Adverse Action Letter – Final Declination Decision

An adverse action letter is a final written notice advising applicant of employer’s final decision to not hire them at this present time, based on their hiring criteria and derogatory results found on a background check investigation report. This final job declination letter is sent after initial pre-adverse action letter.

There is no set time stipulated for the employer to wait before issuing the adverse action letter. However, 5 business days after the issuing of the pre-adverse action letter has been deemed to be acceptable.

The adverse action letter is required to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and failure to do so could result in legal and financial consequences for an employer.

From within BCS Background Screening secure portal, you can generate a pre-populated FCRA Compliant pre-adverse action letter to print and mail to your applicant with just one-click.

Update: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an interim final rule to be effective September 21, 2018 to update the model Summary of Consumer Rights and model Summary of Consumer Identity Theft Rights provided in Appendices I and K to Regulation V, which implement the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Adverse Action Sample Letter

Notice of Adverse Action

APPLICANT’S NAME
APPLICANT’S STREET ADDRESS
APPLICANT’S CITY, APPLICANT’S STATE – APPLICANT’S ZIP CODE

Dear Applicant,

Enclosed is a consumer report that we requested in connection with your application for employment with our company. In accordance with the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, also enclosed is a copy of your rights under the Act.

Based on our hiring criteria and the contents of this consumer report, we have made a decision not to consider you for employment at this time.

This decision was made in part from information we received from ________. Please be advised that ___________ does not make these decisions and is unable to provide you with the specific reasons for them.
You have the right to dispute the accuracy and completeness of information contained in the report(s) by contacting _____________, or if the report is a credit report, contacting the credit bureau that furnished the report.

Sincerely,

Human Resources Department
YOUR COMPANY NAME
YOUR COMPANY ADDRESS

Enclosures:
Copy of Consumer Report
FCRA Notice of Rights
FCRA Contact Sheet

Reporting Agency Contact Information
_____________________

_____________________

California applicants or employees only (this section applies only if the report referenced above is a credit report): You have the right to obtain a free copy of your credit report within 60 days from the consumer credit reporting agency which has been identified on this notice and from any other consumer credit reporting agency which compiles and maintains files on consumers on a nationwide basis. Under California law, you also have the right to dispute with the consumer reporting agency the accuracy or completeness of any information in the report.

Para información en español, visite: www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore o escribe a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street N.W., Washington, DC 20552.

A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) promotes the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies.  There are many types of consumer reporting agencies, including credit bureaus and specialty agencies (such as agencies that sell information about check writing histories, medical records, and rental history records).  Here is a summary of your major rights under the FCRA.

Para información en español, visite www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore o escribe a la Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street N.W., Washington, DC 20552.

A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) promotes the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies.  There are many types of consumer reporting agencies, including credit bureaus and specialty agencies (such as agencies that sell information about check writing histories, medical records, and rental history records).  Here is a summary of your major rights under FCRA.  For more information, including information about additional rights, go to www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore or write to: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street N.W., Washington, DC 20552.

• You must be told if information in your file has been used against you.  Anyone who uses a credit report or another type of consumer report to deny your application for credit, insurance, or employment – or to take another adverse action against you – must tell you, and must give you the name, address, and phone number of the agency that provided the information.

• You have the right to know what is in your file.  You may request and obtain all the information about you in the files of a consumer reporting agency (your “file disclosure”).  You will be required to provide proper identification, which may include your Social Security number.  In many cases, the disclosure will be free.  You are entitled to a free file disclosure if:

• a person has taken adverse action against you because of information in your credit report;
• you are the victim of identity theft and place a fraud alert in your file;
• your file contains inaccurate information as a result of fraud;
• you are on public assistance;
• you are unemployed but expect to apply for employment within 60 days.

In addition, all consumers are entitled to one free disclosure every 12 months upon request from each nationwide credit bureau and from nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies.  See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for additional information.

• You have the right to ask for a credit score.  Credit scores are numerical summaries of your credit-worthiness based on information from credit bureaus.  You may request a credit score from consumer reporting agencies that create scores or distribute scores used in residential real property loans, but you will have to pay for it.  In some mortgage transactions, you will receive credit score information for free from the mortgage lender.

• You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information.  If you identify information in your file that is incomplete or inaccurate, and report it to the consumer reporting agency, the agency must investigate unless your dispute is frivolous.  See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for an explanation of dispute procedures.

• Consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information.  Inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information must be removed or corrected, usually within 30 days.  However, a consumer reporting agency may continue to report information it has verified as accurate.

• Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information.  In most cases, a consumer reporting agency may not report negative information that is more than seven years old, or bankruptcies that are more than 10 years old.

• Access to your file is limited.  A consumer reporting agency may provide information about you only to people with a valid need – usually to consider an application with a creditor, insurer, employer, landlord, or other business.  The FCRA specifies those with a valid need for access.

• You must give your consent for reports to be provided to employers.  A consumer reporting agency may not give out information about you to your employer, or a potential employer, without your written consent given to the employer.  Written consent generally is not required in the trucking industry.  For more information, go to www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.

• You may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report.  Unsolicited “prescreened” offers for credit and insurance must include a toll-free phone number you can call if you choose to remove your name and address form the lists these offers are based on.  You may opt out with the nationwide credit bureaus at 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688).

• The following FCRA right applies with respect to nationwide consumer reporting agencies:

Consumers Have the Right To Obtain a Security Freeze

You have a right to place a “security freeze” on your credit report, which will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing information in your credit report without your express authorization.  The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent.  However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit.

As an alternative to a security freeze, you have the right to place an initial or extended fraud alert on your credit file at no cost.  An initial fraud alert is a 1-year alert that is placed on a consumer’s credit file.  Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer’s credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer’s identity before extending new credit.  If you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting 7 years.

A security freeze does not apply to a person or entity, or its affiliates, or collection agencies acting on behalf of the person or entity, with which you have an existing account that requests information in your credit report for the purposes of reviewing or collecting the account.  Reviewing the account includes activities related to account maintenance, monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades and enhancements.

• You may seek damages from violators.  If a consumer reporting agency, or, in some cases, a user of consumer reports or a furnisher of information to a consumer reporting agency violates the FCRA, you may be able to sue in state or federal court.

• Identity theft victims and active duty military personnel have additional rights.  For more information, visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.

States may enforce the FCRA, and many states have their own consumer reporting laws.  In some cases, you may have more rights under state law.  For more information, contact your state or local consumer protection agency or your state Attorney General.  For information about your federal rights, contact:

New York State Correction Law

Disclaimer: This pre-adverse letter template is not meant to provide legal advice of any kind.
Legal advice should be sought from your attorney. We make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained herein. We make no warranty that this form is appropriate for your particular needs. Please contact your legal or human resource department for your specific guidelines to your organization.