January 2017
E-Verify is Not a Criminal Background Check
Many employers proudly display their E-Verify participation posters, and when asked if they perform criminal background checks on their employees, point to their poster and say, “yes, see we E-Verify.” Unfortunately, E-Verify is not a criminal background check. E-Verify is a free service that verifies the legal status employment eligibility [...]
October 2016
Denying Employment Based on Criminal Convictions
Here’s the scenario: Your company performs a pre-employment background check. It obtains the properly signed “separate and distinct” employee disclosure and authorization form that is required. The background screening report, i.e., the consumer report that is provided by the background screening company indicates that your employee applicant is a convicted [...]
May 2016
Checking Government ID Crucial for Valid Criminal Searches
Many people believe that searching for criminal records is as easy as entering a Social Security Number, and then in an instant, someone’s complete criminal history will appear. Regarding this matter, hardly anything could be farther from the truth. Most criminal records do not even have a complete Social Security [...]
April 2016
HUD Guidance Limits Use of Criminal Records for Landlords
On April 4, 2016, HUD’s (Department of Housing and Urban Development) Office of General Counsel issued guidance that will have far-reaching impact on landlords and the multi-housing and property management industries. This is a direct outcome of the Supreme Court Ruling that I wrote about in June of 2015, where [...]
