RELIABLE BACKGROUND SCREENING INDUSTRY NEWS AND ARTICLES

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is the federal law that regulates consumer reports, i.e., background check reports. The FCRA has another purpose – the consumer lending protection law – but this article focuses on its regulations and their impact on background screening reports. The FCRA requires that consumer reports be obtained with proper consumer consent and for a permissible business purpose. Permissible business purposes include the following (and many more): Employee Screening Volunteer Screening Resident/Tenant Screening Franchisee Screening Membership Screening Board of Directors Screening Client Screening Employee screening is the most regulated by the FCRA, and requires different consumer disclosures and [...]

In an interesting move that leads the credit bureau industry, Equifax has made “soft pull” credit reports available for tenant screening purposes. Of the three main credit bureaus, Equifax is the only credit bureau that provides the option of a soft pull tenant screening inquiry to the end-user, i.e., to the landlord, apartment or property management company. Unlike the other two credit bureaus, that only make available soft pull tenant screening inquiries directly to the consumer, Equifax provides the option to background screening companies who re-sell their credit report, to make soft pull tenant inquiries available to the end-user (landlord, apartment, etc.). [...]

The Department of Labor (DOL), in its first meaningful revision since 1958 to its joint employer regulation, announced a proposed rule to change how joint employer status is determined going forward. This is of particular importance to the franchise industry, where franchisors strive to not be considered a joint employer. The DOL proposal has a four-factor test that evaluates whether a potential joint employer exerts control to: Hire or fire the employee Supervise and control the employee’s work schedules or conditions of employment Determine the employee’s rate and method of payment, and Maintain the employee’s employment records. Included in the DOL proposal [...]

Last month I wrote about the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in Gilberg v. California Check Cashing Stores, and the significant impact it may have on determining if an Employee Screening Disclosure and Authorization (DA) form is compliant. The possible consequences are so severe, I am writing about it again. The FCRA – Fair Credit Reporting Act – the federal law that governs employee screening – imposes a statutory fine of up to $1,000 per individual for technical violations of this law. When class action lawsuits are filed, the law allows a five-year look-back period to see how many applicants applied [...]