By Dallas and Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal
(972) 562-7549
Did you know 90% of employers do background checks since 9/11? Criminal background searches are now a $2 billion per year industry and due to increased digitalization of court records — mom and pop background check companies are beginning to spring up. They don’t seem to have the resources or desire to get things right.
And here’s the scary part — most of the leading background check companies wouldn’t even return the AP’s phone calls to discuss how many of their files were inaccurate. They currently use automated systems which scrub online databases run by governmental entities with flawed formulas that misinterpret information the human eye might spot. They commonly botch common names and stick the wrong people with criminal charges. Many are also very poor at updating their information when criminal cases are expunged or non-disclosed.
You can read the article in it’s entirety here. There are few articles out there that are must-reads. This is one of them.
From a criminal defense lawyer perspective — fighting to keep someone’s record clean is pointless if some company who doesn’t care about what they report calls you a criminal anyway and costs you a job.
Another main point to take from the AP article is no one will care about making sure your criminal history is clean as much as you will. Making sure you have a clean history is every bit as important as checking your credit score.
*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas. Nothing in this article is intended to be legal advice. For legal advice about any specific situation, you should contact an attorney directly. Contacting the attorney through this forum does not create an attorney-client relationship. Communications sent through this blog are not confidential.