Faulty Background Checks
How inaccurate background checks ruin innocent lives while screening companies make millions. Listen to some of our intriguing podcast episodes with real-life stories that will shock you.
by Hank Balevic
Applicants for tenancy, employment or volunteer organizations that do background screening.
Applicants that have been denied employment or tenancy. Property Managers,Condominium Managers, Homeowner Association Managers, Human Resource Managers, Corporate Managers, Automobile Dealers, Manufactures, Distribution and Warehouse Facilities and any other entity involved with or conducting background screening.
With over one hundred background screening companies that have been sued, as well as thousands of companies for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Consumers need to know their rights under the FCRA. Often times applicants are not provided proper forms as required by law in addition to being denied background reports that formed the basis for rejection of employment or tenancy.
Companies and organizations need to know the requirements needed for lawful background in order to avoid costly lawsuits.
Book Summary
Over 100 background screening companies have been sued successfully for violating federal laws by applicants who have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. You will learn the identities of the top-tier background screening companies who have been major violators of federal law.
Seventy-five of the Fortune 1000 companies have also been sued for violating the same federal laws in concert with background screening companies–their identities along with summaries of the successful lawsuits that resulted in mullions of dollars in damages and fines are presented in a comprehensive format.
The background screening companies violated federal law by producing faulty background checks and branding innocent applicants as sex offenders, drug dealers and violent criminals. As a consequence, applicants have been denied employment or a place to live. However, applicants are not the only victims in this scandal. Employers, condo associations and property management companies suffer substantial financial losses by rejecting innocent applicants branded as criminals, not to mention losing the services of acceptable employees and tenants. By accepting bogus screening reports these victims wind up getting sued and having to pay damages, fines and penalties. The flipside of rejecting innocent applicants, based on bogus background checks, is accepting applicants with criminal arrests, convictions and prison records because these same background screening companies often mislabel applicants with a criminal history, as being void of arrests or convictions.
An NFL owner’s private company paid $15 million to settle a 588,000 member FCRA class action lawsuit.
A few of the federal violations committed by the screening companies include:
- Failure to use legal authorization forms.
- Failure to provide applicants with a disclosure that a background check will be performed.
- Failure to use procedures to assure accurate court records.
- Using automated hiring programs that result in falsely labeling applicants as criminals.
- Failure to give applicants an opportunity to challenge the results of a bogus criminal records.
- Using algorithms and outdated criminal databases as a shortcut to using time-consuming accurate search procedures.
This book is a text on how to comply with the mandates of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and avoid lawsuits and enforcement action on the part of governmental agencies. It is a must read for applicants, property management companies, condo associations, community association managers and employers in manufacturing, distribution, retail and wholesale sales.
