Background Screening

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Effective January 3, 2017, the Office of Personnel Management will require that, unless an exception has been granted, federal hiring agencies cannot inquire into an applicant’s criminal history or adverse credit information until after a conditional offer of employment has been made.  This federal initiative is consistent with, and provides a timely reminder of, the …

According to a Federal Register notice published on November 29, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is soliciting further comments on its proposal to provide consumers with the option to fill out a short survey on their satisfaction with companies’ resolution of consumer complaints.  In the notice, the CFPB described the proposal:

The purpose of this…

The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires that employers provide prospective applicants with a disclosure before obtaining a pre-employment background check from a consumer reporting agency.  This disclosure must be in a single document that consists “solely of the disclosure” that a consumer report may be obtained for employment purposes.  In Burnthorne-Martinez v. Sephora USA, Inc.…

On November 28, the Federal Trade Commission issued a bulletin for consumers relating to the process for applying for an apartment and the related background check process that can be undertaken by the potential landlord.

The FTC stated: “Landlords can check your credit, criminal history, and even your rental history.  They may ask your permission…

While the number of lawsuits filed under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act remained relatively steady or fell, claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act rose sharply between October 2015 and October 2016.  The total number of FCRA lawsuits increased from 283 to 355 – a 25.4 percent increase.…

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, courts and litigants alike have been trying to determine the contours of constitutional standing when it comes to procedural violations of consumer protection statutes.  This past week, the District Court for the Central District of California weighed in, finding in favor …

On November 7, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California granted final approval of the class settlement in Stemple v. QC Holdings, Inc., No. 3:12-cv-01997 (S.D. Cal.).  The plaintiff in the case alleged that QC Holdings, a check-cashing and short-term loan company, negligently and willfully violated the Telephone Consumer …

Last week, a district court in the Northern District of California denied TransUnion LLC’s motion to decertify a Fair Credit Reporting Act class action that was certified prior to the Supreme Court’s 2016 Spokeo ruling.  The class action case accused TransUnion of including inaccurate information on its consumer reports as well as failing to comply …

On October 13, Judge Christina A. Snyder of the United States District Court for the Central District of California granted summary judgment in favor of Bank of America and other defendants in a putative Fair Credit Reporting Act class action.  In Robert Berrellez v. Pontoon Solutions, Inc. et al., No. 2:15-cv-01898, the plaintiff alleged …

In a case with important positive implications for banks conducting federally-required background checks on job applicants and employees, in Amanda Mix v. JPMorgan Chase, No. 2:15-cv-01102-JJT, the United States District Court for the District of Arizona granted JPMorgan Chase’s summary judgment motion on Plaintiff’s background screening class action. Plaintiff claimed that Chase violated the Fair…