Empoyers Who Request Credit Reports!!!

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I've been an unemployed RN since June, 2003 and have been doing agency work which is very sporadic here in Salt Lake City. I have been to so many job interviews that I have lost count and always I get the same response from the employers. I have excellect qualifications but we hired another candidate who was more qualified. I went to an interview workshop and the lecturer told me that I was doing all the right things on an interview. I recently found out that here in Utah, many employers do credit checks on prospective employees. An attorney friend told me that pulling a credit report is included in the background check and if you sign a release form authorizing a background check, chances are, they will pull a credit report too. He also told me that employers can deny you employment if your credit is less than perfect and since my credit is less than perfect, I'm beginning to wonder if that is why I have been unable to find a job. I think this is absolutely appalling and underhanded of prospective employers. How do you pay your bills if you are not working??? I also understand that very few states allow this practice and unfortunately, I live in a state that does. Would love to hear some comments about this nasty little practice!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by Rapheal

Credit reports for employment? IMHO just another proof that the war on poverty has become a war on the poor.

:confused: Why would this be a war on the poor? As someone previously mentioned on this thread, they were poor and still paid their bills. I don't think that bad credit necessarily means someone is poor, just as a credit check doesn't necessarily mean a war on the poor.

Look: I've had my share of credit problems. And, I don't blame anyone but myself. I didn't expect the banks to lend me money, and I didn't expect anyone to hire me either.

Let's face it: while there are some exceptions, there are also a ton of people who abuse their credit and think they can skip out on bills without any consequences. Then they scream bloody murder when, in fact, there are consequences.

To be brutally honest, I was one of them. Then I realized that if it was my business, I wouldn't trust me either. Afterall, I did screw my creditors who, essentially, invested in me in good faith. Why should anyone trust me? Employee theft/fraud is a huge problem.

So I sucked it up and struggled for a number of years to fix it. I'm just getting out of the hole now. Two more years of paying bills, on time, and my credit is totally clean. The bad stuff will finally be gone.

I've learned my lesson: I don't blame the employers. I blame myself.

It's MY responsibility and MY fault. Not theirs.

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.
Originally posted by lizz

[b

I've learned my lesson: I don't blame the employers. I blame myself.

It's MY responsibility and MY fault. Not theirs. [/b]

I learned that lesson the hard way myself ... very well said, Lizz.

CeCiRN - wonderful news about your new job!!:balloons: Congratulations - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you!

Leigh

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I currently work in a casino while I am attending school. I have worked here for 6 1/2 years. I am a good employee and other than being late occasionaly I am a good employee. I have never worked around money and do not wish do deal with that kind of stress. 2 years ago I had to have a meeting with the Gaming commission regarding my credit. They informed me I would be put on probation for a year becasue I had to much bad credit, so during this time I would have to make some attempt to pay off my bad debt. I was insulted becasue the people who were telling me this had bad credit themselves (they informed me). I have worked here for a long time, I am trying to pay off my debt, that is why I am working. Without a job how can I pay it off. If they are afraid of theft, I would have done it a long time ago. Thankfully there were errors on the copy they had (it was old) so everything was cleared up. I think you should be judged on your abilities not you credit for your job. I know several people who are trying to support their familes becasue their bad debt exceeded the amount they allowed. It is really a sad state.... :o

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Here's a really great forum dedicated to consumer finance:

www.creditboards.com

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Originally posted by lunakat

I think you should be judged on your abilities not your credit for your job.

I'm sorry, but this whining is ridiculous. Flame me if you want, but you people really need to face some hard cold facts.

If people screw their creditors, it's nothing more than a glorified version of stealing.

Somebody lends you money in good faith, you decide to keep the money and not pay it back. (And we all know that a lot of people, including myself, have done this.)

Is that honest or responsible? Hell no!

But here comes all of the collective whining when an employer decides to check your credit to see make sure you're an honest, responsible individual.

You've ripped off your creditors! If you have really bad credit, then you've probably screwed a lot of creditors out of a lot of money. How would you feel if it was your money that was gone?

And why should anyone, including an employer, trust you? If you've screwed your creditors, who's to say you won't screw your employer?

Then you yell and scream because you can't get away with it, and a prospective employer is holding you accountable for your actions.

Will somebody, just for once, take responsibility for their own actions, rather than blame the entire universe for problems that they caused in the first place?

Judging from this thread, I guess not.:(

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Originally posted by lizz

I'm sorry, but this whining is ridiculous. Flame me if you want, but you people really need to face some hard cold facts. . . .

But here comes all of the collective whining when an employer decides to check your credit to see if you're an honest, responsible individual.

Will somebody, just for once, take responsibility for their own actions, rather than blame the entire universe for problems that they caused in the first place?

Judging from this thread, I guess not.:(

I have to say you are coming across as morally superior here. Just b/c you had sinned in your credit ways and now see the light doesn't mean that one prescription fits everyone.

It would be one thing if this credit system was accurate, fair, and responsive to end-users. It ain't. And the laws surrounding the financial industry (especially the Fair Credit Reporting Act) have been bought via campaign finance (a.k.a legalized corruption) and were written by lobbyiest representing banks, mortgage companies, and collection agencies. Average citizens had NO voice in setting up this system.

Then there are the cases where a divorce, catrastophic health bills, natural disasters, ID theft corrupt your record. Why isn't there discretion in the law for these scenareos? For ID theft why is it NOT possible to go before a judge and get the protection of government? In a similiar situation, you can bet your sweet a$$ employers get their day in court.

Like so much else made by the Republicrats, credit laws benefit those who are politically connected.

There is a lot of room for outrage here. And it's not just b/c a few people have bad karma to hide. A few really despicable employers use credit reports to find desparate people and take advantage of them (sometimes in truly unethical ways). Employers should have NO right to ask for credit history. The fact that they do illustrates how little political power employee's have.

If I had a wish, I ask everyone who despises employer credit report ability problem to write a terse letter to their congress critter demanding more rights, enclose a small donation, and a copy of a check of the same amount made out to any 3rd party organization e.g. cuip.org, termlimits.org etc. That would raise some eyebrows.

Gotta go, being summoned to get off the computer now. Great thread.

later,

Mr D

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Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

Lizz writes: "Will somebody, just for once, take responsibility for their own actions, rather than blame the entire universe for problems that they caused in the first place?"

Hear, hear!

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Great News CeCi,

I am still looking for the job, but I am very happy you got one. Have a Happy New Year.!

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Sorry, Mr_D. I don't buy it. And the creditors don't either. If you think only a few people intentionally skip out on their bills, you're sadly mistaken.

If you don't like their system, don't take their money. They have to be tough because so many people DO and WILL skip out on their bills if there are no consequences.

If I wanted to, I could give any number of excuses for my past credit problems.

I could tell you that I lost my job and couldn't find work, so I moved cross country so I could keep working and paying bills. I could tell you that my investment partner screwed me where I was unfairly nailed for all liability, which ruined my credit. And, I could tell you that there wasn't much I could do about it since I now lived three thousand miles away, and didn't have much control over the situation.

But I won't use that as an excuse because, ultimately, it was still MY RESPONSIBILITY and MY OBLIGATION. I didn't perform the due diligence I should have, period. There was more I could have done to remedy it too. My fault, not theirs.

There are some exceptions, I'll give you that. But don't tell me that every single person on this thread is a saint when it comes to credit. That's my problem with the discussion here.

Many creditors will work with you, as long as you demonstrate good faith. You can re-negotiate payment plans, even delay payments in some cases. But if you breach that good faith, they will nail you.

Identity theft? You can now easily freeze your credit with one call to a credit bureau. All of the other credit bureaus will pick it up, almost immediately. I've done it because I was concerned about identity theft, even though nothing was happening with my accounts.

Natural Disaster? Fires wiped out 5,000 homes in California. The people in most trouble are those who either didn't have homeowners insurance (by choice) or didn't upgrade their coverage (even though there was local and national press coverage about the need to upgrade homeowners insurance before the fires.) If people choose not to pay for insurance, they also choose the consequences if something goes wrong.

Divorce? I know plenty of people who divorce and still don't ruin their credit.

The bottom line is: there's a lot you can do to avoid trouble.

Why is personal responsibility not an issue here? Why is it ALWAYS someone else's fault?

If people were willing to assume some responsibility, then I wouldn't take issue with a lot of the statements here.

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Good post Lizz.

I have worked very hard to keep my credit in the excellent status it has been in for many years. I will repeat that...I have worked very hard for my credit history!

I must admit, at times I feel proud when people check my credit. I am proud of my credit record. If there are two applicants with very close qualifications, and the credit report is the determining factor, heck yeah, check my credit!!!

I have worked hard for my credit history just like I have worked hard at all my places of employment. If that gives me the edge, I'll take it.

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Originally posted by Mr_D

I have to say you are coming across as morally superior here.

I ditto that!!

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If taking responsibility for my actions and taking care of business is morally superior, so be it.

I'd rather be accused of moral superiority than make a bunch of lame excuses for bad credit, which seems to be the norm around here.

Besides, none of these excuses is going to change the fact that bad credit will stay on your record for seven years or more.

And it's not going to change the fact that employers will continue to check your credit, and routinely eliminate your application from consideration.

In the end, we'll see who gets the job: "Moral Superiority" or "Lame Excuses."

I'm willing to bet on "Moral Superiority."

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