employers and credit scores, Kirwan Institute

From: Greg Fisher
Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 1:41 PM
To: Jessica Leveen Farr
Subject: credit score, employers, Kirwan Institute

Recently, you wrote, “Landlords may evaluate an individual’s credit prior to renting a home and some employers access credit scores for all new hires.” 

Your footnote cites the document, “The Impacts of Foreclosures on Families and Communities: A Primer,” by G. Thomas Kingsley, Robin E. Smith, and David Price. 

The only mention of credit scores in that document is in an endnote, referring to the document, “Credit Scores, Reports, and Getting Ahead in America,” by Matt Fellowes.

That document refers to a survey:  “A 2004 survey of companies by the Society for Human Resource Management, for instance, found that 35 percent of companies used credit reports for this purpose, up from 19 percent in 1996.”

In April, regarding its 2004 “Reference and Background Checking Survey,” the SHRM replied, “Neither survey discusses credit scores, only credit checks.”

What indicates that employers use credit scores?

What is the name of an employer who uses credit scores?


From: Hughes, Jennifer [SHRM]
Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 5:04 PM
To: creditscoring.com
Subject: RE: credit score, employers III

Hi Greg,

Neither survey discusses credit scores, only credit checks.

[full correspondence with SHRM]