June 13, 2018
Validity Team
Estimated Read Time: 5 Minutes
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) governs the use of all consumer reports. Since background checks are classified as “consumer reports” under the FCRA, it’s important to ensure that you’re following the letter of the law to the “T.” With the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) both having a hand in the regulation of the FCRA, there’s no shortage of regulation to go around. But by far, the heaviest litigated piece of the FCRA is the need for a Disclosure and Authorization form.
So that got me thinking, “If the Disclosure and Authorization forms are so essential to compliance, what are some keys to look out for when drafting your own?”
Well, back in April of 2017, the FTC released information on how employers can best use their Disclosure and Authorization forms and still remain in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. While the article they wrote doesn’t contain a whole lot of information specific to what you can include in your Disclosure and Authorization, it did contain a few golden nuggets that highlight what the FTC looks for when examining compliant Disclosure and Authorization documents.
If you examine what the FTC stated in April of 2017, it becomes clear that the FTC doesn’t point out many things that you SHOULD include in your Disclosure and Authorization, but they do include a hefty list of things that you SHOULD NOT include.
Here’s the list that we’ve come up with based upon what the FTC has said: