Behind the Background Check: What Shows Up and What You Can Do About It

Background checks in hiring, housing, insurance, and licensing have long played an important role in shaping the outcome of just about every major moment in our lives, but never more so than right now.

This fact can feel either comforting or concerning, depending on whether you think you have anything to worry about or not. But what most people don’t realize is that everyone should be concerned about what might show up in their background check.

Why? Because background investigations are managed by for-profit companies that rely on Ai and automation to shuffle the data and deal the facts as quickly as possible. And these systems are flawed, so they don’t always meet the legal compliance standards or accuracy expectations that they need to.

When Background Checks Are Used

The most common types of background investigations are:

Employment background checks

These screenings are used in hiring decisions, firing determinations, ongoing safety screening for certain professions (like daycare, healthcare, and teaching), and deactivations relevant to jobs that rely on apps and online accounts (like rideshare and delivery drivers).

Tenant Screening Reports

These screenings are used in rental decisions. Comprehensive tenant screenings are used for long-term residential rentals (like a year-long lease on a house or apartment). And sometimes limited identity checks or background screenings are run for people hosting or renting short-term vacation rentals.

Insurance History Reports

These screenings are used to determine if people qualify for certain insurance products, like auto insurance or life insurance, and to set the premiums.

Security Clearance & Licensing Verifications

These screenings are used to approve people for security clearance in areas as diverse as classified IT and tech positions and local school volunteers. Obviously, the level of scrutiny differs for each category, but each requires taking a deep dive into the key facts for anyone who wants access to sensitive information or wants to have a position of trust around children.

The Components of a Background Check

Not all background checks are alike. Industry-specific background checks are common, with different levels of screenings and categories of information. For instance, healthcare screening requirements are different than CDL background checks, and financial industry compliance is assessed differently than a tenant background screening.

By knowing the usual types of data categories involved in the spectrum of background screening, you'll have a good understanding of what to expect under any circumstance.

Criminal History Insights

When a company or organization needs to weed out candidates convicted of certain financial crimes, violent crimes, or felonies of any kind, they include a criminal records search as part of their standard screening. Felonies and misdemeanors will show up, along with other interactions with the criminal legal system- like arrests that ultimately get dismissed, etc.

A criminal background check will typically pull from county, state, and federal records. Some information is time-barred, meaning that it won’t show up indefinitely and will eventually age off your report. Other information is fair game, regardless of when it occurred.

National and international databases can be included as well. For instance, a sex offender registry search or terrorist watchlist review can play a role.

Identity Verifications

Taking someone’s word for it can sometimes be enough to accept that they are who they say they are. But in some situations, proof is required. Identity verifications lean into things like fingerprints and government records. For this reason, they’re sometimes referred to as a fingerprint background check, meaning that they have an added layer of identity validation in order to pass.

Depending on the needs, this type of biometric screening may also go hand in hand with an FBI background check or a state criminal database review. Beyond the obvious times where fingerprints might be used (like a high-level security clearance), fingerprints can also be required in scenarios involving adoption and foster care, firearms licensing, international travel and immigration, and professional licensing.

Work and Education Validation

This component embraces a fraud prevention approach, looking for employment verification, education verification, resume validation, and credential screening. Are you actually qualified? Did you study what, where, and when you said you did? Did you earn the professional degree you claim to have earned?

There are countless examples of people pretending to be qualified for a position when they were clearly not, including a case from 2023 when a California man pretended to be a licensed doctor for years before being caught.

Eviction and Rental History

When you’re a renter, then your applications to become a tenant will almost certainly include an investigation into your eviction and rental history. Property managers and landlords will include this component to search eviction filings, court judgments, and rental payment history (if available). Some may also require references which align with reported addresses.

Some states and jurisdictions also maintain a tenant “blacklist,” which property managers and landlords can refer to prior to approving an application. However, these types of lists are also frowned upon and/or illegal in some places, so not everyone is subject to this type of screening.

Driving History

While this is a more nuanced component that will not apply to everyone, anyone whose responsibilities require them to be on the road in any capacity should anticipate a background investigation into their motor vehicle record (MVR). This can include traffic violations, accident history, speeding, outstanding unpaid tickets, licensing status, and other relevant MVR data.

Drug Testing

Drug testing employment screenings are typically used when an employee will have responsibility for the physical safety of themselves or other people, or where an employee will have access to prescription drugs. This can include healthcare environments, like nursing, hospital staff, pharmaceutical staff, corrections staff, etc., and driving-based career tracks.

Drug testing practices will differ depending on the needs of the position and the policies of the company or organization. For instance, the frequency of drug screening and the nature of the drugs screened can differ significantly from one situation to the next.

Credit Checks

It may seem odd to throw in a credit report check during a background investigation, but there are certain circumstances in which this makes sense. Most employers don’t need to know if your debt-to-income ratio is greater than it should be or if you missed a few payments last year. But if you’re looking to work in a position with fiduciary expectations, financial responsibility screening may be on the table.

Typically, positions requiring a financial screening are also looking at criminal history and assessing risks or likelihood for financial crimes.

Are Background Checks Ever Wrong?

Unfortunately, the answer to this question is an emphatic, “Yes!”

In the world of data gathering and selling, absolutely anything can, and does, go wrong. For this reason, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) sets out laws about how this data is compiled, presented, and used.

For any background check, Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) compliance is the law and the expectation but is not always the outcome. FCRA compliance means many things, but above all else, it means accuracy. The most important background check compliance rule is the requirement of background check accuracy. The FCRA requires that background check companies must use reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy. As a legal standard, this isn't a "let it slide" situation. The bar for accuracy in the consumer data is high, which means companies can be held legally accountable when it's not. And they regularly have to pay compensation to people who they hurt with careless background check mistakes.

After all, it's easy to imagine what happens when background check errors show up:

• Qualified rental applicants are unfairly turned away from housing opportunities.
• Experienced job candidates get wrongly rejected from employment opportunities.
• Well-performing current employees are unjustly let go from successful positions.
• People are burdened with sky insurance premiums for now reason.
• Professional and personal reputations get dragged through the mud.
• Financial hardship, chronic worry, and sleepless nights become a reality.

Mistake.com Clears Background Check Mistakes

No matter what type of background investigation you've experienced, no matter what position or opportunity it impacted, and no matter what kind of background check error showed up, Mistake.com can help.

We review, dispute, provide personalized legal guidance, and file a lawsuit to get you compensation if you have a claim.

And it’s free! The background check company pays our legal bills when we win. No hassle, all hussle.

Get started now!

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