Do I have to be told when a background check company reports my criminal record?

Section 1681k of the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies when a consumer reporting agency furnishes a report for employment purposes and includes public records that are likely to have an adverse effect on your ability to get a job, such as arrests, convictions, civil suits, tax liens, and judgments.

The two options

The screening company must do one of the following:

1. Notify you at the time it reports the public record that it is doing so, along with the name and address of the person receiving it. Some companies send this as a letter or email, sometimes called a “613 notice” after the section number of the original Act.
2. Maintain strict procedures designed to ensure that whenever it reports such public records, they are complete and up to date. The statute says records of arrests, indictments, convictions, suits, tax liens, and judgments are up to date if they show the current public record status at the time of the report.

So you may not receive a notice from the screening company if it relies on the second option. But in that case, it must report the current status of each case, such as a dismissal, an acquittal, or a reduced charge.

Other ways you find out

• From the employer. Before taking adverse action based on the report, the employer must give you a copy and a summary of your rights (§ 1681b(b)(3)).
• From your file. You can ask the screening company for your file and a list of who has received reports about you for employment purposes in the past two years (§ 1681g).

Why it matters

If you never received a notice and the report showed an old, incomplete, or outdated version of a case, the company may have met neither option.

If a screening company reported a criminal record without notifying you and without its current status, a free case review can help you understand your options, with no fee unless we win.

Related

• Background check lawsuits
• How to Fix a Background Check Error, Step by Step

Sources

• 15 U.S.C. § 1681k (Cornell LII)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681b (Cornell LII)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681g (Cornell LII)

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