Some States May Ban Credit Checks for Employment

[Pizza]

Corporate and business policies could be changed asking more questions from a prospective employee (i.e., you may see more of the question "have you ever filed for bankruptcy") since they may not be allowed by state law to run a credit check.

...OR such a question would be lumped with other illegal questions like "How old are you" and "Are you married". The question is unnecessary anyway because a background check will reveal the answer. Keep in mind that verifying a past bankruptcy is a lot different than obtaining a thorough record of all accounts owed and the payment history for each.

[flyinbroke]

Flamingo, this would lean more towards integrity to me. If you ask about BK, it is easy to check who is honest and who is lying. Regardless of financial status, I would rather have the honest person on my payroll.

Insurance profiling: most states still do it, I think only a handful have abolished the practice. My state has not.

[Flamingo]

Most of you are probably not aware that I work very closely with HR and corporate matters. What I brought up in here is being discussed in corporate and I am sure other business circles. I wanted to toss it in here as it relates heavily to the subject as one of several things that can occur if credit checks are eliminated. Corporate and business policies could be changed asking more questions from a prospective employee (i.e., you may see more of the question "have you ever filed for bankruptcy") since they may not be allowed by state law to run a credit check. You don't need a credit check to see if someone has filed for bankruptcy or has a judgment on record. So will the prospect of discrimination as to bad credit and/or bankruptcy ever fully be eliminated since it is easily checked without a credit report. A prospective employee would never know if if public records were obtained as to judgments on record or bankruptcy on record as that could/would be included in a background check. Lots and lots of things to consider and that could occur. It has taken years to attempt to eliminate insurance credit profiling with several states now not allowing the practice but there are still many states that still allow it....That issue has not been fully solved and here comes another discrimatory matter right behind it...This will not be a matter that will be quickly resolved to everyone's satisfaction. Time will tell...

[flyinbroke]

See, I had to show my SS card, so the "use of the credit report" does not fly for this. They call Social Security and anything amiss will come up. They are using credit reports to weed out people. This is wrong, especially when credit can tank because of what the banks do...mine dropped nearly 100 points just from CLDs. I did not max them out; not even close. This is not what the report says though.

If someone can not pay because they have no work, then can't get hired because of their credit rating it becomes a vicious circle and there will be no way back to solvency for them or for the country as a whole. We are a nation of consumers, after all. No money or credit=no consumption.

WhatMoney, I was the same way...worked in cryptography and with nukes...and the only thing they looked for was BK or serious delinquencies. I hear they are backing off the BKs because there are so many these days, and a spy can't blackmail someone who already put it out there in public. They want someone with something to hide or unadulterated greed.

[WhatMoney]

See my red highlight of your sentence above...you are missing the point on this - right now credit checks are done by approx. 60% of employers according to the latest news flash broadcast the other day. Eliminating credit checks will open the door wider for illegals to get into workplaces where before they wouldn't even take the chance to apply as to better jobs, therefore eliminating more jobs for everyone. Background checks may not catch anything and credit checks could catch illegally used SS numbers.

Did you miss my post about E-Verify? This is all a potential employer would need to check for a fake or stolen SSN. Credit reports are not needed and unreliable for checking one's legal status.

The reason illegals are hired is that their employers don't want to know their status. Verifying SSN for a new hire is voluntary. Blaming illegal employment on the illegals is missing the real target - the employers who know damn well what they are doing and who they are hiring.

Credit checks are usually done on higher level jobs and they are not looking for lack of citizenship or fake SSN's. As many have said here - it is just a weeding out process when there are too many applicants. A poor credit check or BK can be reason enough to send a rejection letter without even a phone interview.

Credit checks on employees is a relatively new trend. I have never had an employment credit check in my life, and most of my work required the highesl level of clearance in the country - four levels of security just to get into the nuclear weapons development area where I worked - clearances could take months of investigation by the FBI and Dept. of Defense. But never a credit score check. The only thing most employees were concerned with in the past was a criminal record or a record of civil litigation against a prior employer.

[momisery]

I side with; you ... they will find a reason. What this credit check business is all about is making people PAY even if they are sick.. business is business after all.

[Pizza]

The trick is to eliminate the discrimination of folks with bad credit/bankruptcy and to keep controls in place as to those who abuse the system making it hard for those who get stuck having to file bankruptcy and getting blackballed.

That wouldn't work because once an employer gets the check finished, they will use some simple explanation to disguise the discrimination, like "went with a better candidate" or "not a good match" and that's that. Discrimination happens all the time, and it's very difficult (and costly) to prove.

Would it help to mention that a couple of states have taken measures to block credit checks for employment already, and their economy hasn't crumbled as a result (relatively speaking, of course)?

[momisery]

Again, if the crime was as a juvenile is it expunged when your 18.. so youth would have no criminal record unless it was a felony.... Or a pretty bad crime.. shop lifting is removed... and you can get a job in retail.. the percentage of shoplifting kids was pretty high where I grew up, so are they all theives today? This is all about your credit and control of you and making you pay with your last dime even if you go without food or care. If business cared, they would do ss check with the office, it is cheaper than a tri merge.

[momisery]

I see what you highlighted but they don't use the credit cards, they simply use the SSN for a job. If the employers simply call the SS office they would find out these people are not who they say they are. The ages are usually wrong and the people are wrong about the birthdays.. easy way with out a credit check.... All a credit check would do is show if they have a score, possible jobs or movements ... but mostly what HR looks at is the FICO and for a BK.... it is used for weeding.. The ss office can provide the rest pretty easy. Seriously, I interviewed a girl in Ca and she had a card with her name on it... good card too, so I call the SS office.. come to find out the card own was 65.. probably her aunt and this girl was illegal... I didn't need a credit report to find that out. They are not using the fico for "illegals" they are using it against you if you don't pay your bills even if you can't afford to. Otherwise, they could order a report without scores and simply look at the info they need, but they order a full tri mege.. this is about your credit.

[momisery]

These people made off with Jewelry... if you file a complaint you better have proof.. they had no real proof other than missing jewelry and fuzzy paperwork.... All 5 file for "stress leave" and then went to work for Whitehall Jewelry in different stores in the same town. A business is not going to go after their product once the problem is removed if it costs too much.. proving it was the issue.. that was per the loss prevention person working this case in my area where I was the auditor. While they have attorney's on hand, if they lose the case, they can get sued.. hence the reason to not try and since the reason for the losses was gone.. they were happy with it. Sure they could go after them and hope it holds up in court.. but what if???? Costs too much.. just move on.... business is not a person, they are in this for profit, if they have to pay the courts that gets expensive, so does losing if you not sure you have enough of a case. I would say proving that these people did this in Phoenix AZ and sold it in Mexico would be pretty hard to prove..

[Flamingo]

When I worked in CA we had to have the SS card in hand so you can feel for the raised edges on it.. then we had to call the SS office to verify the name, age etc.. most of the cards were for people over working age, so if you had a 19 year old in front of you and the card belonged to a 65 year old you pretty much knew you had a problem. The card numbers are not reported as stolen, so a credit check does no good not everyone even has a credit report and employers will still hire you if you don't have a fico at all. The idea that a credit report being run will stop illegals doesn't float at all... Business like Walmart like to check to see if you filed a BK against them.. or any other retailer not because they are afraid you might steal because you would have a crimmal record if you did that.. but it is a form of punishment to get you to not filed a BK.. to simply find a way to pay those bills.. which will lead to stealing when there are no jobs...

See my red highlight of your sentence above...you are missing the point on this - right now credit checks are done by approx. 60% of employers according to the latest news flash broadcast the other day. Eliminating credit checks will open the door wider for illegals to get into workplaces where before they wouldn't even take the chance to apply as to better jobs, therefore eliminating more jobs for everyone. Background checks may not catch anything and credit checks could catch illegally used SS numbers. There was an article last fall in Newsweek or Time about a lady in California who had her SS number used 3 times by illegals in Texas. She had no idea for years it was being used until she did not receive a tax refund and called the IRS. It took her years to untangle it. She said if a credit report was checked by any employer it would have shown her having addresses in two states and working two jobs at the same time in two different states. Taking away controls in the system just opens the door for more opportunity for those to further take away jobs that citizens could get. The trick is to eliminate the discrimination of folks with bad credit/bankruptcy and to keep controls in place as to those who abuse the system making it hard for those who get stuck having to file bankruptcy and getting blackballed. Next people with criminal records will fight that background checks should be eliminated because many people get in trouble when younger, have something on the record, which could affect them when older trying to get a good job also...

[Pizza]

If you dropped off the face (of the earth), you wouldn't exist.

Oh, that.... .... got ya!

[flyinbroke]

Why would I not exist? Credit is only part of a background check, and the most insignificant. Until recently, most companies didn't even run a credit check.

If you dropped off the face, you wouldn't exist. There would be zero information out there. How do they know you are who you say you are...(sarcasm button off)

I still think the credit checking is a joke. It is a report that has a serious rate of inaccuracy, yet people in charge determine insurability and employability by it. I had a theory that insurers use it to maximize profit and nothing more; what is the real justification for employers using it? And FICO is raking money in hand over fist.

Does anyone else smell something rotten or should I crush more tinfoil on my hat?

[Pizza]

Yeah but then you don't exist, which means you are not a real person. Therefore you don't need a job.

Why would I not exist? Credit is only part of a background check, and the most insignificant. Until recently, most companies didn't even run a credit check.

[flyinbroke]

There are also so many devices in place that the prime "worries" of employers - such as theft or hacking - are (or schould be) a dead issue before an employee walks in the door. Security cameras, computer monitoring software ... nobody's getting away with anything, and if they try - BOOM! Criminal record. Credit really means nothing, nothing at all - just a weeder.

I had even forgotten about the MySpace & Facebook 'checks' that employers perform. Looks like in order to get a job you need to just fall off the face of the earth.

Yeah but then you don't exist, which means you are not a real person. Therefore you don't need a job.

Social media is easy to get around; just set to private and no one sees your drunken pics from Cancun. However there are a lot of attention ho's out there who have to put their laundry out for all. This can cost you; google "Cisco Fatty" for proof.