The Credit Score Blog - A bleak blog--a supplement to creditscoring.com

Dave Ramsey on employers and credit scores

The three national consumer reporting agencies all state that they do not provide credit scores for employment screening.

From: Greg Fisher
Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 6:46 PM
To: Dave Ramsey
Subject: FW: credit score, employers, Dave Ramsey, Dave Says

You wrote, “I wouldn’t want to work for a company that puts more emphasis on my FICO score than on me as a person… there are so many ways to make a living in this world that there’s no reason to put up with being reduced to a number like that.”

Who is your source regarding credit score use by employers?

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

______________________________

From: Greg Fisher
Sent: Sunday, November 28, 2010 12:04 AM
To: Dave Ramsey; Dave Ramsey
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, Dave Ramsey, Dave Says II

Please reply.

______________________________

From: Greg Fisher
Sent: Monday, November 29, 2010 10:22 PM
To: Dave Ramsey; Dave Ramsey; Dave Ramsey
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, Dave Ramsey, Dave Says III

Please reply.

______________________________

See

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2010/11/23/potential-employers-check-credit-score/

http://www.cbn.com/finance/ramsey111610.aspx

http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/Dave-says-112110

http://www.thekansan.com/newsnow/x794473925/Advice-on-engagement-ring

http://www.decaturdaily.com/stories/A-ring-on-her-finger-doesnt-have-to-cost-an-arm,71508

http://www.independentmail.com/news/2010/nov/21/dave-says-guidelines-purchasing-engagement-ring/

http://www.sj-r.com/business/x1892561430/Dave-Ramsey-Personal-Finance

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/nov/22/spend-one-months-salary-on-engagement-ring/?partner=RSS

credit score, employers, Huffington Post III

[previous message]

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2010 4:39 PM
To: Laura Bassett, reporter, The Huffington Post
Cc: Mario Ruiz, VP, media relations, Huffington Post
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, Huffington Post, identity II

Please reply.

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

____________________

From: Laura Bassett, reporter, The Huffington Post
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2010 4:43 PM
To: greg@creditscoring.com
Subject: Re: credit score, employers, Huffington Post, identity II

www.amrail.net

____________________

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2010 8:49 PM
To: American Rail Marketing
Cc: Laura Bassett, reporter, The Huffington Post; Mario Ruiz, VP, media relations, Huffington Post; Chris Davis, Huffington Post
Subject: credit score, employers, Huffington Post

The Huffington Post reports: “After working for the same railroad for 14 years, never missing a house or car payment, Sammy Bailey says he never expected his credit score to keep him out of a job… Bailey said he applied for a new job at Am-Rail in Kansas City, Missouri, three weeks ago but failed to pass the background check because of his poor credit.”

Do you use credit scores in employment screening?

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

____________________

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2010 12:06 AM
To: [name withheld], American Rail Marketing; American Rail Marketing (info@amrail.net)
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, Huffington Post

The last message, which was sent to the email address on your homepage, was returned as not able to be delivered.

Please reply.

____________________

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Saturday, November 20, 2010 10:18 AM
To: American Rail Marketing (info@amrail.net); [name withheld], American Rail Marketing; [name withheld], American Rail Marketing; [name withheld], American Rail Marketing; [name withheld], American Rail Marketing; [name withheld], American Rail Marketing; [name withheld], American Rail Marketing
Cc: Laura Bassett, reporter, The Huffington Post
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, Huffington Post III

Do you use credit scores in employment screening?

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

____________________

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Sunday, November 28, 2010 8:32 PM
To: Laura Bassett, reporter, The Huffington Post
Cc: American Rail Marketing; [name withheld], American Rail Marketing; [name withheld], American Rail Marketing; [name withheld], American Rail Marketing; [name withheld], American Rail Marketing; [name withheld], American Rail Marketing; [name withheld], American Rail Marketing; Mario Ruiz, VP, media relations, Huffington Post; Chris Davis, Huffington Post
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, Huffington Post III

See “credit score, employers, Huffington Post III.”

Did you ask American Rail Marketing if they use credit scores in employment screening? If you did, what was their response?

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

credit score, employers, Huffington Post, identity

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 8:25 AM
To: Laura Bassett, reporter, The Huffington Post
Subject: credit score, employers, Huffington Post, identity

See https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=1480.

You wrote: “After working for the same railroad for 14 years, never missing a house or car payment, Sammy Bailey says he never expected his credit score to keep him out of a job… Bailey said he applied for a new job at Am-Rail in Kansas City, Missouri, three weeks ago but failed to pass the background check because of his poor credit.”

Seldom do stories about credit score use in employment mention employers’ names. The consumer reporting agencies all state that they do not provide credit scores for employment screening.

What is the address, telephone number or website address of Am-Rail?

[next message]

Experian – Contradictory statements about credit scores and employers

Experian states, “More employers than ever are checking the credit scores of potential applicants, and that could create a vicious cycle, according to a report from the Minneapolis Examiner.”

The title and headline accompanying the statement is “More Employers Check Applicants’ Credit Scores.”

However, Experian claims that it does not provide credit scores for employment purposes.

Experian’s new British Empire

(coming to a search engine result near you)

In one fell ($2-hundred million) swoop, Experian acquired some serious internet real estate related to credit reports and credit scores: CreditReport.com and CreditScore.com.

And, in a truly odd chapter, as the FreeCreditReport.com debacle played out, Experian obtained FreeCreditScore.com (now of MTV fame) through a bankruptcy-related gambit.

“This case presents a somewhat unsettling-but we suspect common-set of facts.” – U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit

But, it’s never tidy. If you can’t beat ’em, buy ’em.

Influence: Equifax botches credit score distribution

On the heels of this week’s other fun with Equifax (“INFORM > ENRICH > EMPOWER“), top consumer finance expert” and Equifax blogger Ilyce Glink cross-promotes another of her myriad projects by linking to a video featuring some muckety-muck identified as an Equifax executive. And it is a hoot.

On CBS MoneyWatch.com, Glink writes: “According to FICO’s credit blog, about 18 percent of the population has a FICO credit score between 800 to 850, but the highest credit score I’ve heard of is 830 (feel free to post yours below). A little over 25 percent of the population has a credit score below 600.” [an aside: See creditscoring.com’s “Two and Two: Credit scores fall, AP, Part II”]

However, there is a kink as her hijinx sinks with a link that slinks into a rinky-dink Think Glink video. ;) The executive, some dude named Steve, identified as “President, Equifax Personal Information Solutions” states, “I think less than one percent of the population has more than 800.” Turn on the camera and watch him go (away).

It is more than a flub: The startling misinformation is accompanied by the actual words, on-screen, in writing, in your face: “Less than 1% have 800 or higher.”

Get more Equi-Facts with Steveorino here on the Wild, Wild Web. And, don’t miss one of the most hilarious moments in live radio.

credit score, employers, NPR, Life After Foreclosure: Coping With Bad Credit

From: Greg Fisher [mailto:greg@creditscoring.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2010 12:36 AM
To: Yuki Noguchi, correspondent, National Desk, NPR
Cc: All Things Considered, NPR; Alicia Shepard, ombudsman, NPR; Alicia Shepard, ombudsman, NPR; Anna Christopher, sr. manager, Media Relations, NPR; Danielle Deabler, sr. manager, Media Relations; Emerson Brown, publicist, Media Relations; NPR Corrections; On the Media, NPR, WNYC
Subject: credit score, employers, NPR, Life After Foreclosure: Coping With Bad Credit

Earlier today, you reported, “Some also say they worry that employers might use damaged credit scores against them in a job interview.”

However, consumer reporting agency Experian states: “Experian’s Employment Insight report includes similar information about loans and credit cards that is listed in the credit report. It does not include year of birth, spouse reference, account number or credit score, which are irrelevant to hiring decisions.”

Equifax, another agency, said, “We do not knowingly provide scores for pre employment screening.”

TransUnion, another agency, testified, “There’s no such thing as a credit score in employment.”

Perhaps some worry because the media keep repeating their worst fears. Please break out of the echo chamber and address the above in your final report in the series. Then, consider one about the echo chamber, itself.

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

credit score, employers, Los Angeles Times

[10/1/2010. See update.]

From: Greg Fisher
Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2010 8:17 AM
To: Robin Abcarian, national correspondent, Los Angeles Times
Cc: Deirdre Edgar, readers’ representative, Los Angeles Times
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, Los Angeles Times, presumptuousness

That is not why I am asking. The question is this: Where did you get that information?

Further, if you can’t name a source for what you believed was a fact, then did you just make it up? In other words, how did it happen?

The bigger question (not for you): How did members of Congress, the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Department of the Treasury conclude that employers use credit scores, and what caused the nauseating media trend?

Citizens looking for jobs have enough to worry about, already. They deserve an explanation.

From: Abcarian, Robin
Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2010 1:13 AM
To: ‘greg@creditscoring.com’
Subject: Re: credit score, employers, Los Angeles Times

Ah…I see why you are asking: the credit score vs the credit report. I’ll look into running a correction.

From: Abcarian, Robin
Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2010 12:54 AM
To: ‘greg@creditscoring.com’
Subject: Re: credit score, employers, Los Angeles Times

It’s a fact that’s been reported on ad nauseum.

From: Greg Fisher
To: Robin Abcarian, national correspondent, Los Angeles Times
Sent: Fri Sep 24 22:40:22 2010
Subject: credit score, employers, Los Angeles Times

You wrote, “That and his ruined credit score, which prospective employers often check.”

Who is your source regarding credit score use by employers?