Checking Credit Reports

April 13, 2006

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If an applicant is going to be handling large sums of money or exercising financial discretion at your business, you may want to run a credit check. Unless you're worried about the applicant stealing money or expensive equipment, a credit check probably won't be necessary. There are a lot of federal restrictions on credit reports, so doing them can be more trouble than it's worth.

What's in a credit report? A credit report will include the following information about the applicant:

address
Social Security number
bankruptcies
tax liens
judgments
child support obligations
loans
the names of other employers who have checked the applicant's credit

What's not in a credit report? Credit reports do not provide information on:

previous income
college background
bank accounts
personal investments
criminal history
medical history

There are a number of things to consider if you decide to run a credit check.

You will have to pay the credit agency for the credit report. The fee may vary.
Federal law on credit reports : there is federal legislation that governs the use and disclosure of credit information. You must follow the law if you're going to run a credit check.
State laws on credit checks : A number of states currently have laws on the books that require employers to provide notice and/or copies of credit checks whenever they're used for employment-related decisions.
Antidiscrimination laws also apply : you can also get in trouble with antidiscrimination laws if you can't show a business reason for the credit check if screening on that basis has a disproportionate impact on minorities.