An investigative consumer report is a specific category under the FCRA, and it carries an additional notice obligation that catches employers who never realised they had ordered one. This page explains what makes a report investigative, the extra notice it triggers, and what the adjudication labels your provider puts on a result actually mean, since they are not legal determinations.
What makes a report investigative
An investigative consumer report is one where information about a consumer's character, general reputation, personal characteristics or mode of living is obtained through personal interviews with neighbours, friends, associates or others who may have such knowledge. The key is the interview. A report assembled from court records and databases is an ordinary consumer report; one that involves somebody being asked what they think of the applicant is investigative. Reference checking conducted by a screening agency frequently crosses this line without the employer noticing.
The extra notice
Where an investigative consumer report is or may be obtained, the employer must clearly and accurately disclose that fact in writing to the applicant not later than three days after the report was first requested, including a statement of the nature and scope of the investigation and the consumer's right to request further disclosure. That is on top of the ordinary standalone disclosure and authorisation. The applicant may then request a complete disclosure of the nature and scope of the investigation, which must be provided within five days.
Adjudication labels are the provider's, not the law's
Screening platforms commonly return a result labelled clear, eligible, consider, or review, based on rules the employer configured. Those labels are the provider's automated comparison of the report against your own criteria. They are not legal determinations and they are not decisions. Consider does not mean the applicant failed; it means something in the report matched a rule you set. Treating a label as the decision is how employers end up rejecting people without ever having read the underlying record, which is exactly what the adverse action process assumes you have done.
Pre-adverse action is a real pause
If a report is part of why you are considering not hiring somebody, you must send a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and the Summary of Your Rights, and allow a reasonable period before the final notice. The purpose is a genuine opportunity to point out that the record belongs to somebody else, or that a charge was dismissed. Five business days is the common convention and some states require longer. A workflow that sends both notices the same day satisfies nothing, and a provider whose platform allows it should be asked why.
Questions people ask about investigative consumer report
What is an investigative consumer report?
One where information about character, reputation, personal characteristics or mode of living is gathered through personal interviews with people who know the applicant. The interview is what makes it investigative rather than ordinary.
What extra notice does it need?
A written disclosure within three days of the report first being requested, stating the nature and scope of the investigation and the applicant's right to request further disclosure, which must be provided within five days if asked.
What does consider mean on a background check?
That something in the report matched a rule the employer configured on the screening platform. It is the provider's automated comparison against your criteria, not a legal determination and not a decision.
Can I send the pre-adverse and adverse action notices together?
No. The point of the pre-adverse notice is a genuine opportunity to dispute before the decision is final. Five business days is the common convention and several states require longer.