If you perform background checks (including criminal or credit background checks) on your applicants or employees, you should be aware that, if the checks are done through a third party, you must follow the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). Among these requirements is that you provide notice to affected applicants and employees, as set forth in the FCRA.

In May 2018, Congress passed the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (“the Act”), which, among other things, requires that nationwide consumer reporting agencies provide “national security freezes” to consumers free of charge. This means that consumers may freeze their credit reports so that prospective lenders cannot access them, which may stem the ability of identity thieves to open accounts in a consumer’s name.

How does that affect your business? The Act also requires that consumers get notice of this new right whenever they are entitled to receive the Summary of Consumer Rights or the Summary of Consumer Identity Theft Rights. To facilitate this notice, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (“the Bureau”) has issued an interim final rule that updates two of the model disclosures required under the FCRA — the Summary of Consumer Rights and the Summary of Consumer Identity Theft Rights. The Act requires that the new notices be used effective September 21, 2018. The revised notices are available, in both English and Spanish, at the Bureau’s website.

What Does This Mean For You? If you use third parties to perform background checks, you need to begin using the revised Summary of Consumer Rights immediately, and ensure that your third-party vendor is doing so as well.

If you have any questions about using or obtaining the new forms, about what is required of employers under the FCRA, or about any other employment or labor law issue, please contact Whitney Rahman at 717-509-7237 or swr@blakingerthomas.com or Grace Nguyen Bond at 717-509-7226 or gcnb@blakingerthomas.com.