Academia | The Credit Score Blog

Comcast typo: Unnecessary extra space in credit score and employers story

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Friday, November 11, 2011 11:36 AM
To: Brian L. Roberts, chairman and CEO, Comcast Corporation (via Rudnay address); Linda Carroll, The Body Odd, msnbc.com, Comcast
Cc: Jeremy Bernerth, assistant professor, Robert H. & Patricia Hines Professorship in Management, Rucks Department of Management, E. J. Ourso College of Business, Louisiana State University; Shannon G. Taylor, assistant proessor, management, Northern Illinois University; Jack Walker, assistant professor, Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech; Daniel S. Whitman, assistant professor, Rucks Department of Management, Louisiana State University; Ashley Berthelot, Media Releations, Louisiana State University; Michael Kesterton, columnist, The Globe and Mail, Thomson; Globe and Mail corrections, Thomson; John V. Lombardi, president, Louisiana State University; Melba J. T. Vasquez, PhD, president, American Psychological Association
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, LSU, mainstream, Comcast NBC

You published, “Employers who use credit scores in their hiring decisions might be weeding out some of the best applicants, a new study suggests.”

You used an unnecessary extra space after the word decisions. Also, the consumer reporting agencies do not provide credit scores for employment purposes.

You still have not corrected your earlier stories. If you are too busy to do so, please relinquish controlling interest in NBC to somebody who actually gets journalism ethical behavior.

What is your correction policy?

—
Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio 45409-0342

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2011 1:10 PM
To: Jeremy Bernerth, assistant professor, Robert H. & Patricia Hines Professorship in Management, Rucks Department of Management, E. J. Ourso College of Business, Louisiana State University; Shannon G. Taylor, assistant proessor, management, Northern Illinois University; Jack Walker, assistant professor, Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech; Daniel S. Whitman, assistant professor, Rucks Department of Management, Louisiana State University
Cc: Ashley Berthelot, Media Releations, Louisiana State University; Michael Kesterton, columnist, The Globe and Mail, Thomson; Globe and Mail corrections, Thomson; John V. Lombardi, president, Louisiana State University; Melba J. T. Vasquez, PhD, president, American Psychological Association
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, LSU, mainstream, NYT latest to fall

The first sentence of the abstract of your research still… [PREVIOUS EMAIL ATTACHED]

credit score, employers, NY Times latest to fall

The first sentence of the abstract of your research still states, “Many organizations use credit scores as an employment screening tool, but little is known about the legitimacy of such practices.”

The Louisiana State University press release still states, “Most companies attempt to justify the use of credit scores because they think such employees will end up stealing, but our research suggests that might not be the case.”

A New York Times report about your study published yesterday at 11:09 AM was changed at 12:15. Somebody in Austin commented on it (see comments below the Times report)(but only after you gained publicity from somebody in Austin). Psych Central published a correction, too.

When are you going to board up the trap door?

—
Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio 45409-0342

[previous message]

Academia’s credit score urban legend goes mainstream

The consumer reporting agencies all state that they do not provide credit scores for employment purposes (ok, well, sometimes they say they do). It’s a big urban legend.

But, watch this trail of rumor.

“Most companies attempt to justify the use of credit scores because they think such employees will end up stealing, but our research suggests that might not be the case.” – Louisiana State University

↓

“An emerging trend is for companies to use credit scores as an employment screening tool.” – Psych Central

↓

“’An emerging trend is for companies to use credit scores as an employment screening tool,’ says Psych Central, but a new study to appear in the Journal of Applied Psychology “shows no connection between poor credit scores and theft – although some interesting connections were discovered.” – Globe and Mail

But that’s nothing new for the 3rd Baron Thomson of Fleet.

Credit score urban legend spread by academia

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2011 11:50 PM
To: Jeremy Bernerth, assistant professor, Robert H. & Patricia Hines Professorship in Management, Rucks Department of Management, E. J. Ourso College of Business, Louisiana State University
Subject: credit score, employers, LSU

You said, “Most companies attempt to justify the use of credit scores because they think such employees will end up stealing, but our research suggests that might not be the case.”

The use of credit scores by employers is an urban legend.

Name a company who uses credit scores in employment screening.

—
Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio 45409-0342

credit score, employers, WalletPop, Virgins

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Friday, June 10, 2011 8:35 AM
To: Mitch Franklin, assistant professor of accounting practice, Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University
Subject: credit score, employers, WalletPop, Virgins

See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=2153.

WalletPop.com published: “But credit scores also factor into insurance rates, and even [“even” was a link to http://www.walletpop.com/photos/credit-score-virgins/3658526/]* potential jobs: employers are increasingly checking scores as part of the application process, Franklin says. ‘People don’t realize how much of an impact their credit score has on their life.’”

What evidence indicates that employers use credit scores?

—
Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio 45409-0342

* UPDATE 8/14/13: The link that was under the word “even” above is defunct (and so is WalletPop.com, apparently. Try it: walletpop.com.). Here is a new link: http://www.dailyfinance.com/photos/credit-score-virgins/#!slide=3658526.

Employers credit score Catch-22 myth, Washington Post Company

From: Greg Fisher
Sent: Friday, March 25, 2011
To: Allan Lichtman, professor, Department of History, American University
Cc: Meredith Hooker, managing editor for Internet, The Gazette; Ken Weiss, editor, Gazette of Politics and Business (weekend edition); Jeff Allanach, editor, Frederick County newsroom, The Gazette; David B. Simon, managing editor, Montgomery County newsroom, The Gazette; Vanessa Harrington, editor, Prince George’s County newsroom, The Gazette; The Washington Post Company
Subject: credit score, employers, The Gazette, The Washington Post Company, 2011-03-25

You wrote, “The American people are well aware of the problem of using credit scores for employment decisions.”

Who is your source regarding credit score use by employers?

See this message and your reply at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?cat=myth-2.

—
Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio 45409-0342

creditscoring.com vs. The Fed – The 2007 employers incident

The Federal Reserve continues to gain on creditscoring.com. There is 2010 (twice), 2008, and here is a 2007 incident.

In “Impatience and Credit Behavior: Evidence from a Field Experiment” Federal Reserve researchers state, “Additionally, credit scores can be used by potential employers and landlords in employment and tenancy decisions.”

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Working Paper No. 07-3 is published on the Fed’s website.

Referring to the paper, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston publication “Research Review” states, “FICO scores, which reflect an individual’s creditworthiness and are widely used to determine loan interest rates, insurance rates, employment offers, and tenancy decisions, are associated with long-run discount factors.”

The hifalutin research document also states, “For scored individuals, the mean FICO score was 623 (s.d 83), which is below the U.S. average of 678¹⁶. ”

However, in August 2007, Fair Isaac said, “The average FICO score is not 678.”

Footnote 16 refers to– you guessed it– Experian.

But, all may not be lost, truthseekers– there could be a revision. Page 1 states, “This paper, which may be revised, is available on the web site of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston at http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/wp/index.htm.”

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]