What is required to obtain a consumer report for employment?

• A. To make employment decisions with the consumer’s consent, under FCRA/FACTA, subject to state law.
• B. For marketing purposes with consent
• C. To access a consumer report for any purpose without consent
• D. Only for executives

Answer: (A)

For employment, a consumer report may be obtained only with the candidate’s written consent and a permissible purpose under the FCRA/FACTA (with any applicable state-law requirements). In practice, this means you must secure a signed authorization before pulling the report and you may use it to evaluate the candidate for employment decisions such as hiring or promotion. Marketing has its own consent requirements, and you cannot access a report without consent for employment. The notion that reports are limited to executives is not correct.