SECTION 1. Short title.

SEC. 2. Findings.

(1) The use of credit reports as a factor in making hiring decisions has been found to be prevalent in a diverse array of occupations, and is not limited to certain high-level management or executive positions.

(2) According to the California Labor Federation, only 25 percent of employers researched the credit history of job applicants in 1998. However, this practice had increased to 43 percent by 2006 and to 60 percent by 2011.

(3) A study titled “Do Job Applicant Credit Histories Predict Job Performance Appraisal Ratings or Termination Decisions?”, published in 2012, found that, while credit history might conceptually measure a person’s level of responsibility, ability to meet deadlines, dependability, or integrity, it does not, in practice, actually predict an employee’s performance or likelihood to quit. Credit reports contain many inaccuracies and credit history can be contaminated by events that are sometimes outside a person’s control, such as a sudden medical expense after an accident or the loss of a job during an economic downturn. The study found that there is no benefit from using credit history to predict job performance or turnover.

(4) Despite the absence of data showing a correlation between job performance and credit-worthiness, employers continue to use credit checks as a proxy for assessing character and integrity. According to a 2012 Society for Human Resource Management survey, organizations indicated that they used credit checks on job candidates primarily to reduce or prevent theft and embezzlement and to minimize legal liability for negligent hiring.

(5) The use of credit checks for employment purposes creates a true “catch-22” for unemployed people with impaired credit. For example, the financial hardship caused by losing a job may cause some unemployed individuals to make late or partial payments on their bills, but their poor credit standing caused by this negative information on their consumer report can also impede their chances of obtaining a new job to end their financial distress.

(6) A September 2014 report by the New York City Council’s Committee on Civil Rights noted that, for those who have been unemployed for an extended period of time and whose credit has suffered as they fell behind on bills, the use of credit reports in the hiring process can exacerbate and perpetuate an already precarious situation.

(7) In a March 2013 Demos report titled “Discredited: How Employment Credit Checks Keep Out Qualified Workers Out of a Job”, one in four survey participants who were unemployed said that a potential employer had requested to check their credit report as part of a job application. Among job applicants with blemished credit histories in the survey, one in seven had been told that they were not being hired because of their credit history.

(8) While job applicants must give prior approval for a prospective employer to pull their credit reports under the FCRA, this authorization, as a practical matter, does not constitute an effective consumer protection because an employer may reject any job applicant who refuses a credit check.

(9) Some negative information on a report may stem from uncontrollable circumstances, or significant life events in a consumer’s life, such as a medical crisis or a divorce. Demos found that poor credit is associated with household unemployment, lack of health coverage, and medical debt, which are factors that reflect economic conditions in the country and personal misfortune that have little relationship with how well a job applicant would perform at work.

(10) In October 2011, FICO noted that from 2008 to 2009 approximately 50 million people experienced a 20-point drop in their credit scores and about 21 million saw their scores decline by more than 50 points. While the Great Recession reduced many consumers’ credit scores due to foreclosures and other financial hardships, the financial crisis had a particularly harsh impact on African Americans and Latinos, as racial and ethnic minorities and communities of color were frequently targeted by predatory mortgage lenders who steered borrowers into high-cost subprime loans, even when these borrowers would have qualified for less costly prime credit.

(11) A May 2006 Brookings Institution report titled “Credit Scores, Reports, and Getting Ahead in America” found that counties with a relatively higher proportion of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States tended to have lower credit scores compared with counties that had a lower concentration of communities of color.

(12) Studies have consistently found that African American and Latino households tend, on average, to have lower credit scores than White households. The growing use of credit checks, therefore, may disproportionately screen otherwise qualified racial and ethnic minorities out of jobs, leading to discriminatory hiring practices, and further exacerbating the trend where unemployment for African American and Latino communities is elevated well above the rate of Whites.

(13) A 2012 Demos survey found that 65 percent of White respondents reported having good or excellent credit scores while over half of African American households reported only having fair or bad credit.

SEC. 3. Bans the use of credit information for most employment decisions.