INDUSTRY NEWS
CFPB fines two background screening firms $13 million
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, General Information Services and its affiliate, e-Background-Checks.com Inc., “failed to take basic steps to provide accurate background screening reports to employers about job applicants.”
The CFPB consent order alleges that GIS and e-Background-Checks.com violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing to use basic procedures to attribute public records to the correct individuals, failing to audit their reports to ensure their accuracy and failing to exclude non-reportable information from employment background reports.
According to the CFPB, the two companies provided prospective employers with inaccurate reports that “included criminal records attached to the wrong consumers, dismissed and expunged records, and misdemeanors reported as felony convictions.” As a result, the CFPB found that between 2010 and 2014 “nearly 70 percent of criminal history disputes consumers filed with GIS resulted in some change or correction to the information in the consumer’s background report.”
Under the terms of the CFPB order, the two companies must produce and submit a plan for changes to its researching processes which must then be approved by the CFPB.
Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 10/29/2015