Do you think it's fair for an employer to base your creditability on your credit report?

Answer 1

I disagree with employers doing this. The employer has no idea what caused the financial problems (death, illness, catastrophe such as Katrina) and to prejudge some one based on this is not right.

Answer 2

The single most telling document that a creditor, employer, etc can get on a prospect is the credit report. It tells about recent addresses, job history - to an extent, public records, whether or not you pay your bills on time, and so on. I look at reports every day and can get a good idea about a person just by looking at it. Most of the time it tells a story something like: This person had a bad run in 2003 when he changed jobs and made a bunch of late payments and got a judgement recorded - something like that. Then it will show a clean record for the past few years. Whatever the case, it reveals a lot about the person - but not the reasons behind them. It can be unfair.
If I wanted to hire you as a cashier at a bank, I would definitely want to know if you are in a financial mess. So to answer your question - Yes..

Answer 3

No, employers see that you have some delinquent accounts ,but they don't take into account that you may have been out of work for 6 months or more. And that is the reason you wern't able to pay your bills, but they don't care. They just assume you just didn't care and were being a deadbeat. So no it isn't fair for employers to base credibility on your credit report. It should be illegal for an employer to look at your credit report, unless your a banker or have control over others peoples money.

Answer 4

It of course depend upon the reasons your credit is either good or bad. I have bad credit, but not because I spent frivoulously with a credit card. I don't even own one. Instead, I lost my job, had a couple of evictions over the last 15 years, and had a major stay in the hospital, which pretty much shot my credit to bits. I have no insurance, can't afford it. If there was anyone wh NEEDED a job in order to fix his credit, it's me. But if all they do is judge by saying, "Well, this applicant has bad credit, so he's outta here no matter what the reason," then yes I think it's unfair.

Answer 5

1. Life is not 'fair'.
2. 'Fair' has never had a generally agreed upon meaning.
3. Judging based on you credit REPORT, I have no problem with.
4. Judging by your credit SCORE, is a problem for me.
I am in the process of eliminating my score by paying off ALL debt and closing ALL credit accounts. My REPORT will show responsibility, but my SCORE will go away.

Answer 6

of course it is unfair. i see a lot of people answering your question stating that it shows who you are and all that kind of insanity. the bottom line is that judging potential employees by their credit score is profiling. they know it, but they wont admit it because this is a system that is used to keep the playing field unleveled. Did they use a credit score when there was an onslaught of hiring immigrants???? i work in the real estate field. most of your foreclosures deals with immigrants who got homes with no credit check. they had the jobs, so the lender loaned them the money to move in. that is another story though truth, the bottom line is still reviewing a persons financial stability has nothing to do with their ability to perform in the work place. wake up america.

Answer 7

Well, your credit report CAN say a lot about you.

If it looks like you are a irresponsible scumbag, then they would rather know before they hire you.

THAT SAID: I think they at least should tell you what they found and ask for the explanation. If it's because you got screwed, that's one thing. If it's because you have a "well I don't like paying bills" mentality, that's another.

Answer 8

As an employing manager for many years, I found a great deal of correlation between how one handles credit and how one handles a job. Both speak to a sense of responsibility, reliability, following through on promises, accountability.

Answer 9

i think of that this is honest to ascertain a credit record. It does say some thing bearing directly to the duty of an applicant. some situations are previous your administration and that i think of that if for this reason you have low credit score then you somewhat would desire to be up-front with the corporation in the event that they are going to be checking your credit record.

Answer 10

It depends on what the job is. I mean if u r going to work in a bank, then yes. If your going to be flipping pizza's then no.