New Law Would Prevent Employers from Checking Credit Reports

I think this new law would be a decent gain for most everyone. It would at least give a lot more people a fair chance to get a job and prove themselves.

There is no reason why employers should not consider certain potential employees solely on one's credit history.

Thanks for providing this post.

I completely agree with this bill and it should be enacted and on the presidents desk ASAP. This is another stupid way employers discriminate against good people trying to get themselves back on their feet only to get kicked in the face.

Honestly, this bill is common sense and should have been law along, long time ago!

They shoud also make it illegal for the company to even give you the option of allowing them to check your credit report. I've seen companies make the credit report check optional and if you decided to not share your credit report, then they would not hire you.

My credit has tanked in the pass few years, but my loyalty to my job has not. We've suffered from layoffs, medical issues, and more, yet it has never affected my work.

I go to work everyday and I work hard. Yet, my employer could decide to conduct a credit check on my and my job would not be lost; nor would I be able to secure another job because of my credit. I do not handle money, I do work on the accounts, I work with graduates in securing positions upon completion of their education and I do it well.

Employers should not be able to consider credit when considering employment except in very specific cases and please make them specific, don't pass a law with too many loop holes for employers to skip through.

I think is outrageous that employers are allowed to check a prospect employee credit report. Where is this world going to? The next thing would be checking the medical records to see if they can do the job as well. This is a joke! We are really destroying ourselves! We have the right of privacy, and people have financial problems that unable them to pay bills, like unemployeed people who do not have enough money to pay all of the bills ontime or single mothers who struggle to feed their children. Is that enough struggle to add insult to injury? Not to mention that scammers will take advantage of the situation and portray themselves as employers to check the credit score and assume identity. There are many good people who wants to work and are good workers who are struggling to pay bills. Unfortunately, employers have not mercy and are relaying on a dumb credit report to judge people. I hope the law will pass asap. 3+3

I agree. I received a call from a HR department that want to interview me as a top candidate but they require me to bring a recent credit report as a condition of employment. This position doesn't deal with funds or security in any way. My credit is awful as I have been out of work for nearly a year and have lost just about everything. I feel there is no way to pull myself back to what I had always considered "normal". My past work ethic and employee history of 25 years count for nothing I guess. Without the ability to work how will anyone be able to rebuild. This is discrimination at it's worst.

You should not be required to supply your own credit report for an employer to inspect. If they want to review your credit, they should pull your report themselves after receiving your permission to do so. Don't fall for scams where fake employers ask you to supply your credit report, and then proceed to use it to take out new credit in your name!

Good job! THANKS! You guys do a great website, and have some great contents. Keep up the good work.
best regards,
เอเจล

Very good article.... I really welcome the new law..... at last this law may change many issues against employees....

Thanks for the post.

Unless one is to act in a fiduciary capacity or handle others' money (i.e., bank tellers, etc.), there is NO reason for an employer to check an applicant's credit report.

Just an aside: There is no lawful reason to require an applicant's SSN unless and until that applicant has been offered a position. Lawfulness aside, you never know who will see your application, or through how many hands it passes before it reaches the person who will decide to offer you a position.

I have gotten out of debt 2 times but due to current situations have have some debt again. still, how can a company have the right to use my credit report as a rrequirement for new employment? Why can't I pull their credit report as a requirement for me to decide if I want to work for them? I want these bailed out companies reports. This is the BEST new bill I have ever seen. PLEASE SUPPORT THIS!

It is OUTRAGEOUS. What does this credit score have to do with getting a job. I am going to seek legal action against any company that wants to jeapordize my career just over a stupid issue with financial matters. I blame this whole thing on Rite Aid. They took me from full time to part time when I least expected it. This set me back on my bills, and placed my credit to ruin.
Now, I can't get a job over their nonsense.

If Obama loves his country, and wants to put a stop to this whole economic mess. OBAMA- Don't let employers refuse people over their credit.
I think that it is illegal to even snoop into peoples backgrounds to begin with.

I think there are some scenarios when it makes sense for employers to check your credit report as part of a background check. If you're going to be handling other people's money, but have recently declared bankruptcy, you might not be the best fit for the job. Not that going bankrupt is a sign that you're bad with money, but it could create create a conflict of interest.

I was going to argue with you but you are right in that scenrio.

I think that the only time that they should pass such a strict law is if your going to work for the US Government, or even a main Manager position. It is always the little guy that is gonna suffer. There are people out there that did not want their credit to be bad, but they became victims of the economy, losing their jobs, couldn't pay their bills. Was that their fault. NO

I agree that employer credit checks can create a vicious cycle, keeping those who really need a job in debt and unable to pay their bills. But I don't know that legislation is needed to ban the practice altogether. Smart employers will focus on the applicant's skills first and foremost, and run a background/credit check only after they've decided that person is the best fit for the job. If something egregious is found, like unpaid debts, a good employer should only rescind the offer if they think a person's financial situation would interfere in some way with their job performance.

I agree with you Carrie. This country is in a big mess as it is. Maybee Obama should see the truth as to why unemployment is is sky high. Someone needs to bring this to Obamas attention. This is job discrimination to peoples work ethics.
If Obama wants to put an end once and for all to this counties problems, then I highly suggest that he makes a law saying, it is illegal to come aginst a person just because of their credit.

Equifax needs a lawsuit placed against them for disclosing peoples personal financial business to employers.

Well, remember that employers cannot pull your credit without your permission. According to the FCRA, the employer must disclose (in a standalone document) to the applicant that a credit report will be pulled and the applicant must authorize in writing that the credit report can be pulled. Also, if the employer denies employment to the applicant due to adverse information found in the credit report, the employer must provide a copy of the credit report and a summary of consumer rights under the FCRA to the applicant.

I completely DISAGREE with this bill. YOUR credit is YOUR problem. MY credit is MY PROBLEM. Employers should be able to see how you manage your money and that view finder is indicated in your credit history.

I can understand in a down economy that its more difficult to keep your credit score in an 'excellent' category BUT there's no way you can say it is 'through no fault of a person's own spending or lack of savings' that they can't keep their credit into good/very good territory.

BAD credit says you're not managing the money you do have -- well. Frankly no part of a good/bad or normal economy will improve your credit, that's up to each of us.

Yet one more example of a 'feel good law' that neither feels good or is right.

Employers have a right to know if you're a financial derelict or a credit criminal.

Don't want that tag? Don't live that way and suffer the high cost of low living.

David DiRenzo

David, I agree with you to a point. But what happens when something really unexpected happens? Say you're diagnosed with a medical condition and treatment is going to cost $100,000 out of pocket. Are you financially savvy enough to have prepared for that? Or would a debt that large wreck your credit, like it has so many others? Again, I don't disagree with you completely, but not all bad credit is a result of money mismanagement. There are people in this country working 12 hour days who can barely feed their kids.

Carrie

That's an extenuating circumstance and understandable -- be realistic how many people are really in that situation? for those that are they are going to supply such a tragedy ( and that's what it is ) to their employer -- I wouldn't have to check your credit to see that a medical bill completely put you upside down financially that would be out in the open and even a discussion point in the interview,

But to your question yes in cases like this -- any employer that would hold fast to unbending credit check laws ( as in your example ) is disgraceful.

Maybe medical debt shouldn't count as much or at all toward your credit score. Then this wouldn't be an issue.

Many times when your credit is checked the creditor only sees a score and doesn't see why it is low. They are just going by the number not on a case by case circumstance.

Agreed medical debt should be left out of Credit checks -- we can all live with that.

I'm not saying medical debt should never appear on your credit report or affect your credit score. If it didn't, what would be the incentive for people to pay back their medical debts? I think the proposed Medical Debt Relief Act has it right: once your medical debt is paid off, then it should be immediately removed from your credit report and no longer weigh down your credit score.

As for employers only seeing credit scores, there is a lot of debate around that issue. I honestly don't know if employers are legally able to check your credit scores. I believe they can only pull your reports.

Understood -- medical debt should have its own stipulations and the bottom line is medical expenses as a result of a family/personal medical catostrophe shouldn't weigh in on the job hiring process

Ok, here's my situation....I was working in the finance industry when my father passed away very unexpectedly, leaving me with a completely mentally disabled sibling, who was also living with my wheelchair bound elderly 88 year old mother. Dad was taking care of both of them. Neither of them could take care of themselves, even basic activities of daily living.

My total compensation at the time was 90K, and I was in a graduate program working on my doctorate degree.

The first thing I had to do was quit school. I was still trying to work and help them out with personal assistants and home health care, but found that I could not perform a high pressure job and be running down to their house 3 times a week to pick up medications, take them to doctor appointments, etc. There is NO ONE else in my family, no other siblings, no helpful relatives to step up to the plate but me. I was exhausted. I was at my breaking point. After three months of this, I had to quit my job and help them out. I became a servant basically. Mother paid me, but it was nothing like I was making, and to boot, she was as nasty as all getout for the final two years of her life. I had NO IDEA of the time and toll this would take on me. There are further circumstances that I won't share here, but let's just say it went from bad to worse with my sister's mental health, after she refused to take her medication.

So, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place....no help, no job and lots of debt. That's how it started for me. It doesn't take very long to spiral downward financially in that situation. It is now six years later and my sister, whom I became legal guardian to, is *JUST NOW* being released from a psychiatric hospital into a community living situation. My credit is a mess. She is the only one doing well. I am still a mess; I am trying to work in a home based business, barely making ends meet. I am riddled with anxiety, cannot sleep and would love to go back to my high paying financial job. It's a pipe dream unless they pass this law. All because I did the morally right thing. I tell the bill collectors, "If you were in my situation, what would YOU do?"

Oh, and by the way, I have NO intention of telling any prospective employer what happened to me. I don't feel that revealing such a personal situation is any of their business; I am sure most people cannot even relate to this. It's not like I went to Las Vegas and had fun and then said the heck with all the bills. I have student loans, and other debt that I have been settling as soon as I have money to pay these creditors. I am not a deadbeat. But that's how I look on my credit report.