finances and are not deadbeats. Why take on unmitigated risk?

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The problem with credit is that it assumes everything stays the same; nothing ever does. After an 18-month period of unemployment during which I pieced together a living doing various part-time and odd jobs, my ability to pay the obligations I had made evaporated. After three years on a full-time job, I still don’t earn enough to pay all the things that need to be paid and save enough to pay of my debts. I feel horrible about it and would like to pay off all debts. It’s a terrible cloud hanging over my head. But it’s not like some of you think — that people with bad credit situations are living beyond their means and are just plain irresponsible. Now that I’m working, I budget ferociously to be able to meet the essentials and pay bills on time. I have no credit, except a car note that I’m just about to pay off. I’ve learned a lesson about credit. Unfortunately, it’s too late for my credit file. I’d never want to be judged on it. I’m better than that. Employers should never use credit info to deny someone the ability to prove themselves on a job, even those who handle money. A criminal background check should tell them everything they need to know about someone’s pertinent history.

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Peadawg,
They will probably tell you it’s “The Man” that is keeping them down rather than looking in the mirror…….

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George, by you going on the defensive about your work with HR departments tells me that you have indeed seen the very shenanigans going on that I wrote of, and no I am fully employed in the IT field but on a three day work week, I have another year in my contract and then I join all others suffering because of Wall Street greed and a corrupt uncaring congress. Every time my boss used to call me in to build a case against someone who really cared I wanted to punch him in his lazy butt mouth.

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Again, what is rich?

Because I’m wondering how I got a job if only the lazy rich kids get them.

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If I was an employer and had prospective employees, I would check their credit history if their job required them to handle money, including cashier, accountant, or any other job that involved handling my company’s money. Statistics have shown that people with bad credit are more likely to steal from their employer in order to have extra money for paying down debts.

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@Bryan. I used to work with a guy who raped 2 little girls when he was 15. juvenile records as you know are sealed, and can’t be viewed. and not all jobs perform background checks………….

instead of finding ways to eliminate people from consideration, why not find ways to employ qualified individuals. I’m sure all the ladies that have come under question lately for improper P-card usage underwent and passed an employer credit check, but that didn’t stop them from being irresponsible…………..with ther employers funds.

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Sylvie, just to let you know, that I have always recommended to my clients that if they have a candidate with a negative credit history to allow them an opportunity to submit a written postion statement detailing the negative marks on the report. Unfortunately, very few candidates seem inclined to do so. I don’t know whether it’s becuase they can’t or if they simply can’t be bothered to take the time to justify their position.

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Chris If you own an airplane, three houses, take a world cruise every year, fully pay for three kids to go to Yale and have a girlfriend on the side who is fully supported by you and you have so much money your wife does not notice the money going out, the you are rich and also the same person that will their employees no raise this year due to having to complete against a world wide work force, heard that one before, or my specialist practice does not make enough money to pay for health insurance for you workers, heard that one before??

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Chris, You deserve all the benefits, perks and pay you earn. I notice how America doesn’t give enough credit to the military. However, if all of the fast food workers stayed home for a week; this nation would fall on it’s rear end. Sales tax, payroll taxes and the economic multiplier would be vacant from the system that pays you. After all, you work for me and every other AMERICAN taxpayer. If a protest like this happened in the future and a federal order was given for me and my comrades to go back to work; what would happen? Retail workers don’t a free house if they get shot during a robbery attempt. Retail workers don’t get media fundraisers if they lose a finger in kitchen accident. Retail workers don’t get preference on anything. .You guys can’t understand why we don’t give a damn? If we were face to face on a picket line and your c.o. gave an order to shoot; would you shoot me?

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In June of 2007 my credit score was 750. I was married, just sold my house, had a great job and was relocating here. By November of the same year I was seperated, fired and carrying all of the bills by myself. I have been unable to find another job since November 2007. As a result, I have had my vehicle reposessed, all of my bills reported to an agency and my excellent credit score is now poor. What gets me is how the current credit score is not looked at as the abnormality. People do not seem to say oh this is the type of person they were before they lost the job. To me, the job performance, and the references that I have should carry more weight with a potential employer than my credit score but I suspect this is no longer the case.

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GregMC….go ahead and jump off a building now. I don’t think you can be cured. And please don’t do it during rush hour, as the police and fire vehicles will delay all of us rich white kids with jobs getting home in time to swim in our pool, relax in the sauna before cooking lobster to watch the World Series in our media room. Thanks!

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George, is the “consulting” business so slow in this supply-side jesus economy that you had to take this job paid-blog-posting as an advocate?

For the un-initiated (bend over), there are two paid posters on here – advocates. That’s you first sign that even they know its wrong. Truth doesn’t need an advocate.

I’m a financial Controller, and this is isn’t even close. Its so blatantly wrong, the companies know its wrong, they’re just gonna do it til somebody rightfully sues them and wins.

Advocates, you think they’re going to invite you to the yacht club this weekend?

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A credit check should only be done if you’re trying to gain employment at one of these three places:

1. EQUIFAX
2. TRANSUNION
3. EXPERIAN

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Heck yea ,it eliminates the deadbeats in the pool of applicants.Why shouldn’t someone hire the best person for the job?

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Hey Palin fan,

It’s “their” not “there”. I know you teabaggers aren’t the smartest grapes in the bunch, but please at least obey basic grammar rules.

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This is not 1950, because your father worked for a company and country that had patriotism but not anymore with the big corporations, his job could be outsourced to India these days and million are. SO I am bitter and the wise HR person would pick that up in an interview huh, how many Americans are a little bitter right now? Funny so many HR people jumped on all at once, feeling a little looked upon are we? If I am not handling money then it’s none of your GD business what I do outside of work as long as I do not break the law. Show me an honest CEO and I will show you a mirage, oh there may be one or two per 20 that mean well but the rest?

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One, you mean I could paid for this? Oh, you’re a financial contoller. I understand now. being a financial contoller means that you are familiar with all the state and federal statutes under FLSA, FMLA, ADA, EEOC,FCRA etc…… And no my business is not slow, If you need my schedule, I’ll be working in CA, NV and AZ today. which menas that for the time being, until that side of the country wakes up, I do have some free time to enjoy myself. Thanks for checking.

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Wow…my heart aches for most of you on this blog. Come soon Lord Jesus, please come soon.

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your…..not you’re

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greg, My father was a Program Director of the Tactical division for a company called Thiokol. You can google it as it no longer exsists. and no, even today his job could not be outsourced. Whatever your reasoning might be, I can assure you that missle design and propellent formulas are not things that this country would consider outsourcing to India. As to your comments about HR, you can think what you want. i have clearly stated here several times that the credit score is not the final determining factor, and as a point of fact, I have always given the candidates an opportunity to offer explainations. As to the wealth envy part, I don’t even address it, because it has no bearing on this discussion.

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Credit Checks, for a job! Sounds like some are trying to expand the divide between the “Have’s” and the “Have Not’s”…Must be a republican idea! I spent 18 months in the hell that is un-employment and I can honestly say that my credit TANKED…Not because I’m not a hard worker or a good employee but because MY ex-boss decided to play footsie with a secretary and his wife took him to the cleaners forcing the business that employed me for 10 YEARS to close. Is that my fault, should the fact that I got punked by an idiot boss effect my future job opportunities….Hell NO!!!

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As someone mentioned before this discussion is about 10 years late! I went through the loss of job-divorce-financial fallout in early 2K and yes, I felt it was discriminatory (credit). In the end it seemed my qualifications, skills, and education were not even considered in the overall equation of as a job applicant!. Yes, the financial services industry (banking,investments) involves the management of risks (internal/external) and I decided to managed my own risks by leaving the industry and not being “pimped” by a field that engaged in highly unethical and questionable business practices (I don’t have to explain that one do I…economic fallout!). I miss working with the public and assisting customers with their financial business but I refused to be a hamster on a treadmill for any of them!

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Chris,

Good for you. Drawing retirement that early. You made my point.

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this should be illegal. it is an invasion of privacy and is not totally accurate. anyone with a t.v. these days sees the adds showing that not all scores match, credit fraud is a factor, and not to mention we are in recession. people are not able to completely meet all of their obligations like they might have 3 years ago.

one other thing that plays with my mind with this…. say you are closing on a house and you (or spouse) are exploring a career change… do these credit checks for employment count against like other checks? i mean, when i was closing one of the first things my realtor told me was to not check my credit scores for a few days as it would show in my score…….

legally i would like to know where the line is that says this is perfectly fine. i think it would easily be debated as intrusion on person’s personal life and would be an easy way for criminals to scam new identification adn credit…. i mean, it is illegal for a job to xerox your picture i.d. and social security card… this is much more dangerous than those.

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If you are applying to work at a bank, credit union, credit bureau, or any other financial institution I do not see the issue with these industries running credit checks. However if you are applying to work in a field that has not a single thing to do with the financial job field then a credit check is a bit over the top if you ask me.

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Risk analysis and loss prevention also plays a part in whether a company chooses to use a credit check as one of MANY hiring criteria. It is not the ONLY criteria, however. Years ago as a DM for a large retailer, we always did credit checks ( and advised them prior to doing so) when hiring for management. It was also pertinent for those who handled shipping and receiving, as most loss (shrinkage) in a retailer is not through shoplifting, but through internal theft. And that is just one industry example.

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@Publichealthgirl I worked with the lady who did the Pcard scandal and we are required to go through an extensive background and credit check. So it just goes to show you that you can pass the process with flying colors and still be a thief…. @greg Middleclass Did you ever work at a property mgmt company in Atlanta?? You described their HR department to a T…. Fire people because they simply do not like them…..I keep hoping they will go out of business soon…. Oh and every job that I have interviewed at required a credit check and I work in the financial section.

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I cannot believe how many whiners with bad credit (throught no fault of their own I’m sure) are chiming in today.
If you make a financial agreement, stick to it. Simple as that.

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Margaret,you can’t hide behind Palin. PR, you can’t save if you barely make enough to pay your bills (or less). I think someone who keeps their bills paid on a low income deserves more credit for how they handle their moeny than someone who has tons of money and does the same, but it doesn’t work that way with bank loans, etc.

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I do not see the point in checking someone’s credit to determine if they will be a good employee. I recently got hired working in city government, but before then I was in and out of work for about two and a half years. I was a recent college graduate with student loans and no “REAL WORK EXPERIENCE”. And with me moving back to Atlanta, where the job market was already bad, didn’t help me at all. The few jobs that I was able to get only paid about $600 a month and my loans and other bills exceeded that amount. I paid what I could but eventually fell behind on some of them, and my credit score droped 150 points. I believe that was the real reason why I did not get some jobs that was promising and where I was one of the leading candidates….especailly when the jobs were Entry Level jobs.

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George, Reading your posts, I think you are indeed a paid blogger for the corporations, you along with PR and it would not surprise me if you are indeed the same person. The vast majority of people I have talked to are dead set against credit checks for employment, unless they are for people working with access to cash, which makes since. I am glad I am not you, a paid stooge, only the real stooges had ethics, at least more so than you. Throwing out some qualifications means nothing, I had a boss who explained how important the checks were for identifying good people and then had me bring my truck to his dads to pick up a ridding mower and his father says to him, make sure you don’t bring it in for service at a John Deere dealer and oh this guy also cheated on his wife any time he could, I left the company. You would stay.

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WitchHazel, you are right on the money! If an applicant chooses to investigate the financial stability of a potential employer, they absolutely have the right to either decline the offer of employment, or to withdraw their candidacy for the position if they find what they deem to be questionable financial practices. Just like an employer has the right to do the same thing in regard to credit history.

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Everyone moaning against what employers require here is an idea for you. Start your own business and hire anyone you wish (as long as you don’t discriminate based on race, religion, sex, creed or national origin) and let us know how that works out for you? You might get lucky with a few… but I doubt it.

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I totally disagree with a credit check for employment. No my credit is not all that!!!! Actually it’s really jacked up but it was from some bad choices that I made when I was in college-20+ years ago. After graduating and dealing with paying my own bills, my student loans, etc it made me have a heck of a lot of respect for credit!!!! What I know now I wished I would have known then, but don’t punish me for it. I’m a very loyal, and respectufl employee but if you see my credit report that doesn’t say who I am as a human being.

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Credit Bureau reviews are used as a tool to gain insight on a potential employee’s character, & sense of responsibility. Although this might be relevant with certain careers, I believe this practice to be discriminatory in this economy. No one should be held personally accountable for this effed up economy…ESPECIALLY if they’ve been out of work & unable to find employment. It’s a way of keeping the rich, rich: & the poor, poor. & a guaranteed way of keeping unemployment rates flat or on the increase.

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I just love how you people think that just because a person has bad credit, then they totally mismanaged their lives and deliberately made bad financial choices. You all disgust me with your cold-hearted attitudes and name calling. Words such as “deadbeat”, “dishonest” and “poor” to assign to a group of people who had no control over the situation they got put in is appalling.

It’s not all about freaking greed and want for things they can’t afford. There are some genuine people out there with genuine problems not caused by their own accord and you want to kick them to the curb as if they are scum of the Earth.

To you HR people: If you run the report of a potential candidate and it comes back negatively, do you even give the applicant a chance to explain what might have happened? I am willing to bet most of you are going to answer “no”.

What happened to giving people the benefit of the doubt when they try to explain themselves?

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I have worked for yrs to keep my credit good. I have done without a lot of “new” things in order to do so.. I am now unemployed, but I will not let that ruin what I have worked for – good credit.. Where there is a will, there is a way..
By the accounts of some of these posters, seems some of them feel there is no need they should be responsible and pay their own bills??!!
If you are now unemployed, a credit check will show how responsible the person was WHEN they did have a paycheck coming in..

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If I felt I could “buy” stuff without having to ever pay for it or be held accountable and had the resulting Bad Credit as a result of it, much like the “typical” Obama Supporter on this blog who name calls any one who supports it, I would be angry and opposed to it, too.

Thankfully, I do without anything I cannot afford on my own, and I would never be so gullible to vote for that turkey now in the White House.

Personal Responsiblity: The Anti-Obama

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greg, so if someone makes an intelligent argument, adressing both point and counterpoint, you naturally assume that they must be getting paid off? Wow! as to your assumption that I’m a “paid stooge in the boss mans pocket”, You are dead wrong. As i mentioned in my previous post, I was unemployed for about 8 months. Thr reason you ask? The CEO and Partner/owner of the company I used to work for, had created such a hostile work environment, I had to, as the Director of Human Resources, file a restraining order against him prohibiting him form entering the building or offices of his own company. After that, I was able to successfully get his resignation and turn all controlling interest over the remaining partners. when the company was sold, my position was eliminated. So please don’t accuse me of being an advocate or “stooge” i have simply palyed the game by the rules. sometimes i win, sometimes I lose. Never at anytime have I tried to blame my fortune or misfortune on anyone else. Now let me ask you, when was the last time you took a stand against anyone or anything that you new could possibly be your last?

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The reason race is brought up in this situation is because there are documented studies that show that blacks with the same credit score as whites are disproporiatedly given a higher interest rate when applying for morgages, car loans, etc. This type of discrimination can lead to higher default rates. I commend these HR professionals who state that they ‘do the right thing’ when it comes to credit checks, but I am also an HR person and I know so many who do not. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (I think I got the name right It’s FCRA) states that if employment is denied because of something on a credit report the candidate must be informed. This did not happen to the person able and I know that it did nto happen in some previous employers because it was deemed too much of a hassle. If there was something erronous on the report or identity theft, etc. how would the candidate know to dispute? There are limited times when I do think a credit check is warrented, but they are, in my opinion, overused.

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Look at all these irresponsible whiners and crybaby implicating everything from the Economy, to Obama for their sorry, losing lack of moral character lives.

You had to have the Pontiac, the Hummer, the Rooms to Go CHEAP furniture and didnt think 5 minutes into the future. I hope ya lose everything and go bankrupt!!

LMAO!!! LOSERS!!

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@ A Hearty Cheese Sauce – There’s no doubt you’re a total SOB with any sympathy for people with real issues. @sshole.

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@ George Bailey – Looks like you might be the exception then along with 1 or 2 others. I stand corrected about your policies.

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Hearty Cheese Sauce Who would want to work for a yes man such as yourself???

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It’s pretty obvious that Adolf is a troll.

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Im not in HR Mr LackofClass…so I could care less what you do or how much you lie on your applications.

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Actually, Adolf & A Hearty Cheese Sauce are one in the same. Better let your doctor know you’re off your meds.

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TMA has bad credit…LMAO!

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Dont worry fools…I will hire you at my new venture…Eddie Longs Christian Pizza Palace. Come one come all.

“Lets have a slice and save some souls”

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This has got to be the dumbest requirement if its being used. What’s the point of trying to get a job? So we can pay our freakin bills to keep our credit good or bring it back up. To hold someone accountable for their credit related to job performance is a huge disservice to everyone involved. There are rich people out there with bad credit. No wonder the countries employment rate is so high and people cant get jobs is because of this stupid requirement companies are using. If they are doing it to avoid the risks involved with embezzling etc. then something is wrong with your company. There are standards now to avoid this from happening and have you noticed that most execs are the ones embezzling. People with money! HA!

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Problem Solved = If you don’t want to provide credit history then don’t apply for employer that requires it. Nobody owes you a job, or an interview for that matter.

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“No wonder the countries employment rate is so high and people cant get jobs is because of this stupid requirement companies are using”

Oh yes…Obama 9.4% unemployment rate is due to your very reasoning.

Put on a thinking cap son. And to the rest of you all up in arms. You dont want a job and even if ya had one wouldnt last long so quit whining about something you dont want. Go smoke some crack or something…

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Cadillac, CADILLAC…Way my CADILLAC!!

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…yes I ve read your references and credit report and both are in excellent standing. However, you are very ugly so we can hire you. In closing let me state, GET OUTA MY OFFICE!!!…

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Buy the room, get the TV.

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Its amazing that people are so easily lead to their own demise. There is not proof that a person with poor credit does not reflect on a person’s performance. So tell me this, Why did the bankers, Wall Street vultures and the likes steal from the American peopLE? We know this has nothing to do with job performance but a way to justify discrmination. And for the idiots who are saying poor financial decisions, what about health problems, divorces, fraud? The credit reporting agencies are making money on other people’s misery and you people are buying into this garbage. Americans..gullible and stu.pid.

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A Hearty cheese sauce(wow)
“Most of ya arent qualified to feed a billy goat french fries let alone hold down a job with some other responsibility…LMAO!! LOSERS!”

Any time someone uses these country “A” analogies, then we know for sure its some country bumkin quoting, because of your lack of ability to express yourself in a more intelligent way. lmao!

And to let you know further, I am a nuclear procurement engineer( a black woman…so you can show your true colors) with very good credit, I buy nuclear power parts you cant even spell. HA! (loser)

(I know you’ll have a “hay day” as you people would say, with this)

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Yeah, what he said. That’s right! I gotta go to work and serve the lunch time crowd. I’ll still provide great service to anyone; even if I disagree with their points of view. Freedom of Speech and Spinach!

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George, fair enough. The Founding Fathers thought the concept of privacy of your private life important enough to include it 4th in the Constitution. So do most Americans. And even if it weren’t blatantly wrong to do it, it is a stoopid way of judging someone’s character. You know and I know that it is simply another layer of “hire who I want to” instead of the most qualified. It is conceptually in the direction of “more privilege” and away from “less privilege”. To feign otherwise insults most hard working Americans’ intelligence, like the interviewee in the article does – “not that I know of…..” in her best lawyer-ese.

Ken Lay – great credit score
Bernie Madoff – perfect credit score
Michael Milken – awesome credit score

Bill Gates – bad credit score (early)
Warren Bufftet – mommy bailed him out in 1st business vs bankruptcy
Controller mentioned above – ex-wife ruined credit

Teh stoopid runs deeeep in this idea.

HR, Gotta go, Closing (financial) the 3rd fastest growing co. in Atlanta this week, so my life is pretty good. But I am not free until all people are free of tyranny. At least I don’t work in HR.

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” I am a nuclear procurement engineer( a black woman…so you can show your true colors) with very good credit, I buy nuclear power parts you cant even spell. HA! (loser)”

OH…No doubt…Well if you are so intelligent perhaps you might stress to the remainder of “your people” that credit rating are important and that 2 + 2 does equal 4.

Bravo and thank you Ms Procurement lady!

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Underemployed in Atlanta

October 27th, 2010
10:21 am
I am not opposed to credit checks for employment opportunities if the hiring manager can determine the reason for delinquency was due to unemployment. The credit report should reflect my time of unemployment versus a pattern of practice for paying late. Unfortunately, this practice is another thorn for eliminating viable candidates including candidates over the age of 40.

—————-
Your credit report should not be a condition of your employment. A person can have a very good credit score and still capable of stealing we have seen this time and time again. Talk about being brainwashed into eroding your freedoms, rights, etc. How about the bank tellers who had their credit checked and was stealing pennies for decades? The lack of commons sense is really a damn shame.

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What happens to applicants with little or no credit history. I just graduated college. Fortunately I was covered by scholarships and have no student loans and I have no credit cards at the moment. I have no car loan history, I lived on campus my 4 years. I pay a cell bill, cable etc. Could I be looked over for not having much to look at on a credit check?

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Hungarian, when put on the defensive one must defend. Snafu, what about all those peole with college degrees and MBA’s? Maybe we should eliminate the job requirement for college degrees because people that have them tend to be liars, cheats and thieves.

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This is so funny. All you losers and pseudo losers and procurement personel all whining about credit and “a black woman” are just plain suckers.

You bought it now pay for it.

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JJ…no credit history is better than a crappy credit history which is what most of the whiners and winos here have. You should probably be ok. However Im afraid your crack dealing friends will continue to live in their mothers basements for quite some time.

Good luck in the job search!

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Well Nautica I suggest you ask them. Let us know how it works out for ya.

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I didn’t look at it that way. Thanks for giving me the big picture.

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Using a credit check to “weed out” folks based on learning their age, etc. (ie using the report for something other than determining the financial responsibility) is not a very realistic argument. It also assumes that the employer is a racist and a very poor businessperson. When I was in position of hiring, I did a very thorough job of pre-screening and interviewing. By the time I was to the point of securing a credit and background check, I was very confident that this person could handle the job and had a high percentage probability of returning the job results for which they were to be hired….it was the final step before offer. Moreover, these persons were aware from early in the process that, if the interviewing process was successful that there WOULD be these final checks done – it was not a “surprise” nor an effort to “weed” someone out. Frankly, I seldom if ever had anyone lose out on an offer at this point in the process because those unqualified fell out early in the process for poor resume construction, lack of sufficient experience, or the simply inability to follow instructions on a written form. F

Furthermore, these persons would often need to have a company credit card (relocation expenses etc.) for travel, and if they didn’t have sufficient credit, the company would have to go through a separate process to get that card FOR them vs. them securing their own card based on their credit.

This whole thought that credit checks are used to “stick it” to an applicant is just silly. It is just one amongst many tools used to make an intelligent guess at future performance and job longevity.

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Nautica, pull your head out of your fundamental orifice.

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Good credit is not necessarily a reflection of good character or personal responsibility. I know plenty of total cokehead party animals with perfect credit, because they are artificially propped up by family money. They would not make responsible employees.

Conversely, I know many hard-working, responsible people whose credit has slid simply because they met with financial hardship and didn’t have the resources to recovery quickly enough to save their credit.

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“It also assumes that the employer is a racist and a very poor businessperson.’

It assumes no such thing. YOU and your racist self assume such things so you would make a lousey candidate for any job and after your above bigoted statement the remainder of your diatribe is rendered moot and useless.

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Nautica, you absolutely can check the viability of a company or CEO. if you don’t like what you see, don’t take the job.

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In the good ole’ USA, corporations can run roughshod over your civil rights (and rights to privacy)…..all in the name of of protecting their “interests”……….

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“Poor credit has more to do with income inequality and inability to pay than with lack of responsibility and willingness to pay.”

Ever heard of the Millionaire Next Door?

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I have a BBA in Real Estate from UGA as well as a ton of student loans that I have not been able to pay as of yet. This in turns hurts my credit and has effected my ability to get a job, I’m still unemployed. I am white and grew up in the suburbs. Credit should be regulated and privy ONLY to the credit reporting agencies, the lenders that check it, and us the ones who it effects.

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Cheese, I haven’t agreed with your tone so far, but you are right in your self analogy. I was the same way after college. I had 2 credit cards, with a whopping 500.00 dollar limit on both. maxed em out, got an amex. got that shut down for non payment. Woke up one day and decided that this behavior was not going to help me reach my goals. buckled down and paid cash for everything for about 15 years. i didn’t even apply for credit or store cards until 5 years ago, and since then I’v remained debt free with no outstanding balances on any of my plastic. So when it comes to credit checks, I’ve lived on both sides of the fence.

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So what about employers/company’s that don’t have good credit history? I think once you start digging you’ll find out that there are a lot of establishments that have outstanding invoices past 3 months or more with service vendors. You could include some areas of local city/county gov’t offices as well.

Should an establishments such as Georgia Roofing & Construction that’s recently been in the news for bankruptcy with a number of unpaid employees and contractors in hot pursuit be able to do this when they are not credit worthy themselves?

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George……if a company had poor viability, it probably wouldn’t be in business.Believe me, if I could fudge my credit numbers the way theses guys fudge their accounts………I’d be fed chairman!

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I may have to start a Credit Boot Camp. Have you campers up EARLY every morning for a 5 mile hike, then you all prepare breakfast, then book reading, then classtime, then lunch etc.

Teach you kiddos to be responsbile. And no you cant pay your tuition with a credit card. Cash only!!!

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Nautica, I agree. However, you can do some digging. Talk to the employees, see if they can refer you to former employees, use the internet to see if there are any investigation under way. There is a lot you can do to decide if you want to become part of the organization. Just as a company does it’s due diligince on a potential candidate, the candidate has the right to do the same on the company.

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did not spend borrow 20,000 to work at quick trip. real estate industry quit hiring, could not get a job, loans went in default, hence bad credit, that in turn makes getting a job even harder……walk a mile in a mans shoes before you assume anything….it’s not a pity party its the current state of America…

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“I have a BBA in Real Estate from UGA as well as a ton of student loans that I have not been able to pay as of yet. This in turns hurts my credit and has effected my ability to get a job, I’m still unemployed. I am white and grew up in the suburbs. Credit should be regulated and privy ONLY to the credit reporting agencies, the lenders that check it, and us the ones who it effects.”

One of the debts you can NEVER get out of is student loans. You MUST pay those or you are screwed forever. You are SCREWED id you don’t pay those! :0

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We are about to elect a governor that couldn’t get a job with a mortgage company because of his poor money management skills. Why bother with this discussion?

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@ A Hearty Cheese Sauce…Glad to hear your ok now, but don’t think you can’t end up in the same position again. That’s my whole point. You never know what life will bring you. You do the best you can with what you got and you try to make it better one step at a time. I think the real issue is if you don’t have a job and cant get one because of credit then you will seemingly never be able to pay the debt off.

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Understand I do not enjoy having bad credit. I like to have the ability to pay my bills. I do not think credit should be a deciding factor for employment. Next they will start checking your marital status, or the neighborhood you live in. Its up there with checking someone facebook profile…totally unrelated.

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Ok…Im bored and time to move on. I hope my words of wisdom have been an inspiration to you all and IM SURE they have.

Good luck in your future endeavors and guys dont get your girlfriend pregnant cuz that is an 18 year sentence right there and its probably not your baby anyway.

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I’m simply stating that its not as cut and dry as “cant hire you, you have bad credit”. Yes some people dont care. Others however have been put into situations they could not avoid which led them to their current credit status. Its not like a criminal record. Should someone not be hired because of a bad divorce, a bankruptcy, or just plain hard times??

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bob, should someone not be hired because they didn’t go to college?

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“HR, Gotta go, Closing (financial) the 3rd fastest growing co. in Atlanta this week, so my life is pretty good.”

… dream until your dreams come true!

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“Understand I do not enjoy having bad credit. I like to have the ability to pay my bills. I do not think credit should be a deciding factor for employment. Next they will start checking your marital status, or the neighborhood you live in. Its up there with checking someone facebook profile…totally unrelated.”

Everyone knows that having a good spouse makes for a happy marriage, good credit, and longer life span. Employers can check that too, did you not know that? There’s a direct positive correlation to every aspect of your life. Ask yourself why you are not successful and be honest with your answers.

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“How many paid troll blog posts does it take to buy an Acura?”

Corrina Webber owns one!

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Look my credit is f***** up… However I worked for a fortune 100 company handling credit cards, and purchsase orders for business, and customers. These cards some had no limits, and some where pcrds. Not once did I think oh my car getting ready to repossed i need to get these numbers. People with good credit can steal from there jobs and there is more cases of that. All those teachers who were arrested for the pcard fraud didn’t pay bills with it. They brought all kinds of goodies and lux items. I mean my job is diffrent from my personal life. People have so much going on now credit is the least of there worries. However was laid off and jobs transfered to temp workers who are stealing the credit cards. It is just a matter of integrity, didn’t Bernie Madoff steal millons (I am sure he had a1 credit). Credit can’t determine what type of employee you are going to be. If that was the case I should not have been at my job over elven years, or when the IRS came after me.

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And know this: if your credit is affecting if you get that job or not, either there’s more to your personell file (or lacking), or your credit is atrocious. The credit score is but one factor, not the one factor.

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Cheese, I think you misunderstood…at least I think you did. I was saying that just because an employer checks your credit rating DOESN’T mean they are racist or trying to weed out “certain” folks.

I was also saying that if they DID do that, that they are not a very smart businessperson to use that criteria.

The rest of my post was not an opinion, but a stated reality in most retail corporations hiring for Store Managers, Receiving personnel, etc.

Not sure how I confused you, though. There was no racism or bigotry in my post.

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One Nation Under educated

October 27th, 2010
11:25 am

“Blog trolling don’t pay enough to float an Acura, punk. And pull your pants up. You look stupid like that.”

Yep, you have a mighty important job. You look stupid just posting. All lies and fantasies.
Pity.

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@ Samantha

Where was your “rainy day fund” (savings) when you lost your job? Did you think you were so perfect at your job that your boss would never dream of letting you go?

The excuses are over folks ~ the current economic crisis isn’t going to give you a “get out of jail free” card. The personal responsibility crowd always wins.

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Funny, going bankrupt every 5 or 6 years never kept Donald Trump from getting bank loans. I’m sure the rich have a different credit rating system. CEO’s steal billions and can leave prison and walk into a new CEO position. Martha Stewart walked out of prison for insider trading and they threw TV offers at her.

The bottom line ….. there are rules for the rich and powerful and those for the rest of us.

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Adolf, Cheez-whiz, Dream On, Call your bluff,

gotcha. – heh-heh – like I said, pull your pants up, I ain’t gonna hire you lookin like that, no matter what your credit score is. I’m waitin for M/E reports. You’re waitin for Momma to call you out of her basement. And tell us you got an Acura. I can see you drive up in your hoopty-car from my corner office window. And take “blog-trolling” off your resume. It aint a creer, and it doesn’t suit you. You’re welcome.

THE Controller

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If no one in Georgia cares about Nathan Deal’s credit record, then no one else seeking employment in Georgia should be judged on his/her credit record, either.

If we’re going to use this as a standard for employment, then it should be uniformly applied, or dropped altogether.

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@ Middle_Class

Sorry, but you are NO Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, Bill Gates, etc, etc, etc.
Stop with the wealth envy and tend to your own financial affairs.

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I would not be opposed to having my credit report reviewed by the company IF they would allow me to review their financial statements to see if I feel they are healthy enough for long term employment. Also, do they randomly pull credit checks on active employees? People can get in credit trouble while they are working there so should not they be fired?

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Truth Hurts

October 27th, 2010
8:46 am
If you cannot manage your own personal finances why would an employer want to hire you? There are too many other applicants who have managed their personal finances and are not deadbeats. Why take on unmitigated risk?

Such as Nathan Deal; why do Georgians want to hire this guy? Why take on the unmitigated risk?

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“Also, do they randomly pull credit checks on active employees? People can get in credit trouble while they are working there so should not they be fired?”

If the bill collectors or Sherrif is tracking you down at work, you bet they check and they can fire you. When your personal life crosses over into your business life this is the price you pay. I have seen this happen!

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Geez Louise, maybe employers should be administering spelling tests instead of credit checks.

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I have no house payment = I live with Mommy & Daddy
(which gives One Nation the freedom to be a deadbeat and troll the Internet)

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“So to all of these CALLOUS people on here- who do you think you are? Jesus? Stop judging folks and tend to your own matters!”

IT happens when you air your dirty laundry on the Internet. FYI – calling people callous is judging as well!

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“Have you ever had to deal with the three major credit agencies?”

No – never. However, I pay my debts. You wouldn’t have the hassel either if you did the right thing.

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“We researched the issue a number of years ago and did not find sufficient data to support a correlation between a score and job performance and risk,” Suhr said”

Can any of you backing the use of credit checks produce any data correlating these issues or are these your “feelings”? It’s really just more voodoo that companies go through (personality tests, etc) that exist only to paper the file, cya and justify the HR staffing.

I will be glad to reconsider based on some pertinent data.

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George Bailey, the employer is in the power position not the employee. How many employee’s ask a potential employer for their credit report. I would imagine NONE because if we really knew the financial history of these companies many employees of the company would leave. Utilizing credit reports are a scam, some or legitimate, many are not. Criminal backgrounds are good indicators. Thus I bet Bernie Maddoff had perfect credit, around 800. Its a man made factor, you don’t see the potential for abuse because you have been suckered into the credit institute model of utilizing credit for other than financial purposes. When it fails they will say its within the probability of error, not statistical model can be proven 100% correct.

Remember I SAW THE MODELS!!!!

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I bet many of the people who support credit checks for employment are voting for Nathan Deal, who would not pass the credit check muster for an executive job, but “he is good enough for governor” = hypocrites.

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i remember when i applied at a CPA firm that they wanted to do a “background” check. i knew nothing of the practice of running a credit report. my husband and i had , in fact, filed bankruptcy years
earlier because of an automobile accident in which he became totally disabled. my puney salary would not accomodate our bills. what the CPA
firm asked me to do was write in my own words why we filed bankruptcy. i did get the job, but i don’t know if i have had this experience since. the position was as a bookkeeper, so maybe, like mentioned above, it was because i was handling the finances

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Oregon has outlawed this practice. Time for other states to use the precedence.

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I think credit checks are a fantastic prerequisite for employment. If your employer can run a background check on you, there’s no reason he can’t run a credit check on you.

It’s ok for your employer to know you have a DUI but it’s not ok for him to know you don’t pay your bills? Both credit checks and background checks show character and maturity or lack thereof.

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Good luck getting a law preventing this since our very federal government pulls credit reports in order to get a security clearance. Crappy credit? No Top Secret, and probably not even a Secret…Is that to discriminate against minorities?!

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Interesting how many of you seem to think hiring people based on credit decisions is wrong but yet think Deal should NOT be elected because of his credit (and think that hiring him while rejecting others is wrong). Isn’t that the same discrimination?

For the record, I have very good credit and think basing a hiring decision on credit is bogus. I am an employer and do NOT run credit checks on my own internal employees. I DO run criminal backgrounds and MVR reports (yep – I want to know if someone had 3 DUI’s in the last 3 months – I don’t care about speeding tickets).

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I worked for a property investment/management company and they have let properties go back to the bank not because they could not pay them anymore but because it was no longer a good investment. I also worked for a similar company that filed chapter 11 bankruptcy protection right after they paid out $1.5 mil in corporate bonuses. I consider myself level headed but doesn’t anyone think that it is hypocritical to credit check potential employees for responsibility and honesty when stuff like this is par for the course when it comes to doing business in corporate america? Life is never fair but REALLY? Companies never seem to hold themselves to the same standards that they hold their employees. I concede that it may be a good tool to judge potential employees but the double standards cannot be ignored.

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The key point here is nobody owes you a job. Period

If you can’t pass a pee test, find an employer who doesn’t require it.

If you have DUI’s or other convictions, find an employer who doesn’t run background checks.

If your credit sucks, find an employer who doesn’t run a credit check.

Life really is full of choices.

Not to mention your previous choices in life can effect your future employment.

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Hey Andy,

You are right why can’t a company hire illegal immigrants if they feel they are a way better bargain then an American. You can pay a so much less which will make the product of companies so much more competitive plus they are willing to work harder for it! That is the same reason they say Americans are too needy, health insurance, minimum wage, etc. Hey its my company, its my right.

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Credibility is credibility, regardless if it’s personal or financial. I would want a credible person working for me.

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Hey Frank – Hiring illegals is illegal, so no a company shouldn’t do it. Period

However, pee tests, background checks and credit checks are legal.

What’s your next question?

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How can an employer judge a person on credit report? I have seen error’s on my own report and sent an great deal of time to get them corrected. But what would had happen during this time I was seeking employment? The credit agencies do not keep perfect records so how do employers get away with this?
Remember the Federal Polygraph Act? Before that time anyone could buy a polygraph instrument and go into business. Millions of workers lost jobs because polygraph results are inconclusive and not even used in our courts as to lay quilt.

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Dave,

You are 100% correct and thanks for bringing up the polygraph voodoo.

In addition to errors on credit reports , do companies even have any parameters for how they interpret these reports?

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This practice is widespead and has been for years. Funny how it takes a crappy economy and high employment for people to realize who their own worst enemy is … look in the mirror! I am tired of all the whining and excuses – so are lots of other hard working Americans!

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When the AJC moved from Downtown to Dunwoody, most employees had to reapply for their jobs. Guess what? AJC used Credt Reports to deny some long term employees jobs.

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Expect for life to get tougher on everyone that has ruined their credit and blamed it on the economy and unemployment. It high time everyone realized personal responsibility matters and will be rewarded. It is sad to see the socialist attitudes that exist in light of the Historical event that will take place next Tuesday.

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Statistics would indicate that the majority of the “do like me” , “personal responsibilty” , blah, blah posters on here would be in the same boat as many that have lost jobs, had medical issues etc.. in short time should they same happen to them. I guess their anonymous sanctimony makes them feel better about themselves, but they aren’t really fooling anyone.

Are there irresponsible people? Of course. Always have been ,always will be. You would have to suffer from cranial rectal inversion to think that the things happening to people in this economy are all due to their inabilty to be responsible.

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“What if people are sick with a terminal illness that has cost them their job?”

If it’s terminal, you probably don’t need another job.

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I paid my debts like I agreed to?
I kept medical insurance coverage on my healthy family?
I saved for years instead of spending my money on intangibles and luxuries?
The rewards for being personally responsible outweigh all the “what ifs” you can make up.

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The fact of the matter is that people with bad credit are not all irresponsible and people with good credit are not all responsible. The concept of credit is bogus anyway. In order to establish aand maintain good credit you have to borrow money and pay it back in a timely fashion even though you may not necessarily need to borrow the money in the first place. That’s how it works! I would say that if you had no credit at all then that means that you are responsible enough to have saved and paid in cash for whatever you need. That seem to reflect more on a persons character than credit. I think we all are warped by the whole concept.

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You people can whine and argue till your poor little fingers can blog no more! Facts are that things won’t change becuase the financially irresponsible aren’t happy about it. That’s not the way things happen and it won’t change. So blah, blah, blah and hate the good people of this country all you want. You still look pathetic and things won’t change.

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@George Bailey

I disagree with you about the validity of using these reports in the hiring process, but thanks for clarifying the credit score issue and what is on these employer reports.

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No problem Rivercard. And for the record, I’m not advocating the Credit Report as the hiring tool, merely explaining how the data is interpreted by the employers.

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It’s simple: Being in overwhelming debt makes the candidate a risk for theft or espionage. Say you had $200,000 debt that you could not make a single payment on. Someone comes up to you and offers you $200,000 if they you will give them an internal document. This is why credit checks are an important part of the background check.

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Use of a credit check can be applicable in certain cases, but even so bad credit should only be a reason to ask questions rather than screen out an application. For example, would you want a financial planner or credit counseler who has bad credit? Now if the reason they did was due to an illness or job loss that resulted in poor credit for a short period then the credit report alone won’t provide that detail. In the world of banking poor credit is generally enough to disqualify a candidate and that has been the case for 20+ years.

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Rivercard, company policy varies, but the general rule of thumb is 5 years of history. If the candidate has a large number of medical bills, those are not counted against them. If the candidate has been unemployed for 6 months to a year, but had no outstanding debt or payment issues prior to their job loss, then they are still looked at favorably. The “Red Flags” are the delinquent payments on the revolving accounts such as CC as well as delinquent payments on auto loans or store cards. Really big indicators seem to be collection notices from utility companies or former landlords that originated before the job loss. simply put: We understand that you had some rough times due to losing your job. However, the concern is why weren’t you meeting your financial obligations while you were gainfully employed? If someone is living beynd their means, that is a concern for the employer as it can be interpreted that this candidate has poor judgment, bad decision making ability, or worse, that this candidate isn’t particularly concerned about honoring their commitments. Any of the above would be a basis for not hiring.

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@Really

You cannot keep “Top Secret” clearance and carry alot of debt. That’s been the way that works for decades. In fact, you cannot even get “secret” clearence with alot of debt. It doesn’t matter if you pay on time or not.

BTW, how much would a company pay so they can get a classified release date? Being the first to market can be the diff between boom or bust for a company. Even the lowest worker on a project is aware of his/her deadline.

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Nathan Deal has Bad Credit…

Nathan Deal has Bad Credit…

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Maybe if Freddy & Fanny had performed credit checks, the real-estate industry would NOT be in the current state it is in… OBummer loving losers that they ARE!!!

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From the article: “To my knowledge there isn’t any research out there that makes the critical link between what shows up on a credit report and information that gets to whether someone will be able to perform the job,” Crawford said.

From BudFor that reason, SunTrust mortgage company does not conduct credit background checks, spokesman Hugh Suhr said. “We researched the issue a number of years ago and did not find sufficient data to support a correlation between a score and job performance and risk,” Suhr said.

What Suhr isn’t telling you is that the mortgage brokers that they do business with OUTSIDE of Suntrust give the company way to much money to care about “credit”….that response ONLY relates to the MORTGAGE DIVISION and not Suntrust Bank….if they cared about “credit” in the mortgage side..they wouldn’t have any outside brokers bringing them in business…WOW..isn’t that how we go into this trouble in the first place!

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I am j lazy…..drink my beer…hang out at the beach….my credit is in 790’s -810 … range been working the same job for 26 years. Got just under 8 years on my condo…..my life is grand. I love it!!!!

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Let’s just hope that none of the advocates of credit checking for employment ever become the victim of identity theft.

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It’s simple: Being in overwhelming debt makes the candidate a risk for theft or espionage. Say you had $200,000 debt that you could not make a single payment on. Someone comes up to you and offers you $200,000 if they you will give them an internal document. This is why credit checks are an important part of the background check.

Apples and oranges.
Bad credit does not equal theft.
200k debt would lead to a quick bankruptcy.

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Rolling-in-coleslaw

So you work @ KFC? Do you realize you just called yourself “dumb as dirt”?

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I wish I could also check to see who voted for Obama. Oh well, the credit checks will probably give me the same results.

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DAWG, read my previous post. It’s an overall picture based on a 5 to 10 year run. Noone is getting denied because of wha happened in the last year. However, if the person had a job, was getting paid, and still chose not to honor their fiancial obligations, it sends a pretty powerful message to an employer. Alos, Medical is not considered when looking at someones credit history. Remember, it’s the history, and not the FICO score. The report that employers see does not give them the FICO.

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Seems to me doing a credit check on a person for a job, is an invasion of privacy. You shouldn’t have to sign your life away so someone else can find out your personal information. In this economy, millions of people could have lousy credit through no fault of their own. It is no longer the people’s country, Corporations rule the roost now. You get who you vote for and this is what we are left with. It’s all about profit and who cares about the people.

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I have not taken the time to read all the comments, so I apologize in advance if I’m repeating.

NO potential employer has the right to look into your credit history. Every time your credit is checked is a ding on your credit score. So, if you have applied for 10 jobs and each company checks your credit, by the time #10 checks, your score has dropped.

A long time ago, potential employers were banned from asking questions (to females) such as: Are you married? Does your husband’s job have the possibility of transfer? Do you have children? Do you plan on having children?

These are all private questions that, rightfully, have no basis on job performance. In the same vein, credit scores have nothing to do with how well the person can perform on the job and are a further invasion of privacy. ESPECIALLY in today’s tough economic environment.

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If creditworthiness is highly pertinent to the job (financial services or where the employee handles money or is involved with sensitive information or intellectual property), then a decent credit score should be considered a bona fide occupational qualification. For many other jobs the credit data would seem to be less relevant, though some note a link between poor credit scores and undesirable employee behavior.

But in this economy there are a lot of folks with bad credit scores and that number will increase.

That’s why it’s important to vote next Tuesday. Democrats, that’s November 3rd.

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All right George I will take the bait.

No, I don’t feel like it would be unfair ,if I were hired over someone without a college degree, if and only if, my degree was specific to the job being applied for. Otherwise, it seems it is just another crutch for the decision maker as opposed to being a viable tool. Having been this decision maker before, I understand the desire to have something to reinforce what is almost always a highly subjective decision, but just because I have it that doesn’t mean my decision was any more sound.

That is my problem with the credit report. While many “feel” it is predictive of some future behavior, I don’t. I haven’t seen any data that really gives credence to either viewpoint.

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Ok, I started out this morning with my comment that I think this credit checking for a job is nuts. Tonight, after perusing these 369 comments I’m more convinced that it’s nuts and many of you more holy than thou advocates are way misguided. You’ve drank the cool aide.

All through this tread of comments I’ve read the theme of “Responsibility”. The credit check will provide a measure of responsibility. Ok responsibility advocates let’s find out how far we should go.

I’m president of my own company and I hire and fire. I hired and fired throughout a twenty-five corporate career with a Fortune 10 corporation. So, I know how the game is played.

Let’s say that I have a job opening. It’s is a professional position requiring an educated, skilled, experienced and responsible person. What’s a fair criteria for selecting this person? Education? Work experience? Job knowledge? Motivation? Inspiration? Energy? Enthusiastic about the job? Good work references? Good communication skills? Good people skills? Actually, all of these are good criteria and are predictive of a good hire. But you advocates want to go further. You want to predict Responsibility. So let’s play that you’re my candidate and I’m going to predict you’re responsibility so….

I want you’re credit report because if you’ve paid your bills on time it’s a good predictor of your responsibility. Right? Right!

Next, I want your children’s grades from school because if they’re not making A’s and B’s then that shows you’re not a responsible parent and will not be a responsible employee.

Then I want your utility bills to see how you use water, gas and electricity because if you’re not responsible with precious resources you want be responsible on your new job.

I want to interview your neighbors to better understand how you maintain your home and property because someone who can’t keep their lawn up is not responsible and can’t be responsible on the job.

I want to know the history of your food purchases so that I can determine if you eat responsibly because some food choices are clear predictors of responsibility.

I want to know where and how often you attend church because someone who is not attending to the spiritual side of there life is not responsible and will not be responsible on the job.

I need a record of how often you call and talk to your mother because a person that is not responsible to their parents can’t be a responsible employee.

How far do you want me to take this advocates. You do get the point, right?

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You filthy Gringos (referring to Los Blancitos).. The majority of my people pay cash for every thing we have. So that means low credit is not bad credit. It just means we choose not to be stupid and pay interest to the banks like you do. The day will come, when white will fade into the sunset like Jordache jeans..

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“Research indicates African-Americans and Hispanics tend to have poorer credit than whites”

O yeah……Well I am half black and half Mexican…….
And my credit blows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I admit, I have had to file bankruptcy last month and my credit sucks!

It was not because of over spending and being irresponsibility…which I believed was why people are in the shape they are in with over extending themselves.

but rather it was because of my small business is not surviving due to our economy. Had to use credit to keep us afloat over the last 3 years; trying to turn business back to profitable.

And…husband had a lay-off and now reemployed with 40% decreased income.

for those of you you blasted poor credit as a part of overspending and irresponsibility — lets talk!

We are hard working and honest people. I have access to most of my customer’s credit info and I WOULD NEVER THINK OF USING IT no matter how desperate!

Deciding a person’s ability to do a job based on credit worthiness is just WRONG!

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Of course a credit report has NOTHING to do with a person’s job performance! My credit score is low for reasons that I had no control over. It is NOT a way to judge someone’s character. It is PRIVATE and is no one’s business but my own!!!

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I will let a company check “my” credit report, (which is excellent), if they let me see “Thier Credit Report and complaints First!” You must interview the Employer as well. Too many companys are ran by idiots in the first place. Just because a person may have bad Credit may only mean they need a job to pay the bills. This country owes China, do you want us to let them see “Our Credit Report???? You get the picture??? How dare a company within “this” country ask such a thing????

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no no what credit score have to do with a job ? peoples need jods

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Hi Bryan, FYI, a credit report is more than credit cards! Okay Bryan let’s say you are making a high 6 figure salary and you were let go, no job. Now your home is worth $400,000, your leased cars are a total of $1,100 per month and we’ll forego the utilities, food, maintenance, daycare, tuition and insurances. You get the picture. Not everyone with a poor credit report is an irresponsible bill payer. So do you get the picture, there are circumstances that can’t be help in some cases. So don’t assume anything not in this economy, don’t judge for you may end up in their shoes. It is not fair to use credit reports as a consideration in job hiring. Isn’t the extensive background check enough? I know what your thing how about a Bank Teller, well they are bonded and there are very tough sentences for stealing. Peace

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Employers are trying hard to find good people. They need workers and know that . They also don’t want to hire bad employees. They are expensive and consume a huge amount of resource and attetnion. Checking references and credit are two ways of potentially screening out employees who will not be good employees. I have used credit checks to spot people who either are under so much financial pressure that they cannot concentrate or who are not meeting commitments. We also reference checked employees to find people who performed well in previous employment. If you take away the employer’s abililty to screen out bad employees, they will just be more likely not to hire anyone at all.

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We had perfect credit until my husband was laid off, we used all our savings, had to start pulling from our IRA account until it was no more just to keep our bills paid so our credit was affected in hopes he would find another job, only once the money was gone we starting falling behind, my check & unemployment was the same amount, so it didn’t go far. My son couldn’t go to college after high school, we tried to work something out with our creditors with no luck, now we are being hounded by collectors threating to lean our home & bank account, which by the way has no money and our credit score is like 560 when it use to be 783. My husband will never find work going by the credit score & in his line of work he has nothing to do with handling money or any finance at all. What are we going to do? What are the rest of the people going to do?

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gamama

October 27th, 2010
11:49 pm

So, what is your position on Nathan Deal and his financial woes? Would you hire him? And, please explain.

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Job Scared

October 28th, 2010
7:56 am

“What are we going to do? What are the rest of the people going to do?”

The first thing you and many like you can do is not elect a Governor who is in the same situation. Trust me, he will pull himself from debt, utilizing our tax dollars, and won’t do a damn thing for you and those like you. Sonny Perdue has done nothing for the individual citizens of this state. What make people think his buddy Nathan Deal will be any different is beyond comprehension to even the most ignorant. Roy Barnes is not the perfect candidate, but he is the best candidate on the ticket for Governor of Georgia.

And no, I’m not endorsing Roy Barnes. I simply just can not phatom a known crook running my state. Period!

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People in general are good natured. We say “excuse me” when we bump into someone by mistake, we say “bless you” when even a stranger sneezes, we give money to homeless people,volunteer our time, we console strangers if we see them in pain, we donate to charities, buy neighbors girl scout cookies even if we don’t want them, and the list goes on and on. However for some reason many of us are irresponsible with our own personal finances. We have a do as I say but not as I do attitude. A friend once told me that don’t judge your teenager as to the way she treats you but rather how she treats other people. It is in our nature to treat other people with more respect than we treat ourselves. Ever find yourself being more courteous to strangers than family members? With all this being said I believe that a credit score tells very little about how a person will perform for a company. An interview, background check(so that you know the person isn’t wanted by the police) and a thorough check of references and possibly past employers is more than enough to help one predict whether or not this person will make for a good employee. A credit score will not tell you this and no one can prove it.

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I don’t like it, but an employer has the job and I don’t have any “rights” to the job. What I have is the right to walk away from the job if I don’t want to let them do a credit check. We are slowly losing our freedoms. If everyone refused to allow a credit check, the situation would quickly change.

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@angela
I sure didn’t get any chances to explain what is on my credit report. I just got flat out rejected. Since you LOVE to say “live within your means” what would you do should you lose your job and all of your assets/bank accounts get stolen? You will find out quickly that credit reporting agencies do not care, and it takes near an act of congress to get the situation corrected. With no $ for a lawyer, you’re screwed.

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@ ChipprJones at 1:48 am on 10-28-2010

Chippr,

I just bet your co-workers just LOVE having to put up with your foul-mouthed, undereducated, impatient anger management issues each day.

They must each be absolutely overjoyed at having work extra each day to cover up your mistakes, lack of attention to detail and overall incompetence while you can spend most of the day just “keeping it real.”

You should be lucky for that you are entitled to that nice, over-paying, Affirmative Action job you have and could never EARN on your own merits, especially when you probably lack the requisite intelligence, patience, humility and people skills to work at even the Post Office.

Why you are bragging about your fantasy credit score and how much money you make, why don’t you go ahead and brag to us all about you “good” you are in bed, too?

Keep THAT Real, My Man!

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The majority of jobs that built this country has nothing to do with peoples credit history. We as humans need to be more realistic about the things we do or say in life. We need think first before we acted. Research ideas before trying to implement them. Determine what impact it’s going to have on the rest of american citizens or even the world.
The companies that comes up with these trivial job hiring requirement are selfish and unconcern about the working class peoples that has made them milllions. Why would you check the credit of a janitor, carpenter, truck driver, maid, cook, construction worker, secretary, or maintenance worker etc ; these are the peoples that built this country to where it is today; which was base on hardwork, sweat and tears. Probably more than half of the laborer of this country at some point in their life has experience bad credit.
If you check their work history most of these peoples that earn their living through hard work , swear and tears are more productive with excellent performance record. These so call office heads, CEO’s and Managers of some of these companies have no clue of what goes on in a middle of lower class family life. Most of these peoples work hard just to make ends meet, and sometime still experience financial diffculties.
These so call CEO’s, office heads and managers need to start concerning themselves more with make decision on how to reduced cost without eliminating any of the employees within the company workforce, improve the quality of item(s) produced in this country, quanitity, safety of the employee within the work force, moral of the employees, needs of the employees and their families and find innovative ways to motivate the employees to perform at their maximun potentials.
Performing credit checks on applicant applying for a job has noting to do with their ability to meet and exceed in their job performance. Some peoples experience financial problem for many different reasons. Example: sickness, low paying job, and todays we are dealing with a poor performing job market. Peoples are constantly losing their job and homes.
Some really smart CEO, office head or manager has persuased companies that it’s a good idea to start checking job applicant credit history. making a decision to introduce credit checking into companies hiring practice is ludicrous and should be banded. This will only add to the unemployment problem that we are already experiencing. (Politicians) This country is headed in the wrong direction. We need to learn to start loving each others find more inovative ways to help each others and work together as teams to improve in areas that’s going to benefit this country. (Stop the fighting amoung ourselve we can’t accomplish anything fighting each other. Someone need to standup and be accountable and make decisions on what’s best for this country.) God Bless America

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For all of you folks, who are outraged that an employer could use bad credit to keep you from a job, welcome to the world of “employment at will.” Right now an employer can fire you or refuse to hire you for being gay, too fat, pregnant, etc. Credit is just one more standard. However, I doubt those of you who own a business think that the government or anyone else should tell you who you have to hire or fire. Shouldn’t an employer be able to use any reason? Are employers now obligated to hire you with less than complete, public knowledge? This is not an invasion of privacy. This info is available to the public just like your drunken Cancun spring break photos are on your Facebook page. Yes, job performance ought to be the standard, but it rarely is. Did any Home Depot stockholder or employee think Nardelli performed well enough to be entitled to $300 million in pay? A company or private employer is crazy to make hiring and firing decisions based on anything but performance, but shouldn’t they have the final say? They are the ones who have to pay you. Plus, just because you have a bad credit score, you may still be hireable if it can be explained away as a result of a layoff, medical bills, etc. It is just one more piece of information that may or may not give an employer some indication of your performance potential.

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Well, we know who not to work for now, don’t we?

No, credit is not PUBLIC knowledge. You cannot, as an individual, get your own credit score without paying or loan application, and certainly not someone else’s credit report. DING-DONG!!

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can i get the credit scores of the executive team of the company i’m applying for? no? why not?

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Dada from 3:53 pm -

Do you ever feel guilty getting that ‘Affirmative Action’ position as a “Budget Analyst” you didn’t earn while several superior candidates with better education & grades, more humility, a higher level of couth and better manners were passed over for that position simply for being more pale than you?

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DaDa, Your credit rating is not a pre-requisite for a government job so to pull your credit is a totally moot point. Heck, the Treasury Sect’y didn’t even pay his taxes and he got appointed. Charles Rangle didn’t claim a million bucks on his taxes and he’s gonna get re-elected as a US Congressman! DaDA, your credit score could be 200 and get hired by government and you know what?? That is the way it should be- even in the private sector.

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to Bryan,

Do you actually think that a credit check is a need to know what kind of person you are by whats on your credit?? give me a break!! you know sometimes in life people get unexpected blows like loosing their jobs and cant find one right away because the economy is pretty bad right now and cant pay the bills and your credit is down the drain. Ive seen where people have the greatest jobs, perfect credit but get caught up doing illegal activity such as fraud, drugs etc, and end up with charges and doing time in jail, so now you tell me In what way does that tell you about them being responsible and about their character?

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