• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a ....

Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have ......

  • Employers and landlords should not be banned from asking about any criminal history

    Votes: 17 43.6%

  • Employees and landlords should be banned from asking about any criminal history

    Votes: 4 10.3%

  • Only employers should be banned from asking about any criminal history

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Only landlords should be banned from asking about any criminal history

    Votes: 1 2.6%

  • Employers should be allowed to ask about crimes are "significantly related"

    Votes: 1 2.6%

  • Landlords should be allowed to ask about crimes that are "significantly related"

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Both should be allowed to ask about crimes that are "significantly related"

    Votes: 16 41.0%

  • I do not know.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    39
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

Jerry said:
On credit rating, my personal goal is to have no FICO score (not a score of "0", but no score at all), and then freeze my credit history. At that time, should you look, you will not see a good or bad score, you see that I have no score at all.
Click to expand...


No score is a taken as a very bad score
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

Jerry said:
On credit rating, my personal goal is to have no FICO score (not a score of "0", but no score at all), and then freeze my credit history. At that time, should you look, you will not see a good or bad score, you see that I have no score at all.
Click to expand...

No credit history is just as bad as a bad credit history, probably even worse.

http://credit-management.bestmanagementarticles.com/a-37732-no-credit-is-worse-than-bad-credit.aspx
 
Last edited:
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

lpast said:
No score is a taken as a very bad score
Click to expand...

But it's not a very bad score, it's not any score at all, because the history's frozen. Credit reporting agencies don't report a frozen history as a bad score, they report it as a frozen history.

Now, an employer may take that as a negative, and if they do they will have to take that into consideration with the rest of my resume. Ideally they would ask me about it, so that I can tell them it's to help prevent identity theft.

Chances are I wouldn't get along with an employer who required a good fico score anyway, as we would have fundamentally conflicting fiscal opinions.

On balance, however, I've worked with contractors who seek out folks with criminal histories, especially those who are still on work release or parole, because these tend to make more reliable workers, and yes at a lower cost. The worker, in turn, receives a good report from their employer, learns a trade, and still makes good money compared to their other employment options (fast-food). These workers are also trusted to make purchases on the company's account, which looks great on future employment applications, but doesn't appear on a credit report.

just my :twocents:
 
Last edited:
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

jamesrage said:
No credit history is just as bad as a bad credit history, probably even worse.

No Credit is Worse than Bad Credit
Click to expand...

I'm ok with that. IMO credit is simply a form of slavery, and I don't mean that in a melodramatic way. When you work all month and barely make your bills, and have little if anything to show for all your work, you can't honestly say you were working for yourself.

On a national scale, China owns a lot of US debt, and that's not just symbolic, but China has claim to the hard assets securing that debt.
 
Last edited:
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

Jerry said:
I'm ok with that. IMO credit is simply a form of slavery, and I don't mean that in a melodramatic way. When you work all month and barely make your bills, and have little if anything to show for all your work, you can't honestly say you were working for yourself.

On a national scale, China owns a lot of US debt, and that's not just symbolic, but China has claim to the hard assets securing that debt.
Click to expand...

I'd agree if you said too much debt.
Some debt is ok.
Debt is a tool, if used for the right things and at the right time, it is very useful.
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

Harry Guerrilla said:
I'd agree if you said too much debt.
Some debt is ok.
Debt is a tool, if used for the right things and at the right time, it is very useful.
Click to expand...

Only a mortgage is acceptable as a necessary evil, because the typical person can't front the cost in cash.

All other credit is "to much". Credit cards, student loans, business loans, national debt ceilings, all of it.
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

Jerry said:
Only a mortgage is acceptable as a necessary evil, because the typical person can't front the cost in cash.

All other credit is "to much". Credit cards, student loans, business loans, national debt ceilings, all of it.
Click to expand...

I agree and disagree.
Just depends on the amount of risk your willing to take and the potential payoff of the use of that debt, in that instance.
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

Harry Guerrilla said:
I agree and disagree.
Just depends on the amount of risk your willing to take and the potential payoff of the use of that debt, in that instance.
Click to expand...

That's you, not me. If you can't pay the total cost up front, you can't afford it.
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

Jerry said:
That's you, not me. If you can't pay the total cost up front, you can't afford it.
Click to expand...

That's totally fine, not disagreeing.
I tend to throw that into "it depends" kind of thing.

I'm willing to take out a loan to buy into an investment, provided that interest rate of the loan is lower than the earnings of the investment.
Some are not as comfortable with that and that's ok.
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

If I operate a day care, I damn sure need to know if anybody applying to work there has any kind of criminal record...especially drugs, violent charges, and sexual charges.

If I operate a bank, I need to know if anybody applying to work there has massive debt collection issues and/or a recent criminal record for drugs or theft.

If I provide housing and I happen to have a lot of young women and/or kids living there, I need to know if anybody applying to lease has recent convictions for drug charges, sex charges, or violent charges.

It's about liability, especially if that person has more than 1 recent conviction on their record. If I'm work with a vulnerable group (those with special needs, children, the elderly) I have to protect them. Hiring a sex offender to work in a day care? Not only would I lose my license, but I'd never be able to get business again once word got out.

One charge from 20 years ago won't necessarily affect my decision, and circumstances matter..but I have a right to know what I'm letting in before I let it in. Criminal records are public almost 100% of the time for a reason.
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

After certain amount of time depending on the crime. It shouldn't matter anymore.
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

cpgrad08 said:
After certain amount of time depending on the crime. It shouldn't matter anymore.
Click to expand...

Yeah, there should be some sort of "statute of limitations." If you got busted for a DWI once 15 years ago and you've been sober since...that shouldn't cause a problem.
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

cpgrad08 said:
After certain amount of time depending on the crime. It shouldn't matter anymore.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. I think that crimes should be assigned a time limit after which they vanish off your record or something, if records are going to be public property. Maybe 3 years for vandalism, 5 years for small-time theft or rape, and 10-20 years for a grand theft depending on the scale. I'm thinking like 1 year for things like bankruptcy- inability to pay off a debt resulting in a short sentence or a fine. Repeat offenders for each thing get their criminal record time doubled each time, repeat sex offenders of any kind get life in jail.
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

Jerry said:
Only a mortgage is acceptable as a necessary evil, because the typical person can't front the cost in cash.

All other credit is "to much". Credit cards, student loans, business loans, national debt ceilings, all of it.
Click to expand...

So buying a random building is necessary, but getting an education isn't? Makes perfect sense. :roll:
 
Last edited:
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

jamesrage said:
Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a criminal record/past?


Employers and landlords should not be banned from asking about any criminal history.

Employees and landlords should be banned from asking about any criminal history.

Only employers should be banned from asking about any criminal history.

Only landlords should be banned from asking about any criminal history.

Employers should be allowed to ask about crimes are "significantly related".For example a bank asking if the applicant if they been convicted of armed robbery, theft or embezzlement or a Daycare asking the applicant if they have been convicted of child molestation,rape or abuse.

Landlords should be allowed to ask about crimes that are "significantly related".For example a landlord asking the applicant if they are a convicted sex offender or if they have been convicted of making meth.

Both should be allowed to ask about crimes that are "significantly related.

I do not know.





I think limiting an employer or landlord to what questions they can ask is the best solution. This still allowed employers and landlords to weed out potential threats while at the same time preventing someone who was convicted of a unrelated offense from being discriminated against.
Click to expand...

I think there should be a certain amount of time in which a person's criminal history no longer becomes applicable to his employment or his place of housing. A person's criminal history should be able to be found out by employers and landlords for 10 years after their release for non-violent offenses and for 20 years after their release for violent offenses.

If a person hasn't gotten in trouble after those landmarks then chances are pretty good they won't cause trouble for their employer or landlord at all. So I think those ex-cons should be given a chance.
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

Kandahar said:
So buying a random building is necessary, but getting an education isn't? Makes perfect sense. :roll:
Click to expand...

You don't need debt to buy an education. That's just a meme, something you've heard repeated so many times it's appears legit, and so you believe it.

Maybe you and I just see the world differently, as I wouldn't buy a building at random as you claim you would. If I buy a building ot would be for a specific purpose. But your money is your money so you do what you want with it.
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

Jerry said:
You don't need debt to buy an education. That's just a meme, something you've heard repeated so many times it's appears legit, and so you believe it.
Click to expand...

You do need debt to buy an education, unless your parents are paying for it or you're a returning student. An 18-year-old working at Wal-Mart is barely going to earn enough to support himself, much less put himself through college. And if your argument is that you should wait a few years until you CAN afford it, that's just not practical. The salary bump you get from a worthwhile college degree is a lot more than the interest you'd pay on a student loan for a state school.

Now if you're talking about borrowing $150K in order to major in English at a private liberal arts college, then I would agree that it's not necessary. But that does not describe the typical student.

Maybe you and I just see the world differently, as I wouldn't buy a building at random as you claim you would. If I buy a building ot would be for a specific purpose. But your money is your money so you do what you want with it.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't buy ANY building, least of all one where I was going to live. Houses are ****ing horrible investments, and owning one is by no means a necessity.
 
Last edited:
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

Kandahar said:
You do need debt to buy an education, unless your parents are paying for it or you're a returning student.
Click to expand...


 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

Belgarath said:
Thanks giving it such excellent criticism...I'm glad to know that the end of the day, people like you will be there to tell me I have silly arguments. Getting to the actual point, I actually realize that. I don't know if you noticed, but that's why I said having a combination of a sex offender directory and a personality test. My point is that you shouldn't just classify them as sex offenders for the rest of their life, that fact shouldn't limit everything they can do anymore than a love of pornographic material or violent movies. Addictions might limit their social abilities or force them to go to some kind of rehab to regain control over their lives, but it doesn't give you or me the right to judge them for it. I understand if you don't want to have someone whose personality test shows that they have a strong chance of going out on a raping quest in a week- I just don't understand why because they've had sex with a child in the past you immediately assume they can't control themselves enough not to do it again. They serve their punishment, the state deems them ready to go- and I won't argue with it. They're the ones with Ph.D's in criminal psychology, not me.
Click to expand...

:shock:

Let me get this right. You have in front of you a person applying for a position as, say, a school janitor or a day care worker... but you have no right to know that the person was convicted of having sex with a child in the past because although they couldn't control themselves enough not to do it once, you shouldn't assume they can't control themselves enough not to do it again.

Is that about right? Because I've got to tell you, that is utterly... bizarre.
 
Last edited:
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

jamesrage said:
Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a criminal record/past?


I think limiting an employer or landlord to what questions they can ask is the best solution. This still allowed employers and landlords to weed out potential threats while at the same time preventing someone who was convicted of a unrelated offense from being discriminated against.
Click to expand...

You didn't have this forthright choice: Convicted felons shouldn’t work or live anywhere. At least half the votes would be for this option.
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

Belgarath said:
I agree with this. I think that crimes should be assigned a time limit after which they vanish off your record or something, if records are going to be public property. Maybe 3 years for vandalism, 5 years for small-time theft or rape, and 10-20 years for a grand theft depending on the scale. I'm thinking like 1 year for things like bankruptcy- inability to pay off a debt resulting in a short sentence or a fine. Repeat offenders for each thing get their criminal record time doubled each time, repeat sex offenders of any kind get life in jail.
Click to expand...

:shock::shock::shock:

So... you think that rape is basically no more serious than petty theft? Seriously?
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

DiAnna said:
:shock::shock::shock:

So... you think that rape is basically no more serious than petty theft? Seriously?
Click to expand...

See how simple this choice would be: Convicted felons shouldn’t work or live anywhere.
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

There's obviously a problem when a felony arrest basically blacklists them for life. I think there should be more opportunities for past convictions to be expunged from one's record because of this, especially in the case of felony convictions, regardless of the crime.
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

Belgarath said:
If you keep the sex offenders busy, they won't give a f*ck about your daughters since they can go get more legitimate fun. The more you antagonize them, the more likely they are to retaliate by raping. It gives them a sense of control over their lives when you deny them it. If you give them a job, encourage them to spend their money in ways that make them happy with life, and generally give them ways they can regain their own sense of control over their destiny, I don't think you will see them raping too many women. But then again- that would require actually spending your time and efforts to help them, and unfortunately not too many people are willing to do that. We're so scared that their past will define their future, we never give them an opportunity to change.
Click to expand...

I still don't want them in my building and I have every right to keep them out.
 
Re: Should employers & landlords be prohibited from asking applicants if they have a

Belgarath said:
A credit check? So now we're checking to see if they even spend correctly? What are you going to do next, investigate their dating background and give them a blood test for terminal diseases? I don't see where the line is here. It seems like people can just keep getting more and more personal. What makes what you're doing right and checking for race, gender, or musical preference wrong? I'm not saying you can't go to the police and ask for a criminal record check...I'm just saying that I should have the right to say that you can't have it. If you deny me based on that ground then whatever, I don't care- it's your loss of business, I can just go to a different place that does let me in.
Click to expand...

If someone has a history of not paying bills, including rent, then I very much have the right to know about it and make decisions to rent out accordingly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom