FCRA Partner Access
Sex-offender registry and criminal records for FCRA-regulated screening, under a written FCRA agreement. One order covers both searches, run live in every state of the consumer’s address history, and the controls run before a single record leaves: exact date-of-birth matching, live re-verification, state and time-limit rules, a source-by-source coverage table and an evidence record for every order — with a disputes API, a consumer portal and a PDF anyone can verify built in.
One orders API — sex offender, criminal or both — one agreement, one key.
Built for FCRA background check companies and screening platforms
An employer or a landlord gets regulated screening from its screening company. This program is for that company — the one that carries the FCRA obligations and needs a data layer that carries its share.
Consumer reporting agencies
Background screening companies that furnish employment or tenant reports and need a registry and criminal layer they can defend — without building and maintaining hundreds of jurisdiction integrations.
Screening platforms
Products that run screening for employers, property managers and marketplaces under their own FCRA program, and want regulated data delivered with the controls already applied.
Enterprise programs
Large organizations operating a regulated screening workflow under a permissible purpose, with the written agreement and end-user certifications that requires.
Standard access and regulated access are kept apart
The line between a records lookup and a consumer report is the line regulators look at first. We draw it in the product, not in a footnote.
Standard access
- Self-serve key, 25 free searches, $0.15 a call
- Sex-offender registry and criminal records search
- Dashboard, batch, monitoring, MCP
- Not a consumer report — never for an eligibility decision
FCRA Partner Access
- Written FCRA agreement and approved permissible purposes
- The FCRA Orders API: one order covers sex offender, criminal or both
- Live search in every state of the consumer’s address history, plus live re-verification
- Exact-DOB rule, state and time-limit rules, and a coverage table per search
- Evidence record per order, a disputes API and a consumer portal
From agreement to your first order
Regulated access is a separate grant on your account, not a setting you can turn on yourself.
1. Agree the scope
We review your business and the permissible purposes you serve, and sign a written FCRA agreement that fixes those purposes, your end-user certifications and the controls applied to every answer.
2. We enable your key
Regulated access is switched on for your account only after the agreement is signed, and only for the purposes it names. Standard self-serve access stays exactly as it was, and never carries regulated use.
3. Register end users, then place orders
Register each employer or landlord once, with its permissible purposes and your certification. Each order then names the end user, the purpose and your consent attestation, carries the consumer’s full name and date of birth, and runs a sex-offender search, a criminal search, or both.
4. Get an answer you can stand behind
Orders run in the background and report back by signed webhook. Each search runs live in the states that matter and comes with a source-by-source coverage table. Only records that pass every control are furnished, each with its match evidence and the time it was verified; everything else is a count by reason, and the whole order is kept as evidence.
How the FCRA API works
One order covers a sex-offender search, a criminal search, or both — with the end user, purpose and consent recorded on the order.
One order, both datasets
An order runs a sex-offender search, a criminal search, or both, for one consumer. Each search has its own status, result and records, so a slow court never holds up a finished registry answer.
The FCRA facts travel with the order
The end user, the permissible purpose and your consent attestation are part of the order itself, with the consumer’s full date of birth and where the job or housing is — so the controls and the evidence record always know the context.
Asynchronous, with signed webhooks
Create an order and get an id at once. search.completed and order.completed arrive by HMAC-signed webhook, retried with backoff, with an events list to poll if one is missed — identifiers and statuses only, never personal data.
Match evidence on every record
Each furnished record says how it matched, which identifiers agreed, which official source holds it, when it was obtained and when it was re-verified for this order.
Disputes are an endpoint
Open a reinvestigation on a furnished record with one call, follow it on the 30-day clock, and receive the outcome by webhook — with corrections sent to every partner that received the record.
A consumer portal on every order
Each order carries an access code for its consumer. Put it in your pre-adverse notice: they see exactly what was furnished and can dispute any item, without calling you first.
Live in every state that matters
Each search runs in real time in every state of the address history on the order plus where the job or housing is — or, with liveScope "all", in every source that supports a live search — and in our data everywhere else.
A coverage table behind every result
Every search lists each source it searched: live or from data, when, the date the data is current to, and what it found. A clear is exactly the sum of those rows, so it can be shown, not just asserted.
Evidence for every live check
Every live search — match or no match — keeps hash-pinned evidence: the official source’s own response wherever we receive it directly, and always a labelled record of what that live search returned, with its time and SHA-256 hash. Download each capture for the order.
A PDF anyone can check
The report PDF is rendered once and stored, and an Ed25519-signed public receipt carries its hash. A QR code on the PDF opens /verify, where anyone holding the file can confirm it is genuine without uploading it.
Idempotent, with a sandbox
An Idempotency-Key makes retries safe. Sandbox test subjects return clear, records found, withheld, incomplete and dispute outcomes with no live calls and no charges.
The controls on every FCRA order
Applied in order to every search in an order — sex offender and criminal — before a single record leaves.
End user, purpose and consent on every order
An order is refused unless its end user is registered and certified, its permissible purpose is one that end user holds under your agreement, and it carries your consent attestation. A refused order is still recorded.
Exact date of birth, or nothing
Only a record that matches the consumer’s full date of birth can be furnished. A name-only or birth-year match is withheld — name-only matching is the pattern regulators have penalized screening vendors for.
Searched live in the consumer’s states
Every search runs in real time in each state of the address history on the order and the state where the job or housing is — not only against stored data — so a recent registration or filing in those states is not missed. Everywhere else, the coverage table shows the date the data is current to; an order sent without addresses or a use state says so, row by row.
Re-verified before anything is furnished
Every remaining record is re-checked against the official record at the time of the request. A record that is no longer listed is withheld; a source that cannot answer makes the result incomplete rather than clear.
Disputed records stay out
When a consumer dispute ends with a record deleted or found not to be theirs, that record is suppressed from every later regulated answer about them.
Never “clear” on a partial search
An answer is clear only when every state that matters was searched live and answered, every other source answered, and nothing reportable was found. Otherwise it says incomplete — and the coverage table shows exactly which source did not answer.
An evidence record for every order
Purpose, end user and certification, the identifiers searched, what each source said, the control version that applied, and every record furnished or withheld with its reason.
Live where it matters, with the evidence to show it
A clear answer is only as good as what was searched. Every FCRA search shows its work, source by source, and keeps what the official source said.
Live, not just stored
Each search runs in real time in every state of the address history on the order and the state where the job or housing is. A relevant state that cannot be searched live makes the result incomplete — never clear. Registries a state bars for the purpose are not searched at all, and the coverage table says so.
Coverage you can read
One row per source: searched live or from data, when it was checked, the date the data is current to, how many candidates it produced and how many were furnished or withheld.
What the live search saw
Every live check — match and no-match alike — keeps hash-pinned evidence: the official source’s own response wherever we receive it directly, and always a labelled record of what that live search returned. Each capture says which kind it is, and every one is listed in the PDF.
Verifiable by anyone
The PDF is stored once, so its hash never changes. The signed receipt carries that hash; /verify checks a file against it in the browser, and the file never leaves the device.
| Source | Mode | Checked | Data current to | Found |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| County court, Illinois | Live | 14:02 UTC | — | 1 furnished, 1 withheld |
| State corrections, Illinois | Live | 14:02 UTC | — | None |
| Court records, Wisconsin | Data | 14:01 UTC | Oct 1, 2026 | None |
Holding a report PDF? Verify it — the check runs in your browser and the file is never uploaded.
One agreement covers registry and criminal records
Sex-offender registry
58 US registries in one search — the 50 states, DC and the territories — with state restrictions applied to each registry that holds the person.
Criminal records
County, state and federal records, typed by kind and disposition, with the federal seven-year rule for non-convictions and conservative state limits applied.
Where registry data is withheld, and why
Some states restrict how their registry information may be used. Those rules are applied to each registry that holds the person, not only the first one that matched.
| State | What an FCRA order does | Why |
|---|---|---|
| California | Registry information withheld for every purpose. | Megan’s Law information may be used only to protect a person at risk; employment, education, housing, insurance, credit and business-service uses are prohibited unless another law authorizes them. Cal. Penal Code § 290.46(j) |
| Nevada | Registry information withheld from tenant screening. | Nevada restricts use of its community-notification information for housing and accommodations (NRS 179B.270). |
| New Jersey | Registry information withheld from tenant screening. | New Jersey bars use of disclosed registry information for housing or accommodations (N.J.S.A. 2C:7-16(c)). |
Background, not legal advice. These rules are applied conservatively and reviewed with counsel; your own counsel is the right reader of your facts.
Time limits and record types, applied before furnishing
On top of the shared controls, the criminal search in an order applies the reporting limits that govern criminal history in a consumer report.
The federal seven-year rule, charge by charge
Arrests and other non-conviction items more than seven years old are removed one charge at a time, so a stale charge does not take a whole case with it. Deferred adjudication, diversion and pending matters are treated as non-convictions — the side that withholds more. Convictions are not time-limited under federal law.
The salary exemption — federal only, and only when stated
For employment at an annual salary of $75,000 or more, the federal seven-year limits do not apply. The exemption is used only when the request states the salary, and it is never applied to a state limit.
State conviction limits, read conservatively
Eleven states cap how long a conviction may be reported. A cap is applied when the record’s state, any state the consumer has lived in, or the state where the report is used is one of them — measured from the conviction date, which never withholds less than the statute requires.
Undated means withheld
When a time limit could apply but the record lacks the date or the disposition needed to decide it, the item is withheld rather than guessed at — and counted under its own reason so you know why.
Record type and disposition, labelled
Every furnished criminal record states what it is — booking, prison term, court case or warrant — and the disposition as the record holds it, so an arrest is never read as a conviction.
A consumer portal and disputes, handled for you
The person a report is about can see what was furnished and dispute it directly. You do not have to build the consumer side of the data layer.
See exactly what was reported
Every order carries an access code for its consumer portal. With it, their last name and date of birth, the consumer sees every item furnished in that order — and without a code they can still request their file. We never ask for a Social Security number.
Dispute any item
A dispute — opened by you through the API or by the consumer in the portal — starts a reinvestigation with the authority that holds the record, on a 30-day clock from receipt, and the result is reported back.
Corrections reach every partner
When a dispute changes or removes a record, a record.corrected event goes to every partner that was furnished it, and the record is suppressed from later orders about that consumer.
What we carry, and what stays with you
The FCRA spreads obligations across everyone in the chain. We take the data layer’s share — accuracy procedures, current status, the consumer’s file and disputes — and say plainly what remains yours.
What an FCRA order carries
- Permissible-purpose and end-user checks on every order (§ 1681b)
- Identifier and verification controls aimed at maximum possible accuracy (§ 1681e(b))
- Current status at the time of the report, for public records (§ 1681k)
- Reporting time limits (§ 1681c)
- Consumer file disclosure and reinvestigation (§ 1681g, § 1681i)
What stays with you and your client
- Disclosure, authorization and consent from the consumer
- Pre-adverse and adverse-action notices to the consumer
- The hiring, tenancy or eligibility decision itself
- Notices to your own end users, under your agreement with them
Statutory references link to the primary text and describe what each control is for; they are not legal advice. The person a report is about can read the Summary of Consumer Rights.
Where partners use it
Employment screening
Registry and criminal checks inside a pre-employment report, with the salary exemption used only when the order states it.
Tenant screening
Registry and criminal checks inside a tenant report, with California, Nevada and New Jersey registry information held back from housing use.
The FCRA Orders API · Data for FCRA-compliant background checks · The disputes API · The consumer portal · For background screening providers · Is a registry check a consumer report? · What a CRA should require from a vendor
FCRA Partner Access questions
Is Offendersearch an FCRA compliant background check provider?
We are not the employer-facing background check company. We are the FCRA-regulated data layer that background check companies and screening platforms build on: sex-offender and criminal records furnished under a written FCRA agreement, with the accuracy, current-status, reporting-limit and dispute controls those companies need to run compliant checks.
What should FCRA background check companies look for in a data provider?
Exact matching with a visible basis, status checked at the source, a clear account of what was searched, reporting limits applied for you, state registry restrictions, evidence you can show later, and a real dispute process. Our page on data for FCRA-compliant background checks walks through each.
Is Offendersearch a consumer reporting agency?
The FCRA-regulated tier is run as a consumer reporting service for approved partners, under a written FCRA agreement — with the accuracy controls, current-status checks and consumer file and dispute handling that carries. The standard self-serve API is a separate tier and does not furnish consumer reports.
Which permissible purposes can a partner use?
Employment screening, tenant screening, a consumer’s written instructions, and a legitimate business need for a transaction the consumer initiated. Your agreement names the purposes enabled for your account; a request stating any other purpose is refused and recorded.
What does an FCRA order need?
A registered end user with your certification, a permissible purpose that end user holds, your consent attestation, where the job or housing is, and the consumer’s name and full date of birth — plus which searches to run: sex offender, criminal, or both. A partial date of birth is rejected; the exact-DOB rule is the first control, not an option.
Why would a record be withheld?
Because it matched on less than a full date of birth, because a state restricts that use of its registry information, because it falls outside a reporting time limit, because a dispute removed it, or because the official record no longer shows it. Each search gives you a count for each reason; the withheld records themselves never leave.
What happens when a source does not answer?
The result is incomplete, never clear. A screening decision needs to know the difference between “nothing found” and “not everything was searched”, and an FCRA order will not blur it.
Is a search live, or against stored data?
Both, and the order says which. Each search runs live in every state in the consumer’s address history and the state where the job or housing is — or, if you ask, in every source that supports a live search — and in our data everywhere else. The coverage table on each search lists every source, whether it was searched live, when, and the date its data is current to.
How does someone confirm a report is genuine?
The report PDF is stored once when the order completes, and a public receipt signed with our Ed25519 key carries its hash. A QR code on the PDF opens /verify, where anyone holding the file can check it in their browser without uploading it.
Who handles consumer disputes?
We do, for what we furnished. You can open a dispute through the API, or the consumer can open one in the portal using the access code on the order; we reinvestigate with the authority that holds the record on a 30-day clock, and every partner that received a corrected or deleted record gets a record.corrected event. Your own notices and adverse-action steps stay with you and your client.
Can I keep using the standard API alongside this?
Yes. Standard access is unchanged, keeps its self-serve pricing, and remains available for non-regulated work such as monitoring, awareness and research. It simply cannot carry an FCRA-covered decision; FCRA orders exist for that.
How is regulated access priced?
FCRA pricing is quoted per partner, based on your volume and the purposes you serve — contact us for pricing. FCRA orders are metered separately from standard calls.
Add a regulated registry and criminal layer
Tell us about your screening program and the purposes you serve. We will walk through the agreement, the controls, the orders API and the sandbox.
Request FCRA Partner Access How the program works
FCRA pricing is quoted per partner — contact us for pricing. Standard self-serve access is separate and is not a consumer report.