ClearStar Background Check Errors

If a ClearStar background check is standing between you and a job, an inaccurate report is not something you have to accept. ClearStar is a consumer reporting agency under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), so you can see what it reports and force it to correct mistakes. You can learn more on our Employment Background Checks page.

What is ClearStar?

ClearStar is an employment background-screening company headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, that provides criminal, medical, and drug screening to employers. It reports the results as a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA.

How to contact ClearStar

You can request your report and file a dispute directly:

• Company: ClearStar, Alpharetta, GA
• Website: clearstar.net (consumer / applicant portal)
• Request: ask for a copy of your report and dispute errors through ClearStar

Confirm the current dispute address on your report before mailing anything, and keep copies of what you send.

Common ClearStar errors we see

• A criminal record matched to you because you share a name or date of birth
• Expunged, sealed, or dismissed cases still showing as open or as convictions
• The same case reported more than once
• A charge reported as a conviction, or a misdemeanor reported as a felony
• Records reported beyond the FCRA's limits (generally seven years for certain older items)
• Incorrect personal information — wrong name, address, or Social Security number

How a ClearStar error hurts you

Because a report usually arrives after a conditional offer, one inaccurate entry can cost you the job at the last moment. The FCRA gives you the right to see and dispute it first.

ClearStar's track record with regulators

ClearStar operates in a screening industry under steady FCRA scrutiny.

ClearStar appears on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's public list of consumer reporting companies, and background-screening companies have repeatedly faced Fair Credit Reporting Act litigation over accuracy and disclosure practices. Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. If your ClearStar report is inaccurate, that supports demanding a correction.

Your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

ClearStar 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 ClearStar background check

1. Ask the employer for the copy of the report and summary of rights they must provide.
2. Identify every inaccuracy and gather proof — court dispositions, expungement orders, ID.
3. Dispute in writing to ClearStar, enclosing copies and keeping a dated record.
4. Ask the employer to hold the decision while the dispute is investigated.
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 ClearStar background check cost you a job?

Employment background reports are consumer reports under the FCRA, and ClearStar 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 ClearStar 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.

Admitted in Pennsylvania and New Jersey; available to appear pro hac vice in other federal courts.

When a screening file mixes medical information with everything else

A screening company that sells drug testing and occupational health services alongside criminal searches ends up holding two very different categories of information about the same person. ClearStar, based in Alpharetta, Georgia, provides criminal, medical and drug screening to employers. Medical and testing information carries protections that a court record does not, and problems appear when it travels with the rest of the file: a result disclosed to someone who should not have seen it, a testing outcome kept in the file after its purpose ended, or a medical explanation the review process was supposed to resolve but never reached the employer.

• DISA Global Solutions — running drug and alcohol testing at very large volume alongside background checks.
• Certiphi Screening — a healthcare-focused screener handling license and sanctions information.
• Employment Background Investigations — a Maryland screener whose services include drug screening.
• Global HR Research — combining record searches with drug screening for employers.
• Cisive — a screener serving healthcare employers through its PreCheck brand.

Ask for the complete file the agency holds about you, not just the summary the employer received. You are entitled to disclosure of the information in it and the sources behind it. Where testing information appears in a consumer report, it is subject to the same accuracy requirement as anything else, and a result that was never confirmed, was attributed to the wrong specimen, or should have been resolved by a medical review is disputable on exactly that basis.

Screened by a different company? We also handle HireRight background check errors, Sterling background check errors, Checkr background check errors, and First Advantage background check errors — and you can start with our overview of the major background check companies.

Frequently asked questions

How do I dispute a ClearStar background check?

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

How long does a ClearStar background check take?

ClearStar does not publish a turnaround time for the report an employer orders. It does commit to a timeline on your side: it states that a file request and a reinvestigation are each completed within 30 days of receipt, and that reinvestigation results are sent to you by email.

My ClearStar check has been sitting for weeks. Does that matter?

It can. The FCRA sets no deadline for finishing a pre-hire report, so the wait by itself is not a violation. What matters is what the employer did while you waited: if it already decided against you based on the report, it was supposed to send you a copy and a summary of your rights first, and give you a real chance to respond.

How do I get a copy of my ClearStar report?

Call ClearStar at 1-877-796-2559 or write to ClearStar at 6250 Shiloh Road East, Suite 300, Alpharetta, GA 30005. ClearStar states the report is free if you were told of an adverse action, or denied housing or employment, within the past 60 days. Get the report before you dispute, because the exact wording of the entry usually shows what went wrong.

Can I sue ClearStar for a background check error?

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

What if the report already cost me the job?

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

Is the case review really free?

Yes. There is no charge, and you pay nothing unless we win.

Where we practice, and what to do if you are somewhere else

The Kim Law Firm is licensed in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and that is where we handle matters directly.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a federal statute. It applies the same way in every state, it is enforced in federal court, and the deadlines and remedies do not change when you cross a state line. So the answer to "does this apply to me in Ohio" is yes — but the answer to "can you represent me in Ohio" depends on the case and on where it would be filed.

If you are outside Pennsylvania and New Jersey, contact us anyway. Some matters can be handled from here. Some are better sent to a consumer lawyer admitted where you are, and we will tell you that plainly rather than let a deadline run while you wait. Either way you will get an answer, and the review costs nothing.

The one thing that does not wait is the clock. A claim under the Act generally must be brought within two years of the date you discover the violation, and in no event more than five years after the violation occurred. Finding out late does not extend the outside limit.