How Far Back Can an Employment Background Check Go?

Most negative information older than seven years is left out of a background report from a consumer reporting agency, while records of criminal convictions have no federal time limit. Under 15 U.S.C. 1681c(a), the agency may not include these items:

• Bankruptcy cases that antedate the report by more than 10 years from the date of entry of the order for relief or the date of adjudication
• Civil suits, civil judgments and records of arrest more than seven years old from the date of entry, or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever period is longer
• Paid tax liens more than seven years old from the date of payment
• Accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss more than seven years old
• Any other adverse item of information more than seven years old, other than records of convictions of crimes

Under 1681c(b)(3), these time limits do not apply to a report used for the employment of a person at an annual salary that equals, or may reasonably be expected to equal, $75,000 or more. For those positions, older items may appear.

Under 1681c(c)(1), the seven-year period for an account placed for collection or charged to profit and loss starts when 180 days have passed from the start of the delinquency that came before the collection activity or charge-off.

Some states and municipalities regulate the use of background information for employment purposes, according to the EEOC and FTC publication Background Checks: What Employers Need to Know. How criminal records may be used in hiring is covered in How Does Federal Law Treat Criminal Records in Employment Background Checks?.

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