Universal Background Screening Errors

If a Universal Background Screening report cost you a job offer — or is about to — you have rights under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), including the right to see the report and to force a correction of anything inaccurate. You can learn more on our Employment Background Checks page.

What is Universal Background Screening?

Universal Background Screening was a national employment-screening company, formerly based in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was acquired by First Advantage in 2021 and folded into that company. If a Universal report is on your record today, First Advantage handles it — and it reports criminal, employment, and education information to employers as a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA.

How to contact Universal Background Screening

Because Universal is now part of First Advantage, requests and disputes route through First Advantage:

• Company: Universal Background Screening (now part of First Advantage), Atlanta, GA
• Website: fadv.com (candidate / consumer portal)
• Request: ask for a copy of your report and file disputes through First Advantage

Confirm the current dispute address on the copy of your report before mailing anything, and keep copies of everything.

Common Universal Background Screening errors we see

• A criminal record that belongs to someone who shares your name or date of birth
• Expunged, sealed, or dismissed cases still showing as open or as convictions
• A single offense reported multiple times, making one case look like several
• A misdemeanor reported as a felony, or a charge reported as a conviction
• Records reported beyond the FCRA's limits (generally seven years for certain older items)
• Wrong personal information or mixed-up employment and education history

How a Universal Background Screening error hurts you

A background report often arrives at the worst moment — after you have been offered a job, when a single inaccurate line can make the employer withdraw the offer. The FCRA is designed to give you a chance to fix that before you lose the opportunity.

Universal Background Screening's track record with regulators

The company that absorbed Universal has a documented history of FCRA disputes.

First Advantage — which now owns Universal Background Screening — has faced Fair Credit Reporting Act class actions and resolved a class-action settlement over its background-check accuracy and disclosure practices. Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and public class-action settlement records. If your report is inaccurate, that history supports demanding proof and a correction.

Your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

A screening company must follow the FCRA. It must use reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy (§1681e(b)); it must reinvestigate disputes (§1681i); public-record information reported for employment must be current and complete (§1681k); and before an employer rejects you, it must give you the report and a summary of rights (§1681b(b)(3) pre-adverse-action).

How to dispute a Universal Background Screening report

1. Ask the employer for the copy of the report and summary of rights they must provide.
2. Identify every inaccuracy and gather documents that disprove it — court dispositions, expungement orders, ID.
3. Dispute in writing to First Advantage, enclosing copies and keeping a dated record.
4. Ask the employer to hold the decision until the dispute is resolved.
5. If it is not corrected, or the report already cost you the job, contact an FCRA attorney.

This information is general and is not legal advice for your specific situation.

Did an inaccurate Universal Background Screening report cost you a job?

Employment background reports are consumer reports under the FCRA, and the company that issues them has to follow strict accuracy rules. When a report is wrong and it costs you a job, you may be entitled to money damages — and our review is free.

How The Kim Law Firm helps

We are consumer-protection lawyers who handle FCRA cases nationwide. We help people whose screening report is inaccurate — wrong person, expunged records, outdated or duplicated cases. We do not help people trying to hide accurate records. If your report is wrong, we pursue the correction and any damages, and you do not pay unless we win.

Frequently asked questions

How do I dispute a Universal Background Screening report?

Get the report from the employer or First Advantage, identify the errors, and dispute them in writing with documents. If it is not fixed, an FCRA attorney can help.

Universal is now First Advantage — who do I dispute with?

First Advantage, which acquired Universal. Disputes and file requests run through First Advantage's consumer portal.

Can I sue over a background-check error?

Possibly. If the report was inaccurate or the FCRA's adverse-action rules were ignored and you were harmed, you may have a claim.

What if the report already cost me the job?

That is the concrete harm the FCRA addresses. Keep the paperwork and contact us.

Is the case review really free?

Yes. Wherever you are located, we can help, and you pay nothing unless we win.