Has anyone been turned down for a job because of credit?

[judaspriestess]

that just happened to me this week. I have ONE hiccup on my credit which occured in December.
This hiccup has ruined my credit, I went from having perfect credit to it being shot to hell.

This company ran my credit as part of the pre-employment screening and they said based on my credit they could not extend an offer to me. I provided all the documentation showing how I obtained an attorney TWO years ago and my issue had still not been resolved, they did not care. I have a real estate license for the past 8 years, a mortgage license obtained this year and no criminal history
I passed the background check, drug test and was recruited by their sales manager, who was pissed about this.


Today, my fiancee gets a call from a builder he applied to, they also ran his credit. His credit is spotless. They called and asked him why his credit cards where close to his limit?

WTF is going on???

[TroubleMan]

1. WTF???

They shouldn't be able to ask that. I don't know if it is against the law, but it sounds like it. It definitely has no bearing on somebody's ability to do a job well. If fact having bad credit might cause someone to work harder because they need the money.

[judaspriestess]

2. I feel like my dignity was taken

I don't know if its illegal but I definately feel discriminated against.

and I was just at a real estate division meeting hearing appeals for license denials.

There was a murderer (these are the states words) a rapist, a thief, a prostitute no joke and they were all given licenses. I mean people make mistakes and they paid their debt to society so I agreed they should be given a chance. But I get nailed for credit?

[Ediacara]

28. it's totally legal and totally baseless

Call your state attorney general and try to light a fire under his ass. It's a very dirty form of discrimination.

[barb162]

3. I would call the Labor Dept for your state and ask if this is legal

for both you and your fiancee.

If the credit is fine they certainly shouldn't be asking about the debt amount when bills are being paid in a timely manner....you're right, WTF

[Blue_Tires]

4. i almost certainly have

but no one has ever come out and said it....

[quiet.american]

5. Whatever happened to privacy?

So sorry to hear this happened to you. "Credit" seems to have become the mark of the beast. If you don't have A+, somehow, that's starting to translate into you're not fit to live.

[Yavin4]

6. I'm Going Through A Lawsuit With A Creditor Right Now

They're trying to collect on a credit card that I have never owned and they have not provided any documentation for. Credit Reports are a sham. Anyone can enter anything on your report without a shred of proof.

[KitchenWitch]

7. About 5 years ago, a friend of mine got in some credit trouble

she was currently employed (not in the finance industry by the way), and one of her creditors sent garnishment papers to her employer. Her employer fired her for this.

[Madrone]

8. No - because I managed to get out of the check.

Years ago, after first landing in WA state I needed a job and ASAP. It was winter, so I hired on at one of the "local" ski resorts. They hired me to cashier in a pub type establishment that also sold various types of fried food, snacks, and pizza. Everything was kosher - drug test, background check etc - but then everything hinged on a credit check. *!!!!* I had SHITTY credit, and I knew it. I never filled out or turned in the credit check form, and that place was such a clusterfuck they never knew. I went on to have THE record for cash drawer balances on the mountain. I RULE when it comes to balancing a cash drawer.

Pissed me off to no end that I wouldn't have gotten that job had they run my credit as was their intention. They use it as a barometer for criminal behavior - apparently bad credit equals "likely to steal". I call bullshit on THAT - if I STOLE I'd have had an ace credit report!

Fucking PHB's that make these policies obviously do not live in the real world with the rest of us.

[judaspriestess]

9. anyone else?

:kick:

[bigwillq]

10. My friend did last year.

He was all set to go out of state for the orientation. Passed the first two interview rounds. Passed the drug test. His references were solid.

They said his credit was the only problem. They didn't want to give him the job because they said people with credit problems may be a risk to the company.

I heard companies are tentative to give jobs to people with credit problems, especially if you have to deal with money as part of the job. Companies feel if you have credit debt, you might steal money in order to pay off your debt.

[prolesunited]

11. How many times has Donald Trump

declared bankruptcy?

[bigwillq]

12. Very good point.

:)

[sinkingfeeling]

13. Not me, but my son, who's a restaurant manager, lost a job due to

his credit report. Don't know why, but he can never pay a bill on time (he's making good money).

[LostinVA]

14. They can do that... but I don't think they can ask about credit cards

They also have to tell you if that's why you didn't get a job. I also think some states now say companies can't do that.

For a non-money handling situation, I think it is stupid and should be illegal. For a money-handling situation, it depends on what tye of credit problmes... thinhs happen to people sometimes.

[judaspriestess]

15. well hopefully this will change

across the board, I've never had this happen to me and it just sux....

I'm going to have to file bancruptcy. Its not as hard as people think. It really sux for me but I have no choice anymore.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

16. Is it a job involving money?

If so, that's a pretty damn good reason if you ask me.

[judaspriestess]

17. NO

its selling new homes.

I just got a mortgage license earlier this year and all the division did was ask me for documentation showing I was getting this resolved, which I am.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

18. Is helping obtain a mortgage a part of the job?

[judaspriestess]

20. well I'm licensed to help people obtain a mortgage

I spoke to the sales manager today and he is taking this to his division president. He's really pissed about this.

I'm licensed to help people obtain a mortgage thats what's stupid about this whole situation. I just got the license and AFTER my hiccup.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

23. I can still see the point.

If you're in a large financial rut and you're put into a position where you could possibly use your job to illegally leverage some money to get yourself out of that rut, it might not be a good idea to hire you. It's probably not fair, but I can at least understand this practice. It's the same reason they drug test bank tellers - it's not because they're afraid you'll screw up or get hurt on the job. They don't want to give access to thousands of dollars to someone who needs to support a habit.

[Ediacara]

30. Why?

Do you think people with bad credit are dishonest are unlucky? Does your credit get dinged when you steal?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

32. No, I don't personally.

But I can understand the problem when it comes to hiring. It's just not wise business to give open access to money to a person with large money problems. I wouldn't hire someone to be my accountant if I knew they were filing for bankruptcy, I can tell you that much. It doesn't say anything about the person, no, but why would you even risk it?

[Ediacara]

33. Why not do a real pre-employment screening?

Rather than relying on an unreliable metric?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

37. What, exactly, would that encompass?

I'm not exactly an HR director or anything here. I do know that, one way or another, it still sounds like a pretty friggin bad idea.

[Ediacara]

42. checking references, calling past employers etc

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

45. Okay, but say I call everyone...

and everyone says you're awesome. But there's another similarly qualified candidate that doesn't have a credit problem. Again, why risk it?

[elehhhhna]

44. GOOD POINT, not to mention that companies DON'T prosecute

employee theft almost EVER, (thus no record in a criminal b/g check) and won't discuss it in a reference check, so...

[ThomCat]

19. Because of my disability I have medical bills.

I'm sure my credit report isn't good because sometimes you fall behind. That can't be helped when your bills dump suddenly in large amounts.

One more obstacle to overcome if I leave this job and have to search for another. Wonderful.

[judaspriestess]

21. Exactly Thomcat

I just had a friend of mine have to jump through hoopes to get his broker license becuase he filed a BK due to medical bills. His wife had cancer and died. Her insurance started denying her claims and he was left with 120K in medical bills. He almost did not get his license renewed

[KitchenWitch]

35. YES - THANK YOU!!!!

Sorry for screaming.

I will be entering the world of independent contracting (when I go back to work) precisely because my credit is messed up due to health and medical bills.

[ThomCat]

38. I hope it works well for you.

I need the discipline of going into an office every day and interacting with other people. I couldn't work from home or work for myself.
:hug:

When you are ready to go back to commercial work (as opposed to the non-commercial work you probably do at home now) I hope you have lots of good stuff to tell us about.
:)

[KitchenWitch]

41. I am sure I will have stories!

:rofl:

[Democrats_win]

22. Credit card companies. Will we view them as terrorists one day?

We know their dirty practices

Usury= charging high interest rates. This was once considered immoral. In Conservative America, love is considered immoral.

Then they raise the rates on past loans!

adding fees upon fees and interest on fees and fees on the unpaid interst upon fees.

[Xithras]

24. Some employers look at it as a reliability thing.

If you are trying to get a money handling job, not getting hired if you have outstanding bills in collections is understandable. It's been proven many times over that people with collections are statistically more likely to steal (people will do incredibly dumb things when they get desperate enough). I wouldn't hire an accountant with bad credit, but that's about it.

I do know, however, that many employers take a different view on credit reports. Many employers view your bills as obligations, and if you aren't paying your bills they see you as skipping your obligations and decide that you're untrustworthy. I've always thought this was an incredibly stupid way to judge someone, but it isn't illegal and business owners are free to judge people however they want, as long as they aren't discriminating against a protected class.

[Ediacara]

31. Where has this been proven many times over?

I really want to know. I have looked endlessly, and have never found one piece of data even suggesting this is slightly true. Do you know where I can find it?

[Xithras]

40. I've seen it published in numerous business journals.

I'm a business owner, so I tend to read this kind of crap. I've seen studies cited in both the Wall Street Journal and on SmartMoney, but I didn't pay enough attention to know who did them (it really wasn't an important issue for me).

It's a desperation thing. People with bad credit are more likely to be suffering serious money issues, and people with a desperate need for money are statistically far more likely to steal from employers. Ergo, people with credit problems are statistically more likely to steal.

It's business, and business is about numbers. I personally wouldn't pass a potential employee over because of credit problems, but I don't work in a money-intensive field either. If I were replacing my accountant, on the other hand, I wouldn't replace him with someone with a half dozen active collections on his credit report.

[Ediacara]

43. If you can find this info

I'd love to see it. I've yet to see any actual data, just repeating this mythos as "fact."

[GirlinContempt]

46. All of the people who stole from our businesses

Were well off already. One woman (who we took to court) had a very high family income and wasn't in debt. The other guy wasn't in debt, and was making an above-average wage, yet he STILL stole.

[lukasahero]

25. Perhaps some misunderstanding

Your fiancee's credit is not "spotless" if his cards are "close to his limit".

Credit ratings are not only based on when the bills are paid but on the debt to income ratio and the debt to limit ratio.

I don't mean to be harsh but I do think you need to understand credit reporting so that you can actually get your credit to "perfect" (a "hiccup" would not take "perfect" credit to "ruined" in a single swoop). From what you describe, I think you have some stuff to learn about credit and how what you do affects it.

There are some really good web sites that explain it out there. And, yes, it's important to know because more and more companies are using credit ratings as part of their background checks, whether one agrees with that behavior or not.

[judaspriestess]

34. I work with credit everyday

I DO MORTGAGE LOANS, how much more do I need to understand? I know what debt to income ratio is, that AFFECTS you in a mortage situation, puhlease, and nowadays you can go stated income if your fico is 620 or better. perhaps you did not read my post all the way through.
My credit was in the 700's do you know what that is? until what happend in december so please don't patronize. Spotless is if you don't have any lates, it does not matter if the cc's are close to the limit. Sure his fico may not be as high as it should but its still spotless.

[Ediacara]

26. I have, it's completely legal, and completely baseless

There is absolutely zero correlation between credit score and personal trustworthiness. None. If there is even one speck of data suggesting the two are related, I've yet to find it, despite endless searching and contacting my state Attorney General.

Employers use it as a replacement for real pre-employment screening where they have to do hard things like call references on the phone and pay attention to what former employers are actually saying. Essentially, the employers are being lazy and using a metric with no basis in fact.

I can't get hired by banks because the recession in 2001 (moving to a new state is a bad thing to do in a recession) ruined my credit. I assume they think I'm more likely to steal, but a) I've worked in banks for many years and understand why robbing a bank is futile and b) my outstanding balances from the period are all paid up. I have bad credit because I was unlucky and made some bad decisions, and hiring managers are completely unable to understand that bad credit doesn't make you a bad person.

[JuniperLea]

27. Many companies do credit checks along with background checks

The thought is that if a person doesn't have the wherewithal to keep their own financial house in order, they may not be capable of keeping the company house in order. The other thought, which may have been the deal with your boyfriend, is that people who are financially strapped are more likely to steal from the company. I know this isn't fair, but there is a lot of competition out there for very few jobs. It's rough.

Sorry you had to learn of this in such a manner. You can, however, make credit reporting companies change your report status. It takes a lot of work but it's well worth the effort for many reasons.

[tjdee]

29. What are people with bad credit supposed to do?

I mean, I have a place to live, a job and a (crappy horrible used) car.

If any of those went away, I'd be up shit's creek because apparently I wouldn't be able to get a job, car insurance,an apartment, or transportation.

HOW are we supposed to fix our credift if we are forbidden from working and receiving an income? I have a college degree, would I have to work for McDonald's just because of my fucking credit?

[judaspriestess]

36. whats even worse

is the fact that I have had an attorney in place for two fucking years who is getting fired. They did nothing. I am filing a complaint witht he state bar association. I paid her 2300 for nothing. I now have a bancruptcy attorney in place cause this is the route I have to take. My appointment is in two weeks to get the paperwork going. I may have to sell my house as a last resort.

BUT ON A HAPPY NOTE, MANY OTHER COMPANIES DON'T DO CREDIT CHECKS. I've got a few other offers on the table, I've disclosed my issue and they said it did not matter. I just really really wanted this one job.

[Gormy Cuss]

39. Starve.

At least that seems to be the only alternative for those with bad credit.

Employers have been sold this product as a good indicator and until we have legislation that limits the use they will continue to use this cheap and probably highly unreliable indicator. I say 'highly unreliable' because credit reporting is done is such a sloppy manner that odds are good there are many high-risk applicants with excellent credit reports as their are ones with poor credit ratings.

What isn't discussed and I'm sure is happening is that hiring decisions are influenced by the credit items, not just the overall score. If the hiring manager sees that you have a mortgage that will be hard to pay on the salary offered, why waste time offering it you when there are other candidates without debt who would be able to live off the salary? Or more simply, if the hiring manager sees that you have little debt but seem eager to have the job, the salary offer will be a low-ball on the hunch that you'd be willing to accept it.

There are other ways that entries on the report may influence the hiring process. If the person doing the hiring thinks only low brow people shop at Sears, the candidate with Sears credit may not look as attractive as the one with only charge cards like American express. As long as it isn't the stated reason, there is no way to prove this.

We have two choices: either all of us just say no and walk away (unlikely because the practice has become commonplace) or force regulation.

[Giant Robot]

47. It makes me very scared because

I am in the same boat. My credit is in the tank and we are able(Barely) to keep ourselves afloat financially. If anything goes bad, however, we will be homeless easily. Neither Mrs. Giant Robot nor I would pass a credit check. We have been working diligently over the past several years to fix it so that we are not always struggling, but it's hard to keep going when I feel like I am continually told I am worthless for having messed up credit. We have scrimped and saved to put money aside to pay off creditors, we pay our rent, our utilities, food, etc. and still its not good enough. We have endured harassment at work and home by people demanding money where there is none. Fuck them. I am sorry this has happened to you, and I am sorry to turn this into my rant, but together we should all just say fuck them and demand to be treated like human beings, not just some damn credit score.

[derby378]

48. My business doesn't run credit checks

I think it's a dastardly idea, myself - designed to further squeeze the middle class.

[BlueJazz]

49. This story will make you Pissed off at the "System" >>>>

About a year ago, one of my Friends Girlfriend had her identity stolen and
the fucker ran up a slew of credit debt.
This woman (Girlfriend) is one of the most intelligent, classy, honest people
I've ever met.
She spent about 2 grand getting her credit "back on track" but still has
a few items that one of the Credit Reporting agencies have yet to fix (after 1 year) Aggg!

Last month She applied for 2 jobs at Banks (high level loan officer)
plus a few other places. She was perfect for ANY of the jobs.

Anyway..after getting turned down for all of them, she contacted the Credit Reporting place
(that STILL hasn't "fixed" her report) and sure enough..all the jobs that she applied for
were looked at in this one Credit Reporting fuckers.

What a disgusting Injustice!

On Edit: After seeing her sitting on her Boyfriends couch, Crying her eyes out, I am starting
to understand why some unbalanced folks get a shotgun, go into a place of business
and "Go Postal" (Well..Kinda')

[derby378]

50. Sounds like a resolution for 2006 precinct conventions to me

To wit, a resolution seeking to outlaw the use of credit checks as a criteria for denying employment to someone, especially in the age of identity theft.

[displacedtexan]

51. Here's what I find totally ridiculous about credit:

My credit score improved by 20 points just by moving from
one zip code to another (downtown Baltimore to historic
Capitol Hill in DC).

How crazy is that?

[AzDar]

52. And Jeebus help you if you have an ERROR! We discovered my Hubby's

credit report contains an outstanding amount (almost 100 Gs!!) for a mortgage that was paid off 3 years ago.
Two of the agencies show it properly, as being paid off, while the other reflects the error and you wouldn't BELIEVE the ridiculous crap and no-longer-accessible documentation they want YOU to provide before they'll fix THEIR error. We've been jumping through hoops for 6 months now, and STILL no resolution. It's not a priority to protect the consumer, that's for sure!