Fair Credit Reporting Act

This federal law regulates ALL background searches conducted and sold by a consumer reporting agency not just credit reports. FCRA requires and dictates the documents necessary to be in compliance. FCRA requires all clients to certify ‘permissible purpose’ with supplier - a Consumer Report User Agreement.

• Court Records:

• Driving Records
• Credit Reports
• Name Traces (SSN / Address)
• Previous Employment Verification
• Personal References
• Education Verification
• Workers Comp

County searches are:

• Fresh searches - direct from county file
• Current activity – up-to-date information
• Thorough – includes all charges, warrants, etc.
• Detailed – includes arrest dates, dispositions, etc
• Less restrictions
• More readily available - Quicker

State-wide searches:

• are repositories only, contain only the information that participating counties have contributed – there are no case files at the state level.
• Not available in all states
• Not all counties contribute equally or at all
• Delays – some state reports take up to 2 weeks
• Restrictions as to what is reported
• Signed releases – many require signed releases and some even require notarized releases &/or fingerprints

Credit Reports

• These are for employment purposes only, and the job description should indicate the ‘permissible purpose’ for this search
• Will not contain credit worthiness ratings
• Requires additional certification of client to enroll in Credit Bureau Membership

Name Traces

Name Traces are strongly suggested –

• Identifies “hidden” counties of residence not previously disclosed by candidate
• Contains aliases, other SSN’s, addresses, and other DOB’s
• May also list others using their SSN

Employment Verification

• Always Dates & Title
• Often Salary
• Rehire Eligibility
• Reason for Leaving
• Other questions concerning
  • Attendance
  • Punctuality
  • Reliability
  • Work relationships
• Customized questions available

Education / Personal References

• Education
• College Degrees
• College Attendance
• High School Diplomas / GEDs

• Personal References
• Direct contact with named reference

Workers Comp

Must comply with ADA

• Only search that must be requested after a bona fide job offer has been made
• Not ever state offers this search

Online System

• All clients have unique User ID’s
• All accounts are password protected
• Can accommodate ‘group’ accounts
• Simple and direct input
• Default ordering or on-the-fly selection
• Allows for county look-up if only city is known
• Allows for AKA’s
• Updates profile as info is received from source
• Daily Status Report notes questions or concerns
• Automatic email notification when complete

**Fax-in service available

FCRA Compliant Forms

We offer fully FCRA compliant forms

• Disclosure / Authorization - Waiver on application IS NOT sufficient, per FCRA
• Summary of Rights

Ordering by Fax-in Service

• Forms designed to gather applicant info that does not appear on applications