Other Ways Bad Credit Makes Us Suffer

As we all know, bad credit can keep us from doing a multitude of things. This includes renting a house or apartment, being able to finance a car or home. The worst of all in my opinion, would be that employers are allowed to deny us employment based on our credit history. 

Like many people, my credit is far from flawless. I do not see how that could or should stop myself or any other hard working American the right to employment. Apparently some employers use credit checks as part of their background checks. I believe that background checks should be used, but a persons credit in no way reflects their character or ability to perform a job well. While reading different articles on this subject I found one on MSN http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/YourCreditRating/how-bad-credit-can-cost-you-a-job.aspx that has a brief section that more or less states in instances where people would potentially work with money or other valuables, credit checks are used to "weed" people out because money and things like jewelry could be easily stolen. 

The fact that employers have the audacity to link bad credit with being a criminal (at least in my opinion) is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. My credit may not be perfect but that does not make me a thief. The same applies for the thousands of others that are unemployed and cannot pay their bills because they cannot find employment. And in some cases they cant get employment because they cannot pay their bills. This does not mean that people even with horrible credit are not trustworthy. Instead, this simply means that they are individuals who through bad decisions or bad circumstances were not able to take care of financial obligations.

The practice of credit checks as part of background checks needs to stop, especially now that so many Americans are unemployed and need employment, not to be judged as unworthy because of their credit. There are two states ( Hawaii and Washington) that do not allow employers to run credit as part of the screening process and I believe it is high time that 48 others follow suit.