Specifications

Disclosure & Authorization

The consumer’s clear, standalone consent comes before the report — not buried inside an application.

What it ensures

For employment purposes, the FCRA requires a disclosure in a document consisting solely of that disclosure, plus the consumer’s written authorization, before a report is procured. This control gates procurement behind both.

It specifically prevents the well-litigated failure of folding the disclosure into a broader application or release. The “standalone” requirement is strict, and getting it wrong has driven large class actions on its own.

Watch it run

An employer’s request comes in to run a background check on a candidate — and the agent is ready to pull the report.

Illustrative run — one case moving through the Disclosure & Authorization specification.

Pre-procurement Disclosed & authorized Procured Blocked
Permitted transition Forbidden move Start Terminal state
Consent comes before the report, in a specific form: a standalone disclosure and the consumer’s written authorization. The move the law forbids, in dashed red, is procuring the report before that consent exists.
✕ refused ✕ Non-standalone disclosure 1 ✓ Request 2 ✓ Disclosed 3 ✓ Authorized 4 ✓ Procured
Ready

A request to run an employment background check arrives.

  1. Ready

    The request

    An employer asks for a background check on a candidate. The report is one procurement away.

  2. Blocked

    The shortcut

    The fastest path is to just pull the report. It is also the violation. Procurement is held until consent exists, in the form the statute requires.

    Where it comes from

    For employment purposes the FCRA conditions the pull itself on two prior steps: a standalone disclosure and the consumer’s written authorization. The order is the protection — consent collected after the fact is no consent at all.

    What it satisfies

    Holding procurement until both exist is exactly what §1681b(b)(2)(A) requires. The defect the agent attempted — pulling first — is among the most-litigated FCRA employment claims.

    FCRA §1681b(b)(2)(A) Statute 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(2)(A) A person may not procure a consumer report, or cause a consumer report to be procured, for employment purposes with respect to any consumer, unless— (i) a clear and conspicuous disclosure has been made in writing to the consumer at any time before the report is procured or caused to be procured, in a document that consists solely of the disclosure, that a consumer report may be obtained for employment purposes; and (ii) the consumer has authorized in writing (which authorization may be made on the document referred to in clause (i)) the procurement of the report by that person. U.S. Code · Cornell LII ↗
  3. Blocked

    The buried disclosure

    A disclosure folded into the application — a liability waiver beside it — is the most-litigated FCRA defect of all. It isn’t a valid disclosure, so procurement stays blocked. Refused.

    Where it comes from

    The statute requires the disclosure to sit in a document consisting solely of the disclosure; courts read “solely” strictly. A combined form fails even when written consent is otherwise present.

    What it satisfies

    Refusing to proceed on a non-standalone disclosure is what §1681b(b)(2)(A)(i) — the “solely the disclosure” mandate — requires.

    FCRA §1681b(b)(2)(A) Statute 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(2)(A) A person may not procure a consumer report, or cause a consumer report to be procured, for employment purposes with respect to any consumer, unless— (i) a clear and conspicuous disclosure has been made in writing to the consumer at any time before the report is procured or caused to be procured, in a document that consists solely of the disclosure, that a consumer report may be obtained for employment purposes; and (ii) the consumer has authorized in writing (which authorization may be made on the document referred to in clause (i)) the procurement of the report by that person. U.S. Code · Cornell LII ↗
  4. Permitted

    The disclosure

    The candidate receives a clear notice that a report may be obtained. Not buried in an application — on its own.

    Where it comes from

    The statute is unusually specific: the disclosure must sit in a document consisting solely of the disclosure. Courts have read “solely” strictly.

    What it satisfies

    A clean, standalone disclosure satisfies §1681b(b)(2)(A)(i). Folding it into a job application or a liability release is the classic way the requirement fails.

    FCRA §1681b(b)(2)(A) Statute 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(2)(A) A person may not procure a consumer report, or cause a consumer report to be procured, for employment purposes with respect to any consumer, unless— (i) a clear and conspicuous disclosure has been made in writing to the consumer at any time before the report is procured or caused to be procured, in a document that consists solely of the disclosure, that a consumer report may be obtained for employment purposes; and (ii) the consumer has authorized in writing (which authorization may be made on the document referred to in clause (i)) the procurement of the report by that person. U.S. Code · Cornell LII ↗
  5. Permitted

    The authorization

    With the disclosure understood, the candidate authorizes the check in writing.

  6. Permitted

    Procured

    Only now can the report be pulled, and the consent that authorized it is on the file.

  7. On the record

    The proof

    When a class theory turns on the consent form, the answer is the form itself — tied to the pull it authorized.

    Where it comes from

    Standalone-disclosure defects are a favored class theory precisely because one bad form repeats across every applicant.

    What it satisfies

    A per-file record of the disclosure and authorization is the evidence that answers the claim.

    FCRA §1681n Statute 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a) Any person who willfully fails to comply with any requirement imposed under this subchapter with respect to any consumer is liable to that consumer in an amount equal to the sum of— (1)(A) any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure or damages of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000 … U.S. Code · Cornell LII ↗ §1681o Statute 15 U.S.C. § 1681o(a) Any person who is negligent in failing to comply with any requirement imposed under this subchapter with respect to any consumer is liable to that consumer in an amount equal to the sum of— (1) any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure … U.S. Code · Cornell LII ↗
Why it holds

Why the whole holds

No single step is the safeguard. The candidate’s consent is real only because the report cannot be pulled until a standalone disclosure and a written authorization both exist — in that order, on that file. Remove the sequencing and “consent” becomes a checkbox collected after the fact. The protection is the closed path, not any one form.

Why it matters

Standalone-disclosure defects are a favored class-action theory precisely because they are systematic — one bad form repeats across every applicant.