Legislation seeks to restrict use of credit reports in hiring

Legislation seeks to restrict use of credit reports in hiring

A bad credit score has lots of repercussions, including decreased access to credit and trouble leasing an apartment or car.

But if one legislator has his way, it won't cost you a job opportunity.

AB 943, sponsored by Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, would prevent recruiters from using consumer credit reports to screen job candidates.

Exceptions are made if the applicant for hire or promotion would have access to money or confidential financial information, or would work in law enforcement or city or county government.

The bill has passed in the California State Assembly and is now working its way through the California State Senate.

With California's unemployment rate at nearly 11 percent and layoffs rampant throughout the economy, this safeguard is badly needed, Mendoza said.

"Everybody's credit scores aren't what they once were since the recession, and they aren't a reliable indicator of someone's trustworthiness or work ethic, anyway," Mendoza said. "I'm sure (Ponzi scheme mastermind) Bernard Madoff had excellent credit."

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/business/economy/x1216781652/Legislation-seeks-to-restrict-use-of-credit-reports-in-hiring

mean they have a problem being employed. Some are in trouble for not having enough money and too many medical bills, some have just made mistakes. Some are just not good with money. That doesn't mean they shouldn't get a job with XYZ firm. I'd like to see this go one further and not allow insurance companies to check credit reports either.

The credit report has nothing to say about how good a worker you are only how lucky, or unlucky as the case may be you've been in finding employment that will sufficiently cover your needs.

Regards

is a really stupid way of gauging potential competence in the workplace or future performance in a job.

Especially when mistakes may have been made several years prior, are due to medical expenses, etc.

issues,this is great news.

since I used to work in the employment screening industry at the beginning of their pitching credit reports as a screening tool. It was bullshit then and it's bullshit now. The only reason it started was because FICO and background screeners figured out that they could make a ton of money by pitching the use of credit reports in employment screening. Just like they pitched it to auto and other insurers for use in determining insurance rates, which is also complete and total bullshit. So they started making up this shit about the (non-existent) correlation between credit reports and job performance/car accident claims, etc.

I think it's especially egregious when it comes to medical expenses, particularly, as you say, bankruptcies due to medical issues and bills, which is the cause of more than half of all bankruptcies. Of course, I strongly and fervently believe that medical bills should not even be permitted on credit reports and I continue to work against that practice. They didn't used to be permitted, but you can thank Reagan for the change.

A way to override these practices.

In the Bay Area of Calif, hosuing is super expensive. But imagine not having good credit - every apartment where you try and make your new home requires a credit report. The "landlord to be" socks you with a thirty five dollar credit report fee. If a person is constantly being refused due to bad credit, they can rack up several hundred dollars just in credit reports!

Why it isn't possible for someone needing a report to simply go to one main database and pay a one time fee is beyond me. But those that have this kinda business going have the bucks to perpetuate the system, I imagine.

national. We need to work on our congresscritters to get this going nationally. It should be a FEDERAL law forbidding this, just like the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) and FDCA (Fair Debt Collection Act) are federal.

There should also be a federal law forbidding medical bills on credit reports, they do NOT belong there.

their health if the companies continue to rely on credit scores they won't be able to hire anyone.

It really is a shame that we have to make another common sense law so that people can get jobs.

On the scale of human worth, however, they are teh suck!