Employment credit check - question about soft pull, timeline, etc.

[striders]

I was offered a position in IT for a small startup company and they're currently conducting a background check, which includes consumer credit report. My questions are:

1). Soft Pull

I know that most employment credit check are soft pull (if it is hard I know it from my credit monitoring company) but unfortunately this does not show up in MyFico report. I DOES shows when I did my free Annual Credit report, but I did this in June and I cannot re-request the Annual Credit report. I am willing to pay for report from TransUnion, Equifax, etc, but it looks like they sell a bundle instead of just the report.  Example: TU sells 3-in-1 for $30, they don't sell just TU report. So if I want to see all the soft pull from 3 CRA, I have to spent $90? Is there a cheaper way of doing this?

2). Timeline

Those who have similar experiences as me, do you know how long is the emploment credit check will take? 1 day, 2 days? This to help me plan on WHEN I should buy the CRA report (no. 1 above).

The reason why I want to know the above is because I have ONE bad account in my credit report and that is a car repo from 2008. I was laid off, couldn't pay the car and did "voluntarily" repossession because the bank said they will "work something out with me". They never did, the bank went bankrupt and bought TWICE by another bank.

Interestingly, the account in question now shown in ALL 3 CRA as:

- Derogatory / late payment

- NOT collection - all 3 CRA shows I have "0" (ZERO) collection, just 1 derogatory

Everything else in my credit is good.

[ccnewcc]

Actually ALL employment Credit pulls are SPs.  Not HPs.  They are required to indicate that the pull is for employment purposes.  Even if you are interviewing for a bank, or CCC, or a Mortgage company, or ..Etc.  All Employment credit checks are SPs.  If you have any HPs from employers, that is a no no.  And probably a big red flag to you that they aren't worth your time.  IE. if they can't follow the law during pre employment checks, then they shouldn't be trusted to follow the law if they offer you a job.

Every person is entitled to a free Credit Report if they are unemployed but are looking for work or are expected to be looking for work in 60 days.  You are allowed one free credit report from all CRAs once a year due to the unemployment but looking for work reason.

Also, like you said, you can get your free CR once a year from the central source.  

So basically, if you are unemployed but are looking for work or are expected to be looking for work in 60 days, you can get 2 free credit reports from the CRAs.

Also you can buy them.  But not too many ppl know that you can get them for free you are are unemployed but are looking for work or are expected to be looking for work in 60 days

[striders]

Thanks for the info. Do you know if the CRA (TU, EX, EQ) sells just their ONE report? RIght now they're selling 3-in-1, which cost $30 from each CRA, so that's $90 and I am forced to get 6 reports (2 TU, 2 EX, 2 EQ).

In regards to no. 2, do you have any experiences on this?

[llecs]

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@striders wrote:

Thanks for the info. Do you know if the CRA (TU, EX, EQ) sells just their ONE report? RIght now they're selling 3-in-1, which cost $30 from each CRA, so that's $90 and I am forced to get 6 reports (2 TU, 2 EX, 2 EQ).

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Don't buy the 3-in-1s. You won't find the soft pulls. And they do make it awfully hard to find and then buy a single report. I haven't looked at each site in a very long time and it's confusing now more than ever. I recommend trying first for your free reports via annualcreditreport.com. These are the same reports. If you used your free report within the past year, then it should prompt you to purchase a new report (roughly $11.50ea).

[striders]

That's actually a good idea! I have already used up the free credit report, but it looks like I can still go to the website and order it for $11. I will try that.

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@llecs wrote:

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@striders wrote:

Thanks for the info. Do you know if the CRA (TU, EX, EQ) sells just their ONE report? RIght now they're selling 3-in-1, which cost $30 from each CRA, so that's $90 and I am forced to get 6 reports (2 TU, 2 EX, 2 EQ).

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Don't buy the 3-in-1s. You won't find the soft pulls. And they do make it awfully hard to find and then buy a single report. I haven't looked at each site in a very long time and it's confusing now more than ever. I recommend trying first for your free reports via annualcreditreport.com. These are the same reports. If you used your free report within the past year, then it should prompt you to purchase a new report (roughly $11.50ea).

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[RobertEG]

If it did not show up in your commercial credit report, which is the one that is also retrievable by others, but did show in your annualcreditreport.com report, which is only retrievalble by you, then it is a soft pull.