On September 12, 2018, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a revised disclosure form document—“A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act”—in an interim final rule under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Employers and background screening companies (A-Check Global) may begin using this new form beginning Friday, September 21, 2018, and are required to provide this disclosure to employees and job applicants per FCRA guidelines. Failure to provide correct disclosure notification can lead to increased risk, including litigation.

Why is this disclosure form changing?

In May 2018, and in response to significant data breaches, Congress passed the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. The new law requires credit reporting bureaus, under certain circumstances, to provide consumers fraud alerts and unlimited, free national security freezes and freeze releases. These are intended to make it harder for identity thieves to open accounts in a consumer’s name.

The new legislation also amends the FCRA to exclude from consumer reporting information certain medical debts incurred by veterans. Additionally, it establishes a new dispute process with respect to such medical debt.

Finally, the new law mandates that whenever a background check company is required to provide a copy of the “A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act” to comply with FCRA 609 (full file disclosure requirements) or FCRA 605A (Victims of Identity Theft requirements) the “Summary of Consumer Identity Theft Rights” disclosure form, they also must provide a notice regarding these new security freeze rights. However, A-Check’s counsel has opined that there is some gray area in the legislation that could be argued by Plaintiffs’ Bar that this requirement extends to end user adverse action requirements, so A-Check made system adjustments to ensure our client compliance.

What A-Check Global is Doing

To err on the side of caution, ensuring our clients remain compliant with all interpretations of this new law, A-Check has appended the new security freeze notice into our existing Summary of Rights disclosure notification appearing at the back of all A-Check reports. When A-Check clients provide a copy of the A-Check report in the adverse process, the new freeze notice will be included. You can view a copy of the consolidated notice here.

By November 1, 2018, our systems will be updated to include a version of this disclosure with a fully integrated security freeze notice. Rest assured, our current version is compliant. You can view a copy of this upcoming notice here.

What Employers Need to Do

Please seek advice from your legal counsel to ensure your forms comply with the new requirement.

Got questions? When in doubt, don’t forget you can always #AskACheck. Our team of dedicated professionals are available to help, and can provide friendly, accurate guidance. Give us a call today at 877-345-2021, or email clientsupport@acheckglobal.com.