New employer wants to do credit check, but I froze my credit!

June 25, 2018 6:24 AM

I have a provisional job offer, dependent upon reference checks, credentialing, and CREDIT check. Because I am a Mefite, I knew to freeze my credit when the Equifax breach occurred in September 2017. Should I unfreeze those accounts until I am "cleared"?

I did the annoying things to freeze my credit, which was the smart move. BTW, my credit rating is good, so it would probably benefit me to have the info available to my potential employer. (But of course I don't think this is of any business of a potential employer).
Anyway, I know that the credit freezes are effective, because I applied for a credit card last month (having forgotten about the freezes) and was summarily rejected. I temporarily lifted the freezes, and was approved for the credit card.
Therefore, should I again lift the credit freezes? Or do "deep-dive" background checks (the HR person's term) use a different method for credit checks? Thanks.

posted by honey badger to Work & Money (7 answers total)

You can ask the employer which agency they use and just unfreeze that agency.
posted by jkent at 7:12 AM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: For employment check, it's probably not going to be a "hard pull" since new credit is not being created. A "soft pull" should still go through despite your freeze. I'd give the employer a heads up that it might be frozen but they should try. If it doesn't work, you will unfreeze.
posted by AaRdVarK at 7:18 AM on June 25, 2018 [5 favorites]

There's a type of lift where when you process the lift you get a code, which you give to the entity who is going to pull your credit. I've tried that, but have been unsuccessful (I get the code and give it out but then they say "I'm not getting a place to put the code in").

Or you enter a "time-limited" lift (I usually do 1 day) and then tell the checker "hey I lifted the freeze but only for one day so go ahead and do your pull".
posted by achrise at 8:10 AM on June 25, 2018

Best answer: But of course I don't think this is of any business of a potential employer

I don't think it is either, and I generally think credit checks for employment are an excuse for systematic discrimination. This isn't responsive to your question, but you should know that credit checks for employment in California are highly restricted.
posted by saeculorum at 8:53 AM on June 25, 2018 [4 favorites]

Are you sure they are actually doing the credit check and it's not just something that is on the release form? Most companies use a standard release that covers everything for Fair Credit Reporting Act purposes, but unless you're a high level executive or someone who regularly handles accounts or money I can't imagine why they would care about a credit check.
posted by dpx.mfx at 9:04 AM on June 25, 2018

I'd leave your credit frozen and then only work on unfreezing it if asked; I have to assume you're not the first person who's frozen their credit they've had to deal with, and they'd be the best ones to advise you on what they need you to do, plus you retain the most control over the situation in that case.

In any case, especially post-Equifax, I can't imagine you'd be looked down upon for freezing your credit.
posted by Aleyn at 1:47 PM on June 25, 2018

Many people don't know what "credit freeze" means, and they may assume it's something that happened to you instead of something you chose, which could lead to a incorrect, negative assumption about you.

I handle this by saying "I have my credit setup so I have to preapprove any credit checks. Please let me know if you need to check my credit."
posted by cnc at 3:31 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]