5 Things to Know About Background Checks and Expunged Records

In recent years, dozens of states have made it easier for people to conceal their brushes with the criminal justice system, broadening the scope of laws that allow for the expungement or sealing of criminal convictions and arrests. But consumer advocates say such efforts are sometimes hobbled by background-check companies that fail to delete criminal records.

 

1) Background screeners are required to try to avoid reporting expunged records

 

“Expunged records may not be reported because legally they don’t exist,” said Katrina Blodgett, a staff attorney in the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection. The FTC enforces the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which requires background screeners and other companies that create consumer reports to “follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy” in the information they collect about individuals.

 

2) Background checking is big business

 

While the $2 billion industry took a hit during the recession, demand for background screening has perked up recently, thanks to improvements in the labor market and a decline in rental vacancies, according to data provider IBISWorld. The industry is expected to grow in coming years.

 

3)Background screeners draw your information from multiple sources

 

Background screeners may acquire records in bulk from middlemen or directly from government agencies, including courts and law-enforcement and corrections departments. Most states provide no notice that a record has been expunged, leaving it to the screeners to verify that arrests and convictions in their own databases still exist, said Stuart Pratt, president and chief executive of the Consumer Data Industry Association. A conviction or arrest may be expunged from one government database but still appear in others, he said.

 

4)You or someone you know has probably sought to have a record expunged

 

While data regarding expungements is spotty, there is much to be expunged. About one-third of the adult population in the U.S. is listed in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s master criminal record file, a database used by law enforcement. The FBI said recently that the number of people added to that file grows by 10,000 new names daily. That means 10,000 people who hadn’t been arrested before are picked up each day.

 

5)Background screeners are facing increased scrutiny

 

The FTC has brought eight cases against background-screening services since 2009 for allegedly violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Private plaintiffs have also filed a handful of lawsuits against background screeners in that time, saying they reported inaccurate information about applicants or otherwise violated the FCRA. The companies have settled these cases without admitting wrongdoing. Data companies agree expunged records have no place in consumer reports, but the absence of a record can be difficult to detect, Mr. Pratt said. “We’re really in agreement with consumer advocates on this,” he said.