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BackgroundChecks.com · Small-business employment background checks

BackgroundChecks.com report cost you a job?

BackgroundChecks.com is HireRight's self-service screening platform for small and mid-sized employers, staffing agencies and volunteer groups. If its report showed a record that isn't yours or shouldn't be there, the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to dispute it and, in the right case, to sue.

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Who BackgroundChecks.com is and who relies on its reports

BackgroundChecks.com is an online employment screening service owned by HireRight, the Nashville-based background check company. HireRight’s 2023 annual report describes backgroundchecks.com as its web application for small and mid-sized business customers that want a self-service option, with pre-packaged reports tailored for staffing, construction and manufacturing, retail and volunteer organizations. HireRight’s list of subsidiaries filed with the SEC includes backgroundchecks.com LLC, and the CFPB’s list of consumer reporting companies calls it a HireRight company. In April 2025, HireRight announced it had acquired ClearChecks to build a background screening platform for small and mid-sized businesses.

The service sells national, statewide, county and federal criminal searches, employment and education verifications, motor vehicle records, drug testing, and bankruptcy, lien and judgment searches. Its customers include staffing agencies, gig and on-demand companies, retailers, contact centers, hospitality, transportation and nonprofits.

Self-service matters for accuracy. When an employer orders a report online with whatever identifiers it has on hand, the search can come back with records that match your name but not you.

The CFPB’s 2015 action against GIS and e-Backgroundchecks.com

On October 29, 2015, the CFPB announced a consent order against General Information Services, Inc. (GIS) of Chapin, South Carolina, and its affiliate e-Backgroundchecks.com, Inc. of Dallas, Texas. The consent order says e-Backgroundchecks.com, Inc. also did business as Backgroundchecks.com and Backgroundchecksforschools.com. The CFPB said the two companies together sold more than 10 million consumer reports a year.

That order was entered against those two companies. Today’s BackgroundChecks.com is run by HireRight through a subsidiary named backgroundchecks.com LLC. HireRight’s SEC filings say its current corporate group was formed in July 2018 when the HireRight and GIS groups of companies combined, and the CFPB’s listing for backgroundchecks.com today uses a Chapin, South Carolina mailing address. We did not find any regulator action naming backgroundchecks.com LLC itself.

In the 2015 order, the CFPB found that the companies violated the FCRA, including by failing to use reasonable procedures to assure the maximum possible accuracy of their reports. According to the CFPB:

  • they had no written procedures for researching public records for consumers with common names or nicknames, and left matching decisions to employees’ discretion;
  • GIS permitted, but did not require, employers to provide applicants’ middle names for matching criminal records;
  • GIS lacked an adequate audit process, and from 2010 to 2014 nearly 70 percent of GIS criminal history disputes led to a change in the report; and
  • they failed to keep civil suits and civil judgments older than seven years out of reports.

The companies agreed to provide $10.5 million in relief to harmed consumers and to pay a $2.5 million civil penalty, under a consent order entered without admitting or denying the findings. Those are the kinds of errors the FCRA is meant to stop.

Errors that show up on BackgroundChecks.com reports

  • Wrong-person records. A case belonging to someone with the same or a similar name.
  • Thin matching. Records matched without a middle name or full date of birth.
  • Cleared cases. Dismissed, expunged or sealed cases reported as still open.
  • Old civil records. Suits and judgments more than seven years old.
  • Duplicates. One case reported several times.
  • Verification errors. Prior jobs or degrees reported incorrectly.

How to dispute BackgroundChecks.com

  1. Get a copy of your report. BackgroundChecks.com’s disputes page says to email [email protected] for a copy, and lists +1 (800) 942-1366, Monday to Friday, 9am to 7pm Eastern. The CFPB says it will provide a free report if you request one and it has a file on you.
  2. Mark every error. For each record, note the case number, court, county and state, and the name and birth date it shows.
  3. Email the dispute team. Its dispute page says to contact its compliance and dispute team at [email protected].
  4. Or write to Consumer Relations. The CFPB lists backgroundchecks.com, Attn: Consumer Relations Department, P.O. Box 353, Chapin, SC 29036. Use a method you can track.
  5. Attach proof. Your ID, court dispositions, expungement or sealing orders, and anything showing the record is not yours, such as a different middle name or date of birth.
  6. Tell the employer. Let it know you have disputed and ask it to wait.
  7. Track the 30 days. A consumer reporting agency generally must finish its reinvestigation within 30 days of receiving your dispute (15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)).

How to contact BackgroundChecks.com

Your rights under the FCRA

  • Accuracy (§ 1681e(b)). BackgroundChecks.com must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy. Matching on name alone can fall short of that.
  • Public records for employment (§ 1681k). When it reports adverse public-record information for employment, it must notify you at the time or keep strict procedures to make sure the record is complete and up to date.
  • Pre-adverse action notice (§ 1681b(b)(3)). Before acting on a report, an employer generally must give you a copy and a summary of your rights.
  • Reinvestigation (§ 1681i). Disputes must be reasonably reinvestigated, free, and inaccurate or unverifiable information must be corrected or deleted.
  • Reporting time limits (§ 1681c). Civil suits, civil judgments and arrest records generally cannot be reported after seven years (or until the statute of limitations runs, if longer), and most other adverse non-conviction information is limited to seven years.
  • Your file (§ 1681g). You can see the information in your file and its sources.

Can you sue BackgroundChecks.com?

Yes, when the facts support it. You may have an FCRA claim if BackgroundChecks.com reported someone else’s record, a cleared case or an outdated civil record without reasonable procedures to prevent it, or if it failed to fix the error after you disputed.

If the violation was negligent, you may recover actual damages, such as lost wages, a lost job offer and emotional distress, plus attorney’s fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1681o). If it was willful, you may recover actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages, and fees and costs (§ 1681n). A lawsuit generally must be filed within two years after you discover the violation and within five years after it occurred (§ 1681p).

The CFPB’s 2015 consent order against GIS and e-Backgroundchecks.com, which then did business under the Backgroundchecks.com name, shows how a regulator viewed weak name matching and outdated civil records. That order does not name HireRight’s current backgroundchecks.com LLC. Every case turns on its own facts, so the outcome of any claim depends on what your report said and what happened after you disputed.

FCRA Attorneys handles these cases on contingency. No fee unless we win.

Get a free case review

If a BackgroundChecks.com report cost you a job, save the report, the employer’s notices and your dispute, and request a free case review. FCRA Attorneys has offices in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta, and files FCRA cases in federal court nationwide, directly or with local counsel.

Questions about suing BackgroundChecks.com

Can I sue BackgroundChecks.com?

Yes, if the facts support it. BackgroundChecks.com sells background reports that employers use to make hiring decisions, which makes it a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA. You may have a claim if it reported inaccurate or outdated information without reasonable procedures to assure accuracy, or failed to reasonably reinvestigate your dispute.

Is BackgroundChecks.com part of HireRight?

Yes. HireRight's 2023 annual report describes backgroundchecks.com as its web application for small and mid-sized business customers that want a self-service option, and HireRight's subsidiary list includes backgroundchecks.com LLC. The CFPB's listing calls it a HireRight company.

My employer ordered the check online. Who do I dispute with?

Dispute with BackgroundChecks.com, the company that prepared the report. The employer only ordered it. Then tell the employer you have disputed and ask it to hold its decision until the reinvestigation is done.

What does it cost to bring a case?

Nothing out of pocket. FCRA Attorneys works on contingency, with no fee unless we win, and the FCRA lets a successful consumer recover attorney's fees and costs from the company.

Related reading

Sources

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

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