# Credit Checks

Understand financial responsibility before you hire or approve a tenant. Run credit checks across Canada, the United States, and supported international markets.

### Turnaround Time
Instant to minutes

### Recommended for
Roles with financial responsibility or global housing & tenancy decisions

### Coverage
Canada, United States, United Kingdom, and supported international countries

### Cost
Varies by country

### Get the literal checks and balances
Know your candidate’s financial position before making a hiring or tenant decision.

**Understand your candidate’s financial context anywhere you hire**  
Certn’s credit checks provide financial insight for candidates across Canada, the United States, and supported international markets, helping you assess suitability for roles involving financial responsibility or tenancy decisions.

**Build financially responsible teams, globally**  
Evaluate financial stability across regions to help reduce risk when hiring candidates for roles involving trust, funds, or fiduciary responsibility.

**Create consistency across your screening process**  
Standardize credit screening across domestic and international candidates with transparent checks designed to support confident hiring decisions.

## What you get from Certn’s Credit Checks:

### Bankruptcy Notifications
Financial insolvency and major credit events where available.

### Credit & Payment History
A record of repayment patterns and financial behaviour.

### Public Record Inquiries
Reportable credit events such as bankruptcies, CCJs, IVAs, and other financial issues depending on regional coverage.

\*Reportable financial issues may vary by country

### Credit checks as simple as 1, 2, 3
Certn keeps credit screening simple.

**1. Select your preferred credit check**  
Choose Canadian, US, or International credit checks within the Certn platform.

**2. Candidates complete their screening**  
Candidates provide required information such as name, date of birth, and address history.

**3. Review the report**  
Results highlight relevant adverse credit events within the applicable reporting period.

### FAQs

**What is a credit check?**  
A credit check reviews a person’s credit history to identify financial behaviour and reportable adverse credit events that may indicate financial risk.

Certn supports credit checks in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and additional international countries. The information available can vary by region depending on local credit bureau data and regulations.

**Will a credit check impact my candidate’s credit score?**  
A credit check is a soft inquiry of an individual’s credit file. A “soft inquiry” doesn’t impact the credit score. Credit reports include: tradelines, bankruptcies, public records and collections information, and a credit score.

**What shows up in an employment credit check?**  
The information included in a credit check depends on the country where the report is run.

In Canada and the United States, employment credit checks may include:
- Credit account history (tradelines)
- Bankruptcies and collections
- Public financial records

In the UK and other international markets, reports typically highlight adverse credit events, such as bankruptcies, County Court Judgments (CCJs), Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs), or other reportable financial issues within the applicable reporting period.

Credit scores don’t appear on reports for pre-employment screening. Where permitted, credit checks should only be ordered for reasons such as positions at financial institutions, managerial roles, and roles with regular access to proprietary or financial data.

**What information is required to run a credit check?**  
To start a credit check, you simply invite the candidate through the Certn Client Portal using their email address.

The candidate securely provides the required information, which may include:
- Full legal name
- Date of birth
- Address history

Candidates may also provide previous names, which can be included in the search to improve match accuracy.

**How are international credit checks ordered?**  
Credit checks can be ordered in two ways within Certn:

1. **Address-based searches**  
The system uses the candidate’s address history to determine which countries should be searched.

2. **Country-based searches**  
You can also select specific countries when ordering a credit check if you want to screen a candidate’s credit history in certain regions.

Candidates will be able to run searches on current or previous names.

**How long does a credit check take?**  
Many credit checks return instantly or within minutes, especially in Canada and the United States.

International credit checks may take slightly longer depending on the country and available data sources, but results are typically returned quickly within the Certn platform.