The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit confirmed in December that it is not inaccurate for a consumer reporting agency (CRA) to report a criminal or sex-offender record without matching the record to a subject consumer, so long as the CRA notifies the user that the record needs further investigation before being attributed to an individual. The decision was made in Erickson v. First Advantage Background Services Corp. Keith Erickson filed suit after he applied to coach his son’s Little League team and the required background check uncovered his father’s sex-offender record. CRA First Advantage Background Services Corporation alerted Little League, explaining that the record was a name-only match and that the organization’s “further review of the State Sex Offender website is required in order to determine if this is your subject.” Erickson claimed the CRA violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s (FCRA) requirement that a consumer reporting agency “follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy” of information included in a consumer report.
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