topic Re: Denied employment due to bad credit in SmorgasBoard

Denied employment due to bad credit

scorepower — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:22:20 GMT

Just curious if anyone has ever been denied a job due to bad credit? What was your score? I just lost my job and i'm trying to prioritize my bills. I would hate for my scores to go down but i might not have a choice if i can't pay my bills. As i job hunt, i would hate to be denied employment due to my inability to pay some credit card bills. Just wondering what they look for? BK, low scored, etc?

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

marty56 — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:14:33 GMT

Don't know if this helps but if you have a government security clearence, as long as you disclose the information, uncluding BK, you would usually be okay.

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:11:52 GMT

I had a credit check ran on me when I got my last job....and I am a nurse....go figure on that one. Anyways I had a chapter 13 I was still paying off and a terrible score but I still got the job....to this day I am not sure what they were looking for.

Message Edited by wildcat on 12-01-2008 05:07 PM

Message Edited by wildcat on 12-01-2008 05:11 PM

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:31:28 GMT

scorepower, if you dont mind me asking, what type of job did you have that had credit requirements?

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:44:51 GMT

I believe the majority of jobs that do credit checks are looking more toward what type of risk you would pose. Meaning, are you going to embezzle or steal drugs to get your self out of debt. The fact that you have bad credit should not, in and of itself, be the issue. More likely the amount you are in debt would be the bigger issue. If you were $300,000 in debt and not making an attempt to pay it off would look really bad.

Applying for a job in any type of financial institution and having bad credit could be more of a challlenge.

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:00:27 GMT

I just read an article about this on MSN money and what most employers dont know is that your credit score has absolutely nothing to do with how you are going to perform on the job. As a matter fact, people with worse credit have been noted to perform better than people who have good credit.

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

niecey89 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:14:51 GMT

Scorepower, I have had several jobs and a consulting job with the Federal Government with a judgment on my report. One of the jobs gave me a copy of my background information including my credit report (it did not have score information on it) and I still got the job. Just as everyone has been saying, as long as they see you are attempting to make pay down your debt then you should be fine.

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

scorepower — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:06:41 GMT

Thanks all. I haven't been denied employment but was curious if i could not make my credit card payments, will that effect me in the long run of getting a job.

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

Charger_Fan19 — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:08:25 GMT

I am a little late on this conversation but hopefully someone will read this.

I have been denied employment based on poor credit.

My credit problems are so close to dropping off. This fall, and early next year will be my 7 year mark. I was one of those college kids that got them into a very deep hole. Rather than declare bankruptcy, I have worked on getting the debt paid down. I do have some outstanding students loans, which have been paid on time since they went into repayment. I have credit card debt that stays in check and all of those payments have been made on time for the past 3 years or more. My credit card debt is under $1500.

My score is still low, ranging from 550-620.

It seems stupid that if I chose the "easy" way out, and just declared bankruptcy I can't be discriminated against. I feel like I am being punished for trying to straighten things out on my own.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get past this? My industry is very specific. I went to a very prestigious and might I add very expensive vocational school to obtain coveted diplomas in my industry. They are useless if I can't get my foot in the door. Has anyone ever sent a letter of explanation to the potential employer?

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

MattH — Sat, 02 May 2009 11:59:54 GMT

@scorepower wrote:
Just curious if anyone has ever been denied a job due to bad credit? What was your score? I just lost my job and i'm trying to prioritize my bills. I would hate for my scores to go down but i might not have a choice if i can't pay my bills. As i job hunt, i would hate to be denied employment due to my inability to pay some credit card bills. Just wondering what they look for? BK, low scored, etc?

As others have said it depends on the nature of the job and other factors so there is no universal answer. In most cases, however, the key point is to make sure they learn all negative information directly from you before they learn it from somebody else.

In general, especially in this economy, if you have a totally clean history prior to a period of unemployment and then a few lates appear duing the period of unemployment I would think most employers will understand. Of course if a person had lates while still working that would be a different kettle of fish.

Also, not all employers pull credit history, none of mine ever has. Usually they pull credit history where specific requirements exist such as needing a security clearance from the government or some kind of fiduciary responsibility. None of my jobs has ever involved classified information or handling other people's money.

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

Anonymous — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:49:59 GMT

A few years back when I started a new job, working in IT for the payroll office (where a nefarious sort could cause all sorts of havoc), my employer pulled a CR. No issues, no questions, no discussions, and at the time I had a couple of COs (paid and unpaid) on my CRs.

The likelihood of an employer pulling a CR is low overall, even if the practice is on the rise in recent years.

The likelihood of being denied employment is incredibly low.

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

scorepower — Tue, 05 May 2009 05:09:14 GMT

Thanks folks for the comments. I originally asked this question as i was about to get laid off. Without doing much research, i thought some of our bills wouldn't be paid because of the loss of income. I was trying to plan ahead and see if there's any repurcusion to letting bills go to hay for a while. Well i was laid off and now found a job making 60 thousand dollars less. Amazingly, we are still somehow making it. Things are tight and we are using the grace period to the max but we are making it. Credit cards are also being used to help here and there. Realizing this is only a slice in time is helping. I'm not the one to preach but getting laid off was like a blessing. I'm enjoying life more, have a job that's more flexible and just bought my house a year ago. My field is supply chain and logistics in san francisco, ca so i can't imagine them doing strict credit pulls.

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

Charger_Fan19 — Tue, 05 May 2009 06:13:08 GMT

In my case, i work in the jewelry industry. Very sensitive thing. Despite glowing references from previous employers, teachers, and mentors I was denied employment based on my credit. The guy even said it was a real shame, i was the ideal candidate.

From that, does anyone know of any thing I could try to say or do to have them give me a second chance?

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

Anonymous — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:14:27 GMT

@cowgirl79 wrote:
Despite glowing references from previous employers, teachers, and mentors I was denied employment based on my credit. The guy even said it was a real shame, i was the ideal candidate.

From that, does anyone know of any thing I could try to say or do to have them give me a second chance?

Sounds like he'd made up his mind, but it might be worthwhile to try a form of GW.

Maybe give the guy a call, tell him you understand his decision, but you wanted the chance, if possible, to meet with him and discuss the issue further.

If you could get in to meet face to face, that would be ideal. If not, try the phone. But face to face is more personal.

Same thing you'd say in a GW letter, only say it in person. Mind you, this is going to be quite a bit more difficult. In a letter, you can draft it, revise it, and revise it again, over and over. In person, you get one chance to screw things up. You'll want to rehearse in front of a mirror. Maybe try out your schpiel on a spouse, sibling, parent, trusted friend, etc.

If it doesn't work, thank him for his time, tell him you understand his decision. End it on good terms in case things ever change, or he sleeps on it and reconsiders, or whatever. Don't burn bridges.

In a future job interview, if you know they're gonna pull your CRs, and you know because they have to tell you and get your permission, be proactive. Tell 'em, look, things have happened in the past, my credit ain't perfect, I was outta work, the dog ate my homework, or whatever. GW them in advance.

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

Anonymous — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:25:35 GMT

I don't know how fair this is, anymore, to judge employment-worthiness based on CRs. I mean, I dunno about ya'll, but in my area (Florida -- one of the hardest hit by the "credit crisis" ) foreclosures are *still* up. Every time you turn around, it's another house with a big "Foreclosed" sign on it. Tourism here (which we depend on terribly) is DOWN. No one wants to go on vacation when they're so panicked about the potential for losing their jobs.

So, if so many people are going through such hard times, won't it be *harder* for employers to use credit, especially when a lot of the problems people are having aren't their fault, as criteria for hiring?

Case in point: TWO of our best friends (two different couples) had good credit for YEARS. But, since they've recently gotten super incentives with new credit cards (0% interest for one year), they've maxxed them out, intending to pay them ALL off within the promo period - which, since they're gubmint employees (they have more job security than the average person), they can easily do in that amount of time. Now, FICO sees their util at about 100%.

Why? Because their *other* CCs have pinged their CRs and seen that they're maxxed out with those NEW, 0% rate, cards. So they've gotten drastic CLDs on their other cards. Putting them at 100% (or close to) util, their FICOs have gone down, down, down.

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

Anonymous — Tue, 12 May 2009 23:42:21 GMT

i was just offered a great position then the job was resended due to my credit. It is becoming very common. that is the 2nd time i've had that happen.

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

Anonymous — Wed, 13 May 2009 00:26:17 GMT

@scorepower wrote:
Just curious if anyone has ever been denied a job due to bad credit? What was your score? I just lost my job and i'm trying to prioritize my bills. I would hate for my scores to go down but i might not have a choice if i can't pay my bills. As i job hunt, i would hate to be denied employment due to my inability to pay some credit card bills. Just wondering what they look for? BK, low scored, etc?

Some employers will run a credit check. This is in part a check of "moral character." Just as insurance and other products will use credit to determine rates, some employers will decline employment based upon your "credibility."

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 05:26:39 GMT

I can no longer work within the United States due to bad credit But, my bad credit is due to several

severe illnesses a few years ago. (The creditors would not accept payments......they wanted the "total"

amoiunt paid).

But now.....2009 ALL employers are checking credit before hiring. Due to the newly enacted

Fari Credit Reporting Act. Which is destroying, at least, 50% of the lives within the United States.

And the U.S. Governemt is backing this action !!!!

But, not everyone with bad credit got their bad credit rating from simply not paying their bills.

Some lost their homes due to storms, got laid off from work, etc.........

And with this situation, a lot of good, honest , hard-working people are tossed..........

For me, the stigma of this mostly comes from the Internet, in general.

According to the Internet, " people with bad credit are nothing but thieves, thugs, and should be dealt

with as such. " Because employers "know" that people with bad credit will steal from the company.

But, I know that there ARE people out there , with bad credit, that definitely are NOT thieves.

A little run-down by society, yes.....but not thieves.

garystan

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

llecs — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:37:06 GMT

Not everyone checks credit. I run two companies and neither ever checks anyone's credit at app time. One of the two will do background checks not relating to credit. One is in the property management sector and the other technology. I also have some in-laws who just immigrated here and are applying for citizenship, so they have no credit yet. One got a job as a delivery driver, and a couple of the others got jobs right away in retail. All of those were with major, known companies...and involves handling cash.

The FCRA has been around for 39 years, believe it or not, with amendments all along the way.

Re: Denied employment due to bad credit

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:10:41 GMT

Then apparently, I've been "singled oiut" for a credit check.

And the reason I said "newly enacted laws' was because....in the past, no one checed a prospective

employee's credit. It has only been within the past 2-3 years that it's been done.

And, I've applied, and filled out applications, to 12 companies (for different positions....from Custodial

to Clerical), and all have a form to sign giving them permission to check my credit. But, in order to

process the application, this form must be signed.

And, so far no one will hire me because of bad credit.

garystan