Check Your Credit Report: Your Job Or Promotions Will Depend Upon Your Credit Status |
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The employers are fully aware of the importance of your credit report in terms of your credibility and creditworthiness and therefore check your credit report at regular intervals. This is primarily because as per equal employment opportunity laws, the employers cannot ask certain specific questions to their employees. As per these laws, your personal credit history is not one of the forbidden queries. This enables them to do check your credit report and find out about your credit history in full detail. Many employers, including some security companies, banks and municipalities request applicants to sign a waiver authorizing them to do background checks, which sometimes includes having access to your credit report either to initially employ someone or while considering someone for a promotion. Employers check your credit report for various reasons. At times, they check your credit report to see if your debt amount is too high for the salary they are offering. For sensitive positions in security, banking or government jobs, they try to check your creditworthiness and reliability. It is very important to check your credit report to find out any discrepancies or errors in it not only for the purpose of obtaining additional credit at good rates, but also for job security as well as it is only through your credit report that your employer ascertains your trustworthiness. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recommends that you check your credit report at least once a year to ensure that your credit report is blemish free and you receive the credit that you deserve. As per the rule, the employers or your prospective employers have to give you notice in writing that your credit report may be consulted for official purposes. They also need your consent in writing before ordering your credit history from a credit reporting agency (CRA). Once you are hired, your employer may continue to check your credit report at regular intervals during your employment tenure. This has to be in accordance with they giving you a ‘separate document notice" indicating that your credit reports will be consulted in the future also. However, the employees should not get unnecessary reports, as too many inquiries on your credit history will negatively affect your credit rating. Most of the financial advisors will advise you to check your credit report periodically and check your credit history to enquire about the number of inquiries made on your credit report and to find out about the people making those enquiries and the reasons for the same. In 1997, two important amendments were added to the fair credit reporting act (FCRA). The first amendment ensures that individuals are aware that consumer reports may be used for employment purposes and agree to such use. The second amendment ensures that individuals are notified promptly if information in a consumer report results in a negative employment decision. If your employers decide to check your credit report and rely on it to take adverse action against you like denying a job application, denying a promotion or reassigning or terminating employment, they must follow certain rules according to the FCRA. If the employers intend to check your credit report to take adverse action against you, they must first give you a preadverse action disclosure that includes a copy of your credit report and a copy of "a summary of your rights under the FCRA." after the employers have taken the adverse action against you, they must give you notice orally, in writing or electronically that the action has been taken in an adverse action notice. As per the rule, this notice must include the name, address, and phone number of the credit reporting agency (CRA) that supplied the report. At the same time, a statement that the CRA should not be held responsible for making the decision of the adverse action and a notice of the individual's right to dispute the accuracy or completeness of any information the agency furnished. You should also be aware of your right to an additional free report from the agency upon request within 60 days. Most of the people having worked in the banking credit and collections industry are fully aware of how important having a good credit rating is. They also know from their experience that as your employers, these companies can check your credit report to get the details of your credit history. In some cases, your spouse's credit history can also adversely affect your credit rating because in most states, once you are married, your financial histories merge as well. It is therefore a wise idea to know how your spouse's history has affected your credit rating, especially before you apply for an employment. |
