Clarity on Overlapping Background Check Laws in California

By Timothy St. George, David Anthony, Ronald Raether, Jonathan Yee and Sadia Mirza

On Aug. 20, 2018, the California Supreme Court issued its long-awaited order in Connor v. First Student Inc., finding the state’s Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act, or ICRAA, was not unconstitutionally vague as applied to employer background checks, despite overlap with the Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act, or CCRAA.[1]

The Supreme Court resolved a conflict between two courts of appeal which had left many consumer reporting agencies, or CRAs, wondering whether the ICRAA applied even if they did not obtain the information from personal interviews — the definition of “investigative consumer report” used under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to impose additional requirements under 15 U.S.C. §1681l similar to those included in the ICRAA. With this decision, CRAs providing consumer reports for employment and tenant screening will need to carefully review their products to assure compliance with the ICRAA and the CCRAA.

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