FCRA

The Insurance Journal reports that the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of two insurance companies, GEICO and Safeco. The companies were accused of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

There were actually two rulings. Even though they don’t relate directly and specifically to background checks or tenant screening, there are still important things here for you.

The Court ruled that GEICO did not violate the FCRA. The company had used a credit check to in the process of determining what rate to charge a customer, but it did not affect the final rate offered.

In the case of Safeco, the court ruled that they had violated the law, but they had not done so recklessly. The court ruling means that both GEICO and Safeco have escaped having to pay huge damage awards.

If you’re using credit checks as part of your employee or tenant background check process, there are some things to pay attention to.

The reason that this was a big deal is that the government takes the FCRA seriously and more and more the people you will be screening know about it. You can get in big trouble if you don’t do things right.

If you’re in doubt about […]