State flag of Michigan

In May 2019, the Michigan Supreme Court issued rules that when implemented generally would prohibit Michigan courts from releasing personal identifying information (PII), such as birthdates, on court records. The rules were set to go into effect on July 1, 2021. Because consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) use PII to confirm the identities of the subjects of records and to comply with verification standards set forth in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), CRAs would have been affected by the restrictions on access to court files, potentially impacting the timely and accurate release of background check information in Michigan. Although the state had been working on a bypass system that would enable employers to obtain subjects’ consent to allow PII to be included in court records pulled for employment purposes, the system was unlikely to be in place by the rules’ effective date.

On June 30, 2021, the Michigan Supreme Court pushed back the effective date of the restrictions to January 1, 2022. This extension should enable employers and CRAs to better prepare for the impact of the rules changes.

Further information on federal and state background check requirements is available in the firm’s OD Comply: Background Checks subscription materials, which are updated and provided to OD Comply subscribers as the law changes.


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Background checks are a trending topic for employers because of the tidal wave of class action lawsuits alleging technical violations of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act as well as the proliferation of state and local background check laws (including those arising from the Ban the Box movement).

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