Site Inspection required for Employment Credit Reports
All federally regulated credit bureaus require a virtual or onsite inspection of your principal office or residence (if you have a home office) before allowing clients access to a pre-employment credit report. If you wish to have direct access to an applicant’s credit report in order to make an employment decision, the credit bureaus now require a site inspection to be completed in order to protect the public from unscrupulous businesses that would like to have access to consumer credit reports. During the inspection, employers must exercise proof of permissible purpose and business justification for the need to access employees’ credit history.
What is required during the site inspection?
A third-party licensed inspector approved by the bureau will visit your office or home (wherever you primarily operate) or schedule a virtual web call to verify the following:
1. That consumer credit files can be stored securely in a locked (room, drawer, filing cabinet, safe, etc).
2. That you operate in a legal manner and are not operating an authorized business such as a massage service, credit counseling organization, law enforcement agency, private investigator, tattoo service, bail bondsman, adult entertainment of any kind, credit repair, credit reseller, news agency, journalist or dating service.
Note: The Inspection Fee will be passed on to the client prior to scheduling a site visit to meet this requirement.