Lost a job over a Truescreen background check?

Who Truescreen is and who relies on its reports

Truescreen, Inc. is an applicant screening company. Its own consumer notice says that Vertical Screen, Inc., through its subsidiary Truescreen, Inc., is a consumer reporting agency that provides pre-employment and pre-contractual background checks to employers and other organizations. Vertical Screen, which says it has been in the screening business since 1989, describes itself as the parent of four industry-focused screening firms, with Truescreen serving general business. Truescreen’s consumer mail goes to Southampton, Pennsylvania.

If you applied for a job and the employer used Truescreen, its report may have been the deciding factor. Employers often get the report, see a record, and move on to the next candidate. If the record belongs to someone else or is out of date, you may never be told why the offer disappeared unless you ask.

Errors that show up on Truescreen reports

Background check errors usually come from how court records are matched to people and how quickly a company picks up later changes in a case. Common problems include:

• Wrong-person records. A criminal case belonging to someone with a similar name or date of birth gets attached to your report.
• Outdated outcomes. A charge that was dismissed, expunged or sealed still appears, or appears without its final disposition.
• Overstated records. A charge shown as a conviction, or a misdemeanor shown as a felony.
• Duplicates. One case listed several times, so a single event looks like a pattern.
• Old non-conviction records. Arrests and other non-conviction records more than seven years old, which the FCRA generally bars from consumer reports.
• Verification mistakes. Past jobs, dates or degrees reported as wrong or unverified.

How to dispute Truescreen

1. Get your report. Truescreen says it will give you a disclosure or a copy of the report it prepared at no charge. Request it through Truescreen Consumer Care or by calling its Consumer Care hotline at 1-800-260-1680. If an employer sent you a pre-adverse action notice, it should include a copy of the report and a summary of your rights.
2. Pick a dispute channel. Truescreen’s Request/Dispute My Report page lists four: the Consumer Care website, the hotline (1-800-260-1680), fax (1-888-495-8476), or mail to Truescreen, Inc., Consumer Care Department, PO Box 541, Southampton, PA 18966.
3. Include what Truescreen asks for. For a fax or mail dispute, Truescreen asks for your full name, date of birth, Social Security number, address, phone number, and the details of your dispute with any supporting documents. Send identifying documents only to the official contact points above.
4. Be specific and attach proof. Identify each wrong entry and say why it is wrong. Include court dispositions, expungement or sealing orders, and anything showing a record is not yours, such as a different middle name, birth date or physical description.
5. Tell the employer. Let the employer know you have disputed and ask it to hold its decision. Keep a copy of what you send.
6. Track the 30 days. A consumer reporting agency generally must complete its reinvestigation within 30 days of receiving your dispute (15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)). Truescreen says it will reinvestigate disputed information under the FCRA.
7. Get the results in writing. Ask for the written results and an updated report, and ask that the corrected report go to the employer.

How to contact Truescreen

These are the consumer contact points Truescreen lists on its own site:

• Online: Truescreen Consumer Care (report requests and disputes)
• Phone: Consumer Care hotline, 1-800-260-1680
• Fax: 1-888-495-8476
• Mail: Truescreen, Inc., Consumer Care Department, PO Box 541, Southampton, PA 18966

Your rights under the FCRA

• Accuracy (§ 1681e(b)). Truescreen must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of what it reports. Matching records on name alone can fall short of that standard.
• Public records for employment (§ 1681k). When a background check company reports public-record information for employment that is likely to hurt you, it must either notify you at the time or maintain strict procedures to keep that information complete and up to date.
• Pre-adverse action notice (§ 1681b(b)(3)). Before an employer takes adverse action based on a report, it generally must give you a copy of the report and a summary of your rights.
• Disclosure and authorization (§ 1681b(b)(2)). An employer generally must give you a clear, standalone disclosure and get your written authorization before ordering the report.
• Reinvestigation (§ 1681i). Truescreen must reasonably reinvestigate disputed information and correct or delete what is inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable.
• Reporting time limits (§ 1681c). Arrest records and other adverse non-conviction information generally cannot be reported after seven years. Convictions are not subject to that federal limit, though some states set their own.
• Your file (§ 1681g). You have the right to see the information in your file and its sources.

Can you sue Truescreen?

Yes, when the facts support it. Truescreen describes itself as part of a consumer reporting agency, so it must follow the FCRA. A lawsuit may be possible if:

• Truescreen reported a record that was not yours, was out of date, or overstated what happened, and its procedures were not reasonable (§ 1681e(b));
• it failed to reasonably reinvestigate after you disputed, or kept reporting something it could not verify (§ 1681i); or
• it reported non-conviction records older than seven years (§ 1681c).

If Truescreen negligently violated the FCRA, 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 the violation was willful, you may recover actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages, and fees and costs (§ 1681n).

The deadline matters. An FCRA lawsuit generally must be filed within two years after you discover the violation and within five years after it occurred (15 U.S.C. § 1681p). Each case turns on its own facts, so keep every document that shows what was reported, when, and what it cost you.

What you may recover

Depending on what happened, damages in a background check case can include lost wages from the job you did not get, the cost of a longer job search, and the stress and embarrassment of being labeled with someone else’s record. The employer may have separate obligations too, such as giving you notice before relying on the report.

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

Get a free case review

If a Truescreen report cost you a job, save the report, the employer’s notices, your dispute and Truescreen’s response, and request a free case review. You can learn more about background check lawsuits or browse other company guides. 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 Truescreen

Can I sue Truescreen?

Yes, if the facts support it. Truescreen says it is a consumer reporting agency that provides pre-employment background checks, so the FCRA applies to it. You may have a claim if it reported inaccurate information without reasonable procedures to assure accuracy, or failed to reasonably reinvestigate your dispute.

How do I get a copy of my Truescreen report?

Truescreen says it will provide your disclosure or a copy of your report at no charge. You can use its Consumer Care site, call its Consumer Care hotline at 1-800-260-1680, fax 1-888-495-8476, or mail Truescreen, Inc., Consumer Care Department, PO Box 541, Southampton, PA 18966. Proper identification is required.

Is Truescreen part of Vertical Screen?

Yes. Truescreen says Vertical Screen, Inc. is a consumer reporting agency that operates through its subsidiary Truescreen, Inc. Vertical Screen lists Truescreen as its general business screening firm.

The employer says it can't change the report. Who fixes it?

Truescreen does. The company that prepared the report is the one that must reinvestigate and correct it. Tell the employer you have disputed and ask it to hold its decision, but send the dispute itself to Truescreen.

What does a case cost?

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

• Got a Pre-Adverse Action Notice? What It Means and What to Do Next
• Background Check Dispute Letter: What to Write, What to Attach
• How to Fix a Background Check Error, Step by Step
• 7 Types of Background Check Errors, and How to Prove Each One

Sources

• Truescreen: Request/Dispute My Report (Consumer Care contact methods)
• Truescreen: FACT Act notice (Vertical Screen, Inc., through subsidiary Truescreen, Inc., is a consumer reporting agency)
• Truescreen: home page (applicant screening, empowered by Vertical Screen)
• Vertical Screen: family of applicant screening firms (Truescreen for general business; since 1989)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681e – Compliance procedures (maximum possible accuracy)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681i – Procedure in case of disputed accuracy
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681p – Jurisdiction of courts; limitation of actions

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