70% of Employers Skip the FCRA Adverse Action Process

The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires a specific two-step adverse action process when an employer decides not to hire someone based on a background check: first, send a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and a summary of FCRA rights, giving the candidate a chance to dispute errors; then, after a reasonable waiting period, send a final adverse action notice. A survey found that 70% of employers do not consistently follow this process — they simply ghost the candidate or send a generic rejection email with no mention of the background check. The candidate never learns that a background check was the reason for rejection. They never receive a copy of the report. They never get the chance to identify and dispute errors — errors that, given the documented inaccuracy rates of screening databases, may well exist. They walk away believing they were simply not qualified, and they apply to the next job carrying the same invisible black mark. This persists because enforcement is almost entirely complaint-driven, and candidates who do not know they were screened cannot file complaints. The CFPB and FTC rely on individual lawsuits and occasional enforcement sweeps. Small and mid-size employers often have no dedicated HR compliance staff and use background check vendors that do not build adverse action workflows into their products. The result is that the FCRA's core consumer protection — the right to see and dispute your report before losing a job — is routinely bypassed.