Metal Sludge Gossip Board

I've got a good friend that's been out of work for almost a year. She's been turned down for several jobs she is well qualified for due to her credit rating. How the hell is somebody supposed to maintain a good credit rating when they have no income? I'd love to see a bill that forced a temporary stop to those kind of pre employment screenings, at least until the economy picks up. Any thoughts?

I can see if you are applying for a job where you have the potential to swindle a large amount of cash, that they would want to know if you had credit problems.

But I think the practice should be outlawed for every other case.

VinnieKulick wrote:I can see if you are applying for a job where you have the potential to swindle a large amount of cash, that they would want to know if you had credit problems.

But I think the practice should be outlawed for every other case.

I can agree with that.

SeminiferousButtNoid wrote:Do you know what is dragging down her score? Potential employers have been using credit reports in their background check for over a decade but it isn't based on the score, per se, but rather what exactly is making the score low. If she just has silly collections and a some late payments, the employer won't care. Does she have any bankruptcies or judgments or tax liens on there?

I honestly don't know.

SeminiferousButtNoid wrote:Knowing is half the battle.

Well, yeah, I guess, but I'm not really talking about her specific situation. I don't see that she's in a position to correct any knocks on her report right now anyway, but I just used her to illustrate the point. I was looking for a broader discussion on the practice.

enter your username wrote: Employers tend to go on the credit score and not any kind of in depth analysis of your credit history.

SeminiferousButtNoid wrote: it isn't based on the score, per se, but rather what exactly is making the score low.

Which is it?

bane wrote:I've got a good friend that's been out of work for almost a year. She's been turned down for several jobs she is well qualified for due to her credit rating. How the hell is somebody supposed to maintain a good credit rating when they have no income? I'd love to see a bill that forced a temporary stop to those kind of pre employment screenings, at least until the economy picks up. Any thoughts?

What fields is she applying for ?

That plays a part.

I couldn't tell you exactly what she does. It's something in HR having to do with benefits packages. Something to do with employee health insurance I think.

bane wrote:I couldn't tell you exactly what she does. It's something in HR having to do with benefits packages. Something to do with employee health insurance I think.

I bet you $100 she has one or more medical collections on her reports and that is what's holding her back. It wouldn't normally matter but since she is applying for something in the health industry, they are holding that against her. It would be like if she applied to work at American Express and she had a AMEX Gold Card charge-off. Medical collections are easy to get off your reports. Search the internet for "HIPAA" and "medical collection".

I'll pass that on to her. Thanks.

She got a job working for an insurance company. Not sure exactly what she's doing for them, but either she found one that didn't run a credit report, or one that didn't care about it as much.

http://www.chicagobreakingbusiness.com/ ... cants.html

Good news! Illinois and 15 other states looking at banning credit reports for job applicants.