Data for FCRA-compliant background checks
For background check companies and screening platforms: sex-offender registry and criminal records with the controls the FCRA expects built in. We are not the employer-facing background check company — we are the FCRA-regulated data layer those companies build on.
Built for FCRA background check companies
Regulated access is for the companies that furnish consumer reports. Employers, landlords and platforms reach it through them.
Background check companies
Consumer reporting agencies that furnish employment, volunteer and contractor reports and need registry and criminal records they can stand behind.
Tenant screening companies
Agencies furnishing rental reports, where registry information is most restricted and accuracy cases have been costliest.
Screening platforms
Software that runs checks on behalf of employers, landlords or marketplaces under its own consumer reporting agency, or a partner’s.
What “FCRA-compliant data” should mean
Compliance belongs to the consumer reporting agency whose name is on the report. A data provider makes it achievable — or not — through the controls on the records it supplies. Here is each FCRA duty, and what the data has to carry for you to meet it.
| Your FCRA duty | Statute | What every FCRA order carries |
|---|---|---|
| Reasonable procedures for maximum possible accuracy | § 1681e(b) | Records reported only on an exact date-of-birth match, one record per person, a visible match basis on each |
| Current status for public records used in employment | § 1681k | A live search in the applicant’s states, and a live re-check of every record at its source before it is furnished |
| Reporting limits | § 1681c | The federal seven-year rule on non-convictions and conservative state conviction caps, applied charge by charge |
| Permissible purpose and resale | § 1681b, § 1681e(e) | Every order names a registered end user, a purpose that end user is cleared for, and a consent attestation |
| File disclosure and disputes | § 1681g, § 1681i | A dispute endpoint with a 30-day due date, a consumer portal, suppression of deleted records and correction notices |
Statutes: § 1681e, § 1681k, § 1681c, § 1681b, § 1681i. General information, not legal advice.
What you get in every FCRA order
One order covers a sex-offender registry search, a criminal records search, or both, for one applicant, one end user and one permissible purpose. It runs in the background and comes back with:
- A result per search — clear, records found, or incomplete — and a clear only when every relevant state answered live.
- A coverage table showing every source searched, whether live or from stored data, when it was checked, and how old any stored data was.
- Furnished records only, each with its match basis, source, retrieval and verification times, and, for criminal records, the disposition of every charge.
- Counts of what was held back and why — insufficient identifiers, a state restriction, the seven-year rule, a dispute — never the content.
- An evidence record and a signed PDF with a QR code anyone can check at /verify, without uploading the file.
- A consumer portal code for your notice, so the applicant can see what was furnished and dispute any item.
Results arrive by signed webhook, every order takes an idempotency key, and disputes are an endpoint. The full reference is in the FCRA API docs.
A typical records feed, and an FCRA order
Most public-records data is sold as rows. FCRA work needs the context around them.
| A typical records feed | An FCRA order | |
|---|---|---|
| How a match is made | Name, sometimes age | Exact date of birth, with the match basis on every record |
| What a clear means | No rows returned | Every relevant state answered live, shown source by source |
| Current status | As of the last data load | Checked at the source at the time of the order |
| Reporting limits | Left to you | Applied before anything is furnished, with counts of what was removed |
| State registry laws | Not considered | California, Nevada and New Jersey restrictions applied by purpose |
| Proof later | Logs on request | An evidence record per order and a signed PDF anyone can verify |
| Disputes | An email address | An API with statuses, due dates and correction events |
How to choose an FCRA background check data provider
The costly FCRA cases in screening have mostly turned on accuracy: name-only matches, duplicated records, labels the record did not support, and status that was no longer current. Whichever provider you choose, ask it to show you — on real orders, not slides — how it handles each of those.
- How does it decide a record belongs to the applicant?
- Does it check status at the source at the time of the report?
- Will it tell you exactly what was searched, and say incomplete when a source did not answer?
- Does it apply the seven-year rule and state limits, and tell you what it removed?
- Does it apply state registry restrictions for the purpose you are screening for?
- Can you prove later what a report said on the day it was made?
- What happens, on what clock, when a consumer disputes?
The full checklist, with weak and strong answers and the cases behind each question, is in what a CRA should require from a public-records vendor.
State laws applied before anything is furnished
Some of the hardest compliance questions are not in the FCRA at all. California restricts Megan’s Law information to protecting a person at risk and prohibits uses relating to employment, housing and several other purposes unless another law authorizes them (Cal. Penal Code § 290.46(j)). Nevada and New Jersey restrict housing use of their registry information. Eleven states cap how long convictions may be reported.
FCRA orders withhold California registry information for every purpose and Nevada and New Jersey registry information for tenant screening, checked against each registry that holds the person, and apply the conviction caps when the record’s state, an address state or the job’s state has one. Each rule is marked for counsel review and recorded with its citation in the order’s evidence. The details are on FCRA employment screening and FCRA tenant screening.
Mistakes screening companies make when choosing data
- Buying on record counts. A bigger database is not a more accurate report; matching and current status decide that.
- Accepting “nationwide” without detail. Ask which sources were searched for this applicant, and how.
- Treating disputes as a support issue. The 30-day clock is a legal duty, and your provider’s process is part of it.
- Keeping no proof. If you cannot show what a report said on the day, you cannot defend it later.
- Separate vendors for registry and criminal data. Two feeds mean two matching rules and two dispute processes for one applicant.
Proof for every order
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.
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.
FCRA background check data questions
What is an FCRA compliant background check provider?
Usually a consumer reporting agency — a background check company — that prepares reports for employers or landlords under the FCRA’s rules on purpose, accuracy, reporting limits, adverse action and disputes. Those agencies in turn depend on data providers whose records and controls make those rules achievable.
Are you a background check company for employers?
No. We are the FCRA-regulated data layer that background check companies and screening platforms build on. Employers and landlords get our records through their screening company, which owns the consent, the report, adjudication and the adverse action process.
What makes background check data FCRA compliant?
No dataset is compliant on its own; compliance is about how a report is prepared and used. What a data provider can do is supply records with the controls the FCRA expects: accurate matching, current status, reporting limits applied, the end user and purpose on every order, evidence of what was searched, and a working dispute process.
Do you provide sex offender and criminal records in one order?
Yes. One FCRA order can include a sex-offender registry search, a criminal records search, or both, for one subject, end user and purpose — with each search’s status, result and coverage reported separately.
How do you handle the seven-year rule?
Criminal records are filtered charge by charge: non-convictions more than seven years old are removed unless the order states a salary of $75,000 or more, and convictions are removed past seven years when a state cap applies. Removed items are reported as counts, never content.
Can we test before signing an agreement?
Yes. A sandbox returns fixed results — clear, records found, withheld, unavailable and a dispute that resolves — so your integration can handle every branch before a live order.
What is a consumer reporting agency background check?
A background check prepared by a consumer reporting agency for a third party’s decision, such as hiring or renting. Because it is a consumer report, the FCRA’s rules on purpose, accuracy, reporting limits, adverse action and disputes apply to it.
How is pricing set?
FCRA order pricing is quoted per partner, based on the searches you order and your volume — contact us for pricing.
Do you replace our adverse action process?
No. Adjudication, pre-adverse and final adverse action notices stay with you and your client. We give you what those steps need: accurate records, the evidence behind them, and a consumer portal code to put in your notice.
Build your FCRA checks on a data layer you can show
Tell us what you screen for and your volume. We will set up the partner agreement, enable FCRA orders on your key and open a sandbox for your team.
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.