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Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
26,701 posts, read 41,779,199 times
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As someone who works in finance and deals with credit reports, unless said job is in finance, credit reports have ZERO business being used in the hiring process. Credit reports do not tell a fair story. They do not tell the reason you had 30 day late payments was because your company laid you off without notice. They don't explain the reason you filed bankruptcy was because you had cancer and that was the only way you could escape crushing medical bills and survive. They don't explain the reason you CC balance was high was because your sole source of transportation in your rural neighborhood needed a laundry list of repairs. Life happens and I don't think because life happened to you, you should be denied a job to try and get back on your feet because your bank would look at you funny if you wanted a loan.
This is not necessarily true, I work with quite a few people with less than perfect credit or just bad credit but are hard working dependable people. I been on my current job for 17 years now and over the years you get to know people and talk about almost any and everything. Some people started out with good credit but got into financial trouble long after they started that job, It is very possible to separate the two. Also many people got into financial trouble when the economy crashed back in 2008, and millions of people find themselves out of a job and were not able to pay their bills on time or not at all. I would be more worried about the criminal background instead.
What does "necessarily" have to do with it? This is about statistical probability of future performance not individual performance. A 55 yr old will pay much higher health insurance premiums than a 25 yr old because statistically they will have much higher health care costs, but every day you have thousands of 55 yr olds who will go on to live past 70 while thousands of 25 yr olds won't see another birthday. Employers interviewing candidates don't get to know them "over the years".
This whole credit check deal is ridiculous. If we're gonna do that, why don't we also:
*check more into a person's personal life. Let's see if they've been divorced and if so how many times. Because surely if they cant keep a happy relationship at home, then they can't keep one on the job too right?
*let's also judge overweight people. If they're too lazy or unmotivated to get into the gym, then that means they can be lazy and unmotivated to do their work right?
*lets dig into those high school/college transcripts! Because if you were a C student your whole life, then you're just "average" and not "smart" enough to work for us!
*what about those medical records? So you had knee replacement surgery and open-heart surgery? You're too much of a health and safety risk. Hit the road jack.
*lets also hack into people's DVRs and cable boxes and see what kind of shows they watch on TV. Is this all this person watch is garbage reality shows? Then that must mean they have poor taste and poor judgment.
Yes a lot of these sound ridiculous which is the point I'm trying to make. Unless it's the banking/financial industry, no other employers should use credit checks as a criteria to determine whether someone is qualified. Quite frankly, it should be nobody's business except a lender.
Let's just quit being so judgmental and get people back to work.
And while they're at it? Check City Data and Facebook.
People need jobs and unemployment causes bad credit.
If working in a position that has direct access to large amounts of money, I believe it makes sense.
I'm a VP / Ops Exec for a major commercial bank, and I had to go through an extensive background check, FBI/DHS screen, and credit check as part of my on boarding - and they recheck annually.
Considering I have self-initiated wire authority in the 9 figure range, I don't blame my employer for wanting to make sure I'm competent with my money, when handling millions of dollars of other people's money.
All those that are against credit checks have now ignored my question 3 times. I suspect it’s because the answer makes almost every argument against credit checks irrelevant. If you can't answer this question then all your other points are moot.
1. Why should a company hire someone with bad credit if they have another well qualified applicant with good credit? WHY? What possible ADVANTAGE can that bring to a company? We live in the USA where companies are free to hire however they like (minus federally protected catagories). So again why should they hire someone with bad credit with PLENTY of other applicants? Especially in this economy?
All those that are against credit checks have now ignored my question 3 times. I suspect it’s because the answer makes almost every argument against credit checks irrelevant. If you can't answer this question then all your other points are moot.
1. Why should a company hire someone with bad credit if they have another well qualified applicant with good credit? WHY? What possible ADVANTAGE can that bring to a company? We live in the USA where companies are free to hire however they like (minus federally protected catagories). So again why should they hire someone with bad credit with PLENTY of other applicants? Especially in this economy?
Why are they looking at the credit check to begin with?. That's the question that needs to be asked.
Why stop there? Why not confiscate the computers of all applicants and do a database of google searches? If there are two employees with equal qualifications, what advantage would the company have in hiring someone that looks at porn more than someone else.
Why not bring in grocery receipts as well? If there were two equally qualified applicants, what advantage would it be for a company to hire someone who eats more unhealthy?
If you gave someone who is careless access to your credit, it's your fault.
Your ex-husband or ex-wife? A lot of people have exes who did sneaky things behind their back. One of the many sneaky things is running up credit card bills, often while cheating on them with someone else. That is very common. And other people's behavior is not the spouse's responsibility, except of course with credit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest
If you were under-insured, it's your fault.
Not at all. You have heard of Obamacare, right? You know why it was invented? Because millions of Americans don't have any health insurance. So let's not even go into the issue about how many more people don't have enough. Obvioulsy lack of medical insurance is not a rare problem in this country.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest
Identity theft is the least likely to be your fault, but your disputes show up on your credit report... so it's already explained when the employer checks.
And lastly, identity theft. A lot of people aren't even aware that their identity was stolen. My own mother stole my identity when I was 11 years old because she didn't pay her utility bills and put new ones under my SS#. I had bad credit before I was even old enough to drive. How can you dispute something you don't know about? I then had someone get a cc in my name when I was 25 and run up $4K in charges on it. I was notified about that one and got rid of that situation. In yet another incident, someone stole my 86 year old grandmother's identity and forged her signature on a cell phone contract. Then a shady collection agency aggressively went after her for $500+ she never owed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest
All the scenarios you mentioned are extremes.
They aren't extreme at all. And there is still no good reason for an employer to run credit checks.
Why are they looking at the credit check to begin with?. That's the question that needs to be asked.
Why stop there? Why not confiscate the computers of all applicants and do a database of google searches? If there are two employees with equal qualifications, what advantage would the company have in hiring someone that looks at porn more than someone else.
Why not bring in grocery receipts as well? If there were two equally qualified applicants, what advantage would it be for a company to hire someone who eats more unhealthy?
I noticed that there is still no answer to my question. Because like I said, no one can think of a real reason why a company CAN'T do credit checks.
But I can answer your question easily. Companies can check your credit because THEY ARE LEGALLY ALLOWED. The US is a free country so companies can set their guidelines regarding how they choose an employee as long as it is not a protected category. That's good enough reasons to do it.
And every other question you asked in your post regarding the "why don't they just check do X or X." They can do that too if they so choose and they are completely legally allowed. Here is another way to put it, companies are ENTILTED to put as many requirements, checks, qualifications or silly processes they want in order for them to hire you, its their company. If you don't like it you are free to go apply somewhere else.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scooby Snacks
They aren't extreme at all. And there is still no good reason for an employer to run credit checks.
Sorry Scooby but there is a good reason to run a credit check as a basis for hiring someone. First its not illegal nor is it immoral (in terms of universal morals everyone agrees on. i.e. raping murdering stealing etc.) That's good enough reasons under most circumstances.
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