Backgrounds Online's Knowledge Bank

Should an applicant wish to dispute any results returned on their background check, make sure you know how to handle the situation in a manner compliant with the FCRA.

Occasionally, an applicant may dispute some or all of the background check performed on them. While this is not terribly common, it is not unusual either. There are many different reasons an applicant may dispute a background check, ranging from the dates reported on verifications to the more serious, criminal results.

As stated in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and in the pre-adverse action letter, job applicants can dispute the information reported on them and the employer must allow a reasonable amount of time for this to happen.

Should an applicant make the dispute to the employer, one of two things can happen: The employer can direct the applicant to Backgrounds Online to settle the dispute or the employer can contact Backgrounds Online and relay the dispute. Whichever way is done, Backgrounds Online will then redo the search in question. Should the results change, Backgrounds Online will update the report and its client. If the results come back the same, then it will be up to the job applicant to pursue the matter and make the necessary corrections. One example of this is during education verifications, school will sometimes not verify information should there be a financial hold on the records. Meaning, the student might still be financially obligated in some way to the school. Once the job applicant takes care of the obligation, the records can be redone.