Some courts remove the candidate’s date of birth (DOB) as a search criterion in criminal name search engines and court records. In these cases, since the removal of date of birth will be implemented at the court level, it will impact all Consumer Reporting Agencies, including Checkr. As a result, you may experience longer background check processing times.
Below are answers to commonly asked questions about date of birth redactions:
Is it common for counties redact the date of birth?
Every county in California can legally redact the full date of birth as interpreted through court cases, challenges, and attempted legislation. This is a common theme in the background check space. Historically, when counties redact date of birth, the impact on background checks has been minimal.
How is Checkr responding to this change?
We understand the importance of efficient and accurate background checks. Date of birth redaction is a change we have effectively managed in several jurisdictions, and we are equipped to handle it here as well. We are actively engaging with our researchers to deliver solutions that minimize the expected delays. We will publish additional updates via our status page.
What will happen now when a record is returned in a county that has redacted the date of birth?
Since date of birth will no longer be provided in search criteria, it will impact the ability of all Consumer Reporting Agencies, including Checkr, to quickly match certain candidates to records as we did before. When less information is used to search, the background check process can take longer.
Please note that Checkr is actively taking steps to improve turnaround time.
What can I do if I want to bypass pending records in an affected county?
If you would like to complete a report stuck due to a pending search in a county affected by the date of birth redactions, you can use the “Complete Now” feature in your dashboard to manually intervene. Using 'Complete Now' skips all pending searches, not just those in the affected county, and immediately finalizes the entire report. This action is permanent and cannot be undone. The report status will change from “Pending” to “Complete” when this feature is used, and screenings in the report that could not be completed will be canceled. No further results will be returned on completed or canceled searches.
This feature may not be available for all integrations. Please contact Checkr if you have any questions about this feature.
How will this change affect turnaround times in affected counties?
The turnaround time for potential records in affected counties is likely to increase, and severe delays in completing searches with records in this county are expected.
How will this change affect county passthrough fees?
Passthrough fees remain unaffected at this time but are subject to change. We will notify customers if the courthouse fees change.