Does bad credit mean untrustworthy?

[Blackjack200]

nah trustworthiness is qualitative. Risk is measurable and that is the purpose of credit rating. It is a quantitative measure of your credit risk not your character. Statistics can show that high risk credit score has correlated to higher risk in other areas areas.

That's basically it. You can talk about what's right until the cows come home, but at the end of the day there's a correlation between better credit scores and better employees. Employers are fanatical about reducing risk with respect to hiring.

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

My mom put medical bills on me when I shouldn't have had them in the first place. First she told me I had insurance, then after the fact, she revealed I didn't....
I've been able to stay on top of my own incurred bills, for the most part. Although with no income, they get put off till last minute, but still get paid... When I had a job and steady income everything was paid on time. Fuck being unemployed...

 

[Texashiker]

at the end of the day there's a correlation between better credit scores and better employees. Employers are fanatical about reducing risk with respect to hiring.

There is a link between credit score and better employees? Wow, I dont know quit what to think about that post, are you serious?

Dont worry about flexible work hours
Dont worry about vacation and sick time
Dont worry about paying your employee a livable wage
Dont worry about working employees too much overtime

For 4 years I worked at a job where we were scheduled off 4 days a month. Our regular shift was 1 week 50 hours and the next week 70 hours - every other weekend off. By the time I knew it, my kids were almost grown. What made me a good employee? I was dedicated to my job, but my job was not dedicated to me. My "credit score" had nothing to do with getting up at 3:30am, being to work at 5:00am and working 10 hour shifts 5 and 7 days a week. There were times when I only got 2 days off every 6 weeks. Being at work everyday and doing my job to the best of my ability has nothing to do with my credit score.

 

[CVSiN]

That's basically it. You can talk about what's right until the cows come home, but at the end of the day there's a correlation between better credit scores and better employees. Employers are fanatical about reducing risk with respect to hiring.

You're so full of it..
if anything lower credit would make the employee work harder because they have less credit to live on.. therefore needing the normal pay hours in order to make ends meet.

I know in my situation I cant afford to miss 1 day non paid.

I know plenty of people with non "perfect" credit scores that work their asses off for what they have.

People are such judgmental asshats..

 

[vi edit]

You're so full of it..
if anything lower credit would make the employee work harder because they have less credit to live on.. therefore needing the normal pay hours in order to make ends meet.

I know in my situation I cant afford to miss 1 day non paid.

I know plenty of people with non "perfect" credit scores that work their asses off for what they have.

People are such judgmental asshats..

You guys can try and come up with anecdotal evidence all day if you want, but as others have said this is purely a numbers game. For every one person that you may know that has a legitimate reason, there's probably 20 that you don't know that are in that situation because risky/flaky/irresponsible behavior.

And on the flip side, for every one person that has an 800 credit score and is a trainwreck of a personality, there's probably 20 others that are perfect little worker bees that show up on time, do their job, and pay every bill before the due date.

 

[highland145]

You're so full of it..
if anything lower credit would make the employee work harder because they have less credit to live on.. therefore needing the normal pay hours in order to make ends meet.

I know in my situation I cant afford to miss 1 day non paid.

I know plenty of people with non "perfect" credit scores that work their asses off for what they have.

People are such judgmental asshats..

I don't think Black was being judgmental just the way it is sometimes.

 

[Texashiker]

but as others have said this is purely a numbers game.

I think I know where this road is going - employers try to use numbers to make up for poor interview skills.

Have 100 applicants? Instead of interviewing them all, just look at their credit score and the person with the best score wins the job. Now the Human Resources person can go back to playing farmville on facebook. Interviewing people, asking questions, looking at job history, training, education, can take too much time. I'am sure when an HR person has hundreds of applications they need a quick way to sift through them.

And then, they try to justify poor interview skills by making up excuses.

Maybe this post needs a sarcasm tag? Not quit sure if serious through.

In a way I'am sure their is a legitimate reason to use credit scores. But on the other hand, someone with good interview skills should be able to pick the best employee.

 

[a123456]

I think I know where this road is going - employers try to use numbers to make up for poor interview skills.

Have 100 applicants? Instead of interviewing them all, just look at their credit score and the person with the best score wins the job. Now the Human Resources person can go back to playing farmville on facebook. Interviewing people, asking questions, looking at job history, training, education, can take too much time. I'am sure when an HR person has hundreds of applications they need a quick way to sift through them.

And then, they try to justify poor interview skills by making up excuses.

Maybe this post needs a sarcasm tag? Not quit sure if serious through.

In a way I'am sure their is a legitimate reason to use credit scores. But on the other hand, someone with good interview skills should be able to pick the best employee.

Lol, maybe this post needs a sarcasm tag too.

No real company is going to hire based on highest credit score obviously but it may be a first cut to bring up a red flag as possibly something to investigate as a secondary factor. It may be more important in a security clearance.

It's more useful as a first cut if the credit score is really bad and there are signs of irresponsible behavior. Colleges do the same thing with GPA and SAT score as a first cut all the time. Is it fair? Maybe not. But when you have 30k applications and you want to weed it down to 10k so you can look more closely at the app and then interview the person, that's what's going to happen.

Increasing HR 10x to read every application 10 times is a waste of time since usually there's few positions that they really need to fill.

 

[vi edit]

I think I know where this road is going - employers try to use numbers to make up for poor interview skills. Have 100 applicants? Instead of interviewing them all, just look at their credit score and the person with the best score wins the job. Now the Human Resources person can go back to playing farmville on facebook. Interviewing people, asking questions, looking at job history, training, education, can take too much time. I'am sure when an HR person has hundreds of applications they need a quick way to sift through them.

Maybe for low ladder positions. But for higher paying positions it's likely much the opposite. It's a last check on a couple key candidates before and offer is made.

 

[gimmewhitecastles]

I think I know where this road is going - employers try to use numbers to make up for poor interview skills.

Have 100 applicants? Instead of interviewing them all, just look at their credit score and the person with the best score wins the job. Now the Human Resources person can go back to playing farmville on facebook. Interviewing people, asking questions, looking at job history, training, education, can take too much time. I'am sure when an HR person has hundreds of applications they need a quick way to sift through them.

And then, they try to justify poor interview skills by making up excuses.

Maybe this post needs a sarcasm tag? Not quit sure if serious through.

In a way I'am sure their is a legitimate reason to use credit scores. But on the other hand, someone with good interview skills should be able to pick the best employee.

Now this is beyond ridiculous.

I thought we were discussing the merits of using credit score to measure someone's trustworthiness. Now it's job skills?

I think you're taking this the wrong way.

 

[Zebo]

No. Shit happens. Most Americans are one accident or layoff away from bad credit rating. They don't usually get bailed out like the banks did. But bad credit history does. Like a lifetime of it.

 

[Texashiker]

I thought we were discussing the merits of using credit score to measure someone's trustworthiness. .

There are no merits to using credit score to measure someone's trustworthiness. To do so groups everyone together. From there they are labeled "trustworthy" or "not trustworthy" based solely on a number.

After my ex-wife and I divorced (10 years ago), I found out that she had been applying for credit cards in my name, and without my knowledge. My credit was pretty much ruined due to late payments and non-payment. I did not find out about all of this until we split up and she started forwarding the bills to my new address. Surprise, you have a couple of maxed out credit cards.

So I should be punished due to the actions of someone else? That is hog wash.

 

[highland145]

So I should be punished due to the actions of someone else? That is hog wash.

These days, identity theft will get you jail time. Yes, I would have had her locked up. 10 years ago, before the consumer protection laws of ??2003??, not so easy.

If you're still having problems with the fraudulent credit, annualcreditreport.com and dispute every one.

 

[Blackjack200]

There is a link between credit score and better employees? Wow, I dont know quit what to think about that post, are you serious?

Dont worry about flexible work hours
Dont worry about vacation and sick time
Dont worry about paying your employee a livable wage
Dont worry about working employees too much overtime

For 4 years I worked at a job where we were scheduled off 4 days a month. Our regular shift was 1 week 50 hours and the next week 70 hours - every other weekend off. By the time I knew it, my kids were almost grown. What made me a good employee? I was dedicated to my job, but my job was not dedicated to me. My "credit score" had nothing to do with getting up at 3:30am, being to work at 5:00am and working 10 hour shifts 5 and 7 days a week. There were times when I only got 2 days off every 6 weeks. Being at work everyday and doing my job to the best of my ability has nothing to do with my credit score.

You're so full of it..
if anything lower credit would make the employee work harder because they have less credit to live on.. therefore needing the normal pay hours in order to make ends meet.

I know in my situation I cant afford to miss 1 day non paid.

I know plenty of people with non "perfect" credit scores that work their asses off for what they have.

People are such judgmental asshats..

Yeah, I really wish you wouldn't take my comments personally. I did not say that someone can't be a good employee if they have a poor credit score. I personally don't believe that employers (or anyone else for that matter) should be allowed to check your credit score - unless you are trying to borrow money or open a line of credit.

I think I know where this road is going - employers try to use numbers to make up for poor interview skills.

Have 100 applicants? Instead of interviewing them all, just look at their credit score and the person with the best score wins the job. Now the Human Resources person can go back to playing farmville on facebook. Interviewing people, asking questions, looking at job history, training, education, can take too much time. I'am sure when an HR person has hundreds of applications they need a quick way to sift through them.

And then, they try to justify poor interview skills by making up excuses.

Maybe this post needs a sarcasm tag? Not quit sure if serious through.

In a way I'am sure their is a legitimate reason to use credit scores. But on the other hand, someone with good interview skills should be able to pick the best employee.

Farmville? The last time my team got a req. to hire someone we interviewed about half a dozen people. Each of them came in and had 8 separate interviews, that's 56 hours of interviewing alone. We had several team meetings to discuss the candidates before we settled on someone.

You may think it's just people being lazy, but think about the manager for a second. If you hire someone, and something bad happens (fraud, stealing, coked up on the job, whatever) and someone discovers that you failed to take his bad credit score into account, the blame is going to fall right on your lap.

 

[CVSiN]

There are no merits to using credit score to measure someone's trustworthiness. To do so groups everyone together. From there they are labeled "trustworthy" or "not trustworthy" based solely on a number.

After my ex-wife and I divorced (10 years ago), I found out that she had been applying for credit cards in my name, and without my knowledge. My credit was pretty much ruined due to late payments and non-payment. I did not find out about all of this until we split up and she started forwarding the bills to my new address. Surprise, you have a couple of maxed out credit cards.

So I should be punished due to the actions of someone else? That is hog wash.

that's EXACTLY what happened to me.. she even let the car I bought her get repoed..

She had my power of attorney while I was in the navy and when it came to splitsville.. she did all that.. and then cleaned out all 3 accounts and left me while I was on the boat..

all the while everything is bouncing left and right..

-40000 credit score that I still haven't recovered from.

 

[CVSiN]

Yeah, I really wish you wouldn't take my comments personally. I did not say that someone can't be a good employee if they have a poor credit score. I personally don't believe that employers (or anyone else for that matter) should be allowed to check your credit score - unless you are trying to borrow money or open a line of credit.

Point taken sorry then Black.

 

[Blackjack200]

Point taken sorry then Black.

No worries, I can only imagine how frustrating it must be. There are lots of things employers are not allowed to ask about: family situations, sexual orientation, medical conditions etc. etc. because we have a basic right to privacy. In all of those items above you could probably show a correlation of one group or another generally being "better" employees" but we prohibit employers from even asking the question because fairness to the individual is more important then the marginal benefit to employers.

 

[dmcowen674]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackjack200
That's basically it. You can talk about what's right until the cows come home, but at the end of the day there's a correlation between better credit scores and better employees. Employers are fanatical about reducing risk with respect to hiring.

You're so full of it..
if anything lower credit would make the employee work harder because they have less credit to live on.. therefore needing the normal pay hours in order to make ends meet.

I know in my situation I cant afford to miss 1 day non paid.

I know plenty of people with non "perfect" credit scores that work their asses off for what they have.

People are such judgmental asshats..

This :thumbsup:

and that Fair Isacc (FICO) system is a scam and a sham that should be ruled Unconstitutional and Discriminatory

 

[alkemyst]

It's clear we must have some members with terrible credit.

I don't know how this can even be debated. If someone doesn't believe in paying their bills a lot of times it's from the ideal that 'THE MAN' doesn't need their money.

Likewise, when working for a corporation the ideal can be extended to a ton of things like taking supplies home, misreporting hours, etc.

 

[steppinthrax]

Yes, a low credit score means that companies find you untrustworthy. That is after all what the credit score is about.

Your credit score is an attempt to measure trust. If many companies have lent you money and you have paid them back as agreed, then you have built a lot of trust with those companies. You therefore have a high credit score. If you haven't paid them back, then they don't trust you and you have a low credit score. If few companies have lent you money (little to no history), then they can't measure your trustworthyness and they give you a middling credit score.

Does a person with bad credit always mean untrustworthy? Of course not. A very trustworthy person may have had a bad hand in life. But companies don't care about the fact that you lost your job just after you got cancer when you worked at Enron, etc. They care about the fact that you did or did not pay your loans as agreed. You could have had proper insurance to cover all of those issues, but you didn't. So, it may be a flawed view of trustworthyness, but it is the only view we can realistically get.

:thumbsup:

 

[steppinthrax]

That's basically it. You can talk about what's right until the cows come home, but at the end of the day there's a correlation between better credit scores and better employees. Employers are fanatical about reducing risk with respect to hiring.

:thumbsup:

 

[pcgeek11]

I understand financial history plays a big part now in insurnace, security clearance, job etc... How do organizations come to the conclusion that financial history = trustworthy? Does a person with bad credit always mean untrustworthy.

As a general rule yes.

Individuals vary from person to person in how trustworthy they are. However they have to go with the odds as they cannot get to know every individual.

Security clearance hell yes. Being behind in bills and money problems always makes one more Susceptible to bribery and payoffs.

 

[pcgeek11]

You may not have, but if you signed a consent form for a background check, they probably ran one.

People look at your credit history and score all the time without your knowledge. Wonder where all those credit card applications come from in the mail...

 

[Brainonska511]

Wonder where all those credit card applications come from in the mail

I forget how to do it, but you can stop those pre-approved offers from coming.

 

[Elganja]

I have mixed feelings about this... I know I was financially irresponisble when I was in college and my parents bailed me out (I paid them back a long time ago)

But I think I needed that to learn, I know it sounds dumb. I'm MUCH better financially now, but far from perfect (have no debt minus my house and car)... A lot of that has to do with having a good a job. I'm getting much better though (car will be sold soon for something much cheaper, saving a TON more money), but still have a long ways to go. I consider myself a pretty trustworthy person and have a 750+ credit rating (which is decent, can be better).

So i guess my feeling is, habitual bad credit (5-10+ years of bad credit) would make me think twice, but a couple years of bad credit can be forgiven. I'd be more concerned with what that person is doing to better themselves moreso then what they have done in the past