Pull credit without authorization

[darw1234]

My employer pulled my credit without my consent and I was fired shortly thereafter. Is there anything that I can do since I did not sign anything allowing them to pull my credit?

 

[Duranie]

When you were hired, are you sure you did not sign some form agreeing to a credit check? It is unusual for an employer to check credit while you are employed, generally they do it before you are hired.

Ask to see the consent form allowing credit to be pulled. Otherwise inform them you will be talking to an attorney.

 

[darw1234]

Positive. They started that policy after I was hired and did not have existing employees sign forms.

 

[calalily]

Your post doesn't give a lot of details such as why a credit report would be necessary for your particular job and why it would get you fired. An employer must limit their background checks to what is relevant to the job not get info forany all personal information. I say contact a lawyer. Here is some info from the web:

Credit reports. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA (15 U.S.C. §1681), employers must get an employee's written consent before seeking that employee's credit report. Many employers routinely include a request for such consent in their employment applications. If you decide not to hire or promote someone based on information in the credit report, you must provide a copy of the report and let the applicant know of his or her right to challenge the report under the FCRA. Some states have more stringent rules limiting the use of credit reports.

Try and check you state laws on privacy, background checks laws. Good luck!

 

[cbg]

Just for clarification; FCRA applies only if a the employer hired a third party to run the credit report. If they ran it themselves, FCRA does not apply and no permission from you is needed.

 

[calalily]

I Disagree

I disagree, and I believe the person should contact a lawyer.

 

[cbg]

You can disagree all you want. It won't change the fact that under the law, FCRA only applies when a third party is used. Your disagreement does not change the law.

I'm not saying the poster shouldn't contact a lawyer. We don't have any way of knowing whether the employer used a third party or not. But it would not be accurate to leave the impression that a signed release is ALWAYS required, because it isn't.

 

[calalily]

Still disagree

I don't understand your arguement. If an employer "runs a report themself" they still are accessing it from a third party and need written consent and notice. A credit report is still a credit report no matter who runs it. The employer is using a third party's information collected on the individual and the law applies. An employer cannot circumvent the law by claiming they ran the report themself especially if it resulted in an adverse action such as firing the employee.

 

[cbg]

You do not understand my argument because you do not understand the law. If the employer did not hire a third party to run the report for them, FCRA does not apply, and it is not going to apply no matter how strongly you disagree or how often you say so.

I'm not saying the poster shouldn't discuss it with a lawyer, but until you understand what you're talking about you should quit giving advice.

 

[calalily]

I think we are quibling over semantics. The law doesn't apply to employers who do their own "investigations" however if they use a credit report the law does apply.