should potential employers use credit checks?

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Just would like opinions on the subject. I've noticed more potential employers using credit checks as a condition of employment.

Has your employer checked your credit? on my credit report I've noticed several looked at my credit report. Just want it to be out there why some can't secure positions.

What does a credit score say about the police that it does not also say about nurses?

One be a good nurse with a bad credit score, but one cannot be a good police with a bad credit score? That makes no sense.

Police have access to drug bust money. At least that is what happened where I live. Quarter million and up type of money.

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Police have access to drug bust money. At least that is what happened where I live. Quarter million and up type of money.

Very true. They also, like nurses, have access to the drugs as well.

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My credit was trashed when I went bankrupt along with a bankrupt airline.

Nursing took a chance on me, and we've both been better off ever since.

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i would assume that getting a new, reasonably stable job wuold be helpful to the financial future of a potential employee.

i understand credit checks for financial positions, but no anything else.

my burger king chicken sammich is not going to taste any better from someone who has a credit score of 850. as long as you cook it properly, use good hand hygiene, and do not spit in it, i do not care.

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Said this before the last time this topic came up, and will break it down like a fraction once again.

A credit report tells a potential employer, insurer, or whomever has a legal right to access more than about how you handle your business.

What else is there?

Oh a whole lotta stuff, up to an including:

Previous names and or aliases used.

Different birth dates or years used.

Previous addresses

Previous employers

Different SSN# associated with your account (could be result of clerical errors in processing applications, or something more sinister)

Information contained in public records (varies by state laws but can be anything from liens & judgements up to and including criminal records).

So you see a credit report is an excellent resource for human resources to not only double check what one has listed on the application, but can be tool used as a jumping off point to lead in other directions.

For instance if an employment application requests all previous addresses for the past say several years, and you *forget* to list one, but it comes up on a credit report, HR may want to know more. Could it be there was something going on associated with that address, especially if it was in another state you don't want to talk about?

In any case this is why it is so very important to obtain those free credit reports once a year and clean up anything that either does not belong or is incorrect.

Personally think persons have much more to *fear* (if that is the proper word), from the various Internet database sites that troll and archive public information than credit reports. Federal laws govern the later while the former are pretty much self-regulated. Lexis-Nexis can cause you far more problems background check wise than any credit report.

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

Yes, yes, yes. The Lexis-Nexis databases are downright scary, and most people don't know they exist.

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I'm also against using a credit check for employment. I agree with much of what has already been stated but also because many people have errors on their reports.

I'm in the process of disputing several things with the credit reporting agencies because they have some very wrong information. If an employer checked my credit reports for previous addresses today they'd find at least four I've never lived at and despite being employed for the last ten years my occupation is still listed as "student." None of the phone numbers listed for me are accurate and two of them were never mine. There are simply too many errors on the average credit report for me to say it's a useful tool for employers as an HR resource.

As for what my credit says about me, well, some of it isn't about me. After pulling my credit report I discovered that there is a phone company account on there that is not only not mine (with a company I've never done business with) but also at an address where I've never lived. It might be an error or it might be an identity theft issue, either way it's providing wrong information about me to anyone who views my report.

For those with credit problems, I really encourage you to research because if you want to improve your scores there are a lot of things you can do (legally) that will help. Even for those who choose to do nothing though, negative info can only remain on your report a maximum of seven years (except bankruptcy which can remain up to ten) and then it falls off.

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I'm also against using a credit check for employment. I agree with much of what has already been stated but also because many people have errors on their reports.

I'm in the process of disputing several things with the credit reporting agencies because they have some very wrong information. If an employer checked my credit reports for previous addresses today they'd find at least four I've never lived at and despite being employed for the last ten years my occupation is still listed as "student." None of the phone numbers listed for me are accurate and two of them were never mine. There are simply too many errors on the average credit report for me to say it's a useful tool for employers as an HR resource.

As for what my credit says about me, well, some of it isn't about me. After pulling my credit report I discovered that there is a phone company account on there that is not only not mine (with a company I've never done business with) but also at an address where I've never lived. It might be an error or it might be an identity theft issue, either way it's providing wrong information about me to anyone who views my report.

For those with credit problems, I really encourage you to research because if you want to improve your scores there are a lot of things you can do (legally) that will help. Even for those who choose to do nothing though, negative info can only remain on your report a maximum of seven years (except bankruptcy which can remain up to ten) and then it falls off.

Credit reports, IIRC can only be requested with a potential employee's request and also (IIRC) when annual salary is over a certain amount. Of course one can refuse a potential employer's request for a credit report, but then they can reconsider their offer.......

When it comes to credit reports and really one's credit score (which is really what matters more these days), far better to be pro-active then reactive. Far too many persons wait until they have been refused credit, employment, or some such to look up what is on their files. There is a reason one is entitled to one free report per year, use it. Eaiser to deal with things as they come, rather then try to clear up several years worth of mess.

Case in point, went online and disputed something with Experian three weeks ago. It was solved within about a week. Not saying this will always hold true for everyone, but .....

Without resorting to looking at some sort of objective database, employers would either have to simply take an applicant's word as gospel (not likely to happen anymore), or conduct the rather extensive (and expensive) background checks done on high level executives and such. I'd rather merely consent to a credit report and pay nothing, then have to fork over several hundreds for a "background search" with no promise of getting the job.

By the way if errors are found and subsequently corrected on a credit report, by law the agency in question must inform those whom have received the previous error filled report of the new corrected version. If the employer,grantor of credit, or some such will reconsider your application is another matter.

When it comes to employers, IMHO if one was a strong contender for the position and it was only the "errors" in a credit report that prevented one from being hired, once they are removed there isn't a problem. However to put it bluntly, if an employer does not want to hire you, something in one's credit report is usually an excuse rather than the reason to deny.

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Definitely agree that pro-active is better than reactive! Also agree that if the credit report is the reason one doesn't get a job (in nursing) it's likely more of an excuse than a reason. However, I still feel that errors are far too plentiful on credit reports for an HR dept to use it as a reliable tool for information on previous employment or contact information. Even for the pro-active among us, it's not a reliable source of info considering one can have all of that old information removed from their credit report so the only thing that shows up is a current address, phone number and employer.

It's also worth pointing out that just because an employer requests your consent to do a credit check, it doesn't mean they will. I agreed to a credit check with my then prospective employer and they never looked at it.

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