Can my prospective employer ask me to provide a copy of my credit report?
Yes. We are not aware of any cases in which a court or other agency ruled that a prospective employer cannot ask the applicant to provide it with a copy of his or her credit report -also known as a consumer report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”)- as opposed to asking the applicant to sign a written authorization for the employer to procure the report itself. The prospective employer, however, should comply with other FCRA requirements such as giving the applicant a “Summary of your Rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act” notice if it intends to reject the applicant based on the information contained in the credit report. The applicant can refuse to provide the prospective employer a copy of the credit report, but the company can then lawfully reject the applicant.
If you are going to provide a credit report to a prospective employer, a good practice is to carefully review it first to make sure that the data is accurate. If there are discrepancies, you may wish to contact the credit bureau to make any changes before you give the report to your prospective employer.
Visit the Federal Trade Commission’s site at: www.consumer.ftc.gov to learn more about employment background checks, and contact the Hayber, McKenna & Dinsmore, LLC if you believe that your rights have been violated.