FTC Says TruthFinder, Instant Checkmate Deceived Users About Background Report Accuracy, Violated FCRA While Marketing Reports for Employee and Tenant Screening

“Companies that compile personal information and sell background reports are on notice: Don’t make false claims about the contents of your reports,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Metadata

Provider:

FTC

URL:

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/09/ftc-says-truthfinder-instant-checkmate-deceived-users-about-background-report-accuracy-violated-fcra

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Information

Geotags:

CALIFORNIA

Summary

Key Points:

“Companies that compile personal information and sell background reports are on notice: Don’t make false claims about the contents of your reports,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection.
In 2014, Instant Checkmate agreed to settle FTC charges that the company previously violated the FCRA by failing to take reasonable steps to make sure that its background reports were accurate and that its users had a permissible reason to have them.
The companies also deceived customers by providing “Remove” and “Flag as Inaccurate” buttons that did not work as advertised, according to the complaint.
The FTC also says the companies failed to investigate and respond to consumer complaints about inaccuracies in their reports, as required by the FCRA.
TruthFinder and Instant Checkmate, however, failed to advise customers to disclose that they were being compensated for their review.

The Department of Justice returned the matter to the FTC for filing.
The FTC filed the complaint and proposed stipulated order in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
Stipulated orders have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge.