Background Check Error Lawyer: Hold the Screener Accountable for the Job You Lost

When a background check error costs you the job

You interviewed well. You got the offer. Then a background check came back with a felony that isn’t yours, a dismissed charge reported as a conviction, or a ten-year-old arrest that should never have been on the page. The offer was pulled, and nobody at the company wants to hear your side.

That is exactly the harm the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) was written to stop. A background check error lawyer uses it to force the screening company to fix the report and to make it pay for what the error cost you. The companies that sell these reports are consumer reporting agencies under federal law, and they owe you real duties: accuracy, a fair dispute process, and limits on what old information they can sell.

We represent job applicants and workers nationwide in federal court, directly or with local counsel, on contingency. You pay no fee unless we win.

What are the most common background check errors?

Most errors trace back to the same root cause: screening companies pull records from court databases and match them to you with too little checking. The common ones:

• Someone else’s record. A criminal case belonging to a person with a similar name or birth date lands on your report. This is the background-check version of a mixed credit file.
• Wrong outcome. A charge that was dismissed, reduced, or resolved through deferred adjudication is reported as a conviction, or reported with no outcome at all.
• Expunged or sealed records. A court cleared the record, but the screener’s database never caught up.
• Duplicates. One case is listed two or three times, so one mistake reads like a pattern.
• Wrong severity. A misdemeanor shows up as a felony.
• Outdated records. Non-conviction information older than federal time limits allow.

Each of these can violate the FCRA. Several of them have drawn federal enforcement against major screeners.

Can I sue a background check company?

Yes, when the company broke the law and you were harmed. The core rule is in 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b): every consumer reporting agency must follow reasonable procedures to assure the maximum possible accuracy of the information in its reports. “We just copied the court index” is not a defense when the procedure itself was careless.

Federal regulators have taken the same view. In November 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an advisory opinion stating that matching records to a person by name alone does not meet the FCRA’s accuracy standard, and in January 2024 it said screeners need procedures that keep out duplicate, expunged and sealed records and that report how court filings actually ended. The CFPB withdrew both opinions in May 2025 as part of a broad rollback of its guidance. That changes the agency’s enforcement posture, not the statute: § 1681e(b) and § 1681k still require reasonable accuracy procedures, and courts decide what is reasonable.

In 2019, the CFPB obtained a federal court judgment against Sterling Infosystems requiring $6 million in relief to consumers and a $2.5 million civil penalty. The Bureau alleged Sterling failed to use reasonable accuracy procedures, failed to keep public records complete and up to date or notify consumers when it reported them, and reported information older than the FCRA allows.

Our company guides explain how the large employment screeners operate and where their reports go wrong, including Checkr, Sterling, HireRight, and First Advantage.

The rules for public records in employment checks

Employment screening carries an extra rule. When a screener reports public-record information likely to hurt your job prospects, such as arrests, convictions, or civil judgments, § 1681k requires it to do one of two things:

1. Tell you at the time it reports the information, including the name and address of the employer receiving it, or
2. Maintain strict procedures designed to ensure the record is complete and up to date.

“Strict” is a higher bar than “reasonable.” A report that shows a charge without the dismissal that followed is neither complete nor up to date.

How long can old records stay on a background check?

Federal law sets time limits in § 1681c:

• Arrests, civil suits, and civil judgments generally can’t be reported once they are more than seven years old, or longer only if the governing statute of limitations runs longer.
• Other adverse information, except criminal convictions, generally can’t be reported after seven years.
• Criminal convictions have no federal time limit. State law may add limits.

There is a major exception. Those time limits do not apply when the job pays, or is reasonably expected to pay, $75,000 a year or more. Even then, the report still has to be accurate.

What does my employer owe me?

The screening company isn’t the only one with obligations. An employer that uses a background check must:

• Get your permission first. Under § 1681b(b)(2), the employer must give you a clear written disclosure, in a document that consists solely of the disclosure, that a report may be obtained, and you must authorize it in writing. Burying the disclosure in an application packet or stuffing it with extra language can violate the Act.
• Warn you before acting. Under § 1681b(b)(3), before taking adverse action based in whole or in part on the report, the employer must give you a copy of the report and a written summary of your rights. This is your chance to flag the error before the decision is final.
• Send an adverse action notice. Under § 1681m, if the employer goes ahead, it must tell you, identify the screening company with its address and phone number, state that the screener didn’t make the decision, and tell you about your right to a free copy of the report within 60 days and your right to dispute it.

If you’re a gig worker who was removed from a platform after a background check, read our guide on being deactivated from Uber or Lyft because of a background check error.

What to do if your background check is wrong

Move quickly. The steps:

1. Get the report. Use the copy from the pre-adverse action notice, or request it from the screening company named in the adverse action notice.
2. Mark every error. Wrong person, wrong outcome, sealed case, duplicate, too old. Note each one.
3. Pull the proof. Court dispositions, expungement or sealing orders, and anything showing the record belongs to someone else.
4. Dispute in writing with the screening company. Explain each error and attach your documents. Keep copies and proof of delivery.
5. Tell the employer. Say the report is wrong and that you’ve disputed it. Ask them to hold the decision.
6. Watch the clock. The screener generally has 30 days to complete a reasonable reinvestigation (up to 15 more if you send new information during that window), must delete or fix anything inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable, and must send you the results within 5 business days after finishing.

For a detailed walkthrough, see how to dispute a background check report to fix errors. And talk to a lawyer before or while you dispute. The dispute file often becomes the evidence in the lawsuit.

Who is liable for a background check error?

Depending on the facts:

• The screening company, for inaccurate reporting, outdated records, a failed § 1681k duty, or a sloppy reinvestigation.
• The employer, for running a check without a proper standalone disclosure and written authorization, or for acting on the report without giving you the pre-adverse action notice and a copy first.

If the error came from a credit report pulled as part of the check, the credit bureaus and the companies that reported to them can be responsible too.

What can you recover?

The FCRA gives you two routes:

• Negligent violations (§ 1681o): actual damages, plus costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.
• Willful violations (§ 1681n): actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages as the court allows, plus costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.

Actual damages can include lost wages from the job you didn’t get and the emotional distress of being branded with someone else’s record. Because the statute shifts attorney’s fees to the company that broke the law, you don’t have to fund the fight yourself. You can see examples of past outcomes on our results page, though every case is different and past results don’t predict future ones.

Where we file

The FCRA is federal law, and we bring these cases in federal court across the country, directly or with local counsel. We have offices in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta. If you’re local, see our pages for Dallas background check error attorneys and Chicago background check error attorneys. Renters facing the same problem with a landlord’s screening report should read our page on tenant screening report errors.

Talk to a background check error lawyer

If a false or outdated background check cost you a job, a promotion, or a spot on a platform, send us your story through the form on this page. Case review is free, and you pay no fee unless we win.

Don’t sit on it. Under § 1681p, you must sue by the earlier of two years after you discover the violation or five years after the violation happened. Get the report, keep every letter, and let us look at it while your claim is still alive.

Frequently asked questions

Can I sue a background check company for an error on my report?

Yes, in many cases. Employment screening companies are consumer reporting agencies under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and they must use reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy. If they negligently or willfully violate the Act, you can recover actual damages and attorney's fees, and for willful violations, statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 and possibly punitive damages.

How long does a background check company have to fix an error?

Generally 30 days from receiving your dispute. That can stretch by up to 15 days if you send additional relevant information during the first 30 days. If the item is inaccurate, incomplete, or can't be verified, the company must delete or correct it, and it must send you the results in writing within 5 business days after it finishes.

Can a background check show a charge that was dismissed?

Under federal law, arrests and other adverse items that did not end in a conviction generally can't be reported once they are more than seven years old, unless the job pays $75,000 a year or more. Within that window the report still has to be accurate, which means showing how the case actually ended. The CFPB has also said screeners need procedures to keep out records that were expunged or sealed.

Can an employer run a background check without my permission?

Not under the FCRA. Before ordering a report for employment purposes, the employer must give you a clear written disclosure in a document that consists solely of that disclosure, and you must authorize the check in writing. An employer that skips those steps may be liable to you.

Does my employer have to warn me before rejecting me over a background check?

Yes. Before taking adverse action based in whole or in part on the report, the employer must give you a copy of the report and a written summary of your FCRA rights. That window is your chance to point out the error before the decision is final.

How much does it cost to hire you, and how long do I have?

Case review is free, and we work on contingency, so there is no fee unless we win. The deadline to sue is the earlier of two years after you discover the violation or five years after it happened, so don't wait.

Sources

• 15 U.S.C. § 1681b — Permissible purposes; employment disclosure, authorization and pre-adverse action notice (Cornell LII)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681c — Requirements relating to information contained in consumer reports (Cornell LII)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681e — Compliance procedures; maximum possible accuracy (Cornell LII)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681i — Procedure in case of disputed accuracy (Cornell LII)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681k — Public record information for employment purposes (Cornell LII)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681m — Requirements on users of consumer reports; adverse action notices (Cornell LII)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681n — Civil liability for willful noncompliance (Cornell LII)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681o — Civil liability for negligent noncompliance (Cornell LII)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681p — Jurisdiction of courts; limitation of actions (Cornell LII)
• CFPB, CFPB Takes Action to Stop False Identification by Background Screeners (name-only matching advisory opinion, Nov. 4, 2021; withdrawn May 2025)
• CFPB, CFPB Addresses Inaccurate Background Check Reports and Sloppy Credit File Sharing Practices (background screening advisory opinion, Jan. 11, 2024; withdrawn May 2025)
• CFPB, Interpretive Rules, Policy Statements, and Advisory Opinions; Withdrawal, 90 Fed. Reg. 20084 (May 12, 2025)
• CFPB enforcement action: Sterling Infosystems, Inc. (2019)

Updated November 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.