How to Dispute Incorrect Information on a LexisNexis Background Check?
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- How to Dispute Incorrect Information on a LexisNexis Background Check?
Questions about errors in your LexisNexis background report? Here's everything you need to know about fixing them.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions provides employers, insurers, lenders, and landlords with detailed information about you so those companies don’t risk losing anything when transacting with you. But when LexisNexis background reports are wrong, the one who loses out is you. Here’s everything you need to know about disputing LexisNexis and who can help.
A background check for a job candidate, insurance coverage applicant, rental unit applicant, and borrowers of every kind has become standard procedure. Companies want to minimize the risk of hiring, insuring, renting to, or lending to someone they deem unreliable, and technology makes quick background checks possible even when you have to screen hundreds or even thousands of people a day.
For decades, LexisNexis has provided businesses, universities, and professionals with business analytics and information. It digitizes public records and information, making them readily accessible to everyone with a subscription and easily searchable. LexisNexis Risk Solutions utilizes these public databases, along with some proprietary databases and data search methods, to perform background checks for companies and employers who pay for them. But a LexisNexis background check is not always accurate.
This article provides information on the consequences of LexisNexis incorrect information, how to dispute information on LexisNexis, the grounds for a LexisNexis dispute, whether a consumer can sue LexisNexis, and how Consumer Attorneys can guide you through it all.
What Should You Look for on a LexisNexis background check?
Because a LexisNexis report contains financial and credit history, it is subject to a federal law called the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a law implemented to protect consumers from unfair and damaging credit reporting practices. One of the features of the FCRA is a provision that requires companies like LexisNexis to provide at least one free background check report to consumers every year. You should request your background check by visiting the LexisNexis Risk Solutions website.
When your report arrives, you should review it thoroughly. Here’s what to look for:
- Personal Information. Your LexisNexis background check will have a section with your name, address, birth date, Social Security Number (SSN), phone number, relatives’ names, and past addresses. A LexisNexis dispute often starts here. One spelling error, one misplaced digit in an SSN, or one mistaken street address can create big problems. No matter how small the LexisNexis inaccurate information might appear, even the slightest error can create confusion and result in someone else’s information being included in your report. Check this section carefully. Any wrong information will be the basis of a LexisNexis dispute.
- Employment History and Education. A LexisNexis report dispute can also result from a missing, incomplete, or inaccurate past job or an inaccurate or mistaken academic record. Check these. Verify the dates, your GPA, the phone numbers of former jobs, and the degrees you received. Document all mistakes for the LexisNexis dispute letter.
- Criminal History. Too often, inaccurate, out-of-date, or outright wrong information in this section creates a LexisNexis dispute. As consumer protection attorneys, we see far too often the devastating effect this can have on the opportunities, both professional and financial, that an error in this section can have. Review this section for any potential LexisNexis Risk Solutions dispute mistakes. Misdemeanors reported as felonies or arrests reported as convictions are problems. Check dates. While state law can create exceptions, most background checks should be limited to the past seven years.
- Financial and Credit History. Verify everything in this section. Every account opening date, closing date, account balance, credit limit, minimum payment, payment history, and outstanding balance needs to be verified, and if anything is wrong, part of a LexisNexis report dispute. A LexisNexis Risk Solutions dispute will often hinge on this, as any wrong information can affect creditworthiness.
Documents you need to dispute your LexisNexis background report
To dispute your LexisNexis report, you will need evidence. How to dispute LexisNexis? Prove them wrong.
Personal information
Identify any document that will disprove the information on the LexisNexis report. You should make a photocopy of any utility bill, birth certificate, passport, Social Security card, lease, mortgage, or any other official document that properly identifies you.
Other Information
How to dispute with LexisNexis? Evidence. Regarding any other errors you identified in your LexisNexis report, find documents that prove them wrong. For example, for a LexisNexis consumer report dispute, you should locate old account statements, current account statements, account closing verification, utility bills, and credit card bills to disprove the flaw in your report. Should there be a mistake in your employment or education history, photocopy your diploma or request a letter from your former employer’s human resources office.
A background check lawyer can help you determine the best document for you. Most LexisNexis dispute resolution starts with contacting a consumer protection lawyer.
How to dispute your LexisNexis background check by mail
How to dispute LexisNexis report? We recommend doing so by certified U.S. mail. This accomplishes two things: 1) it preserves your right to sue LexisNexis in the future, and 2) it creates a record of when you initiate the dispute.
How to dispute a LexisNexis report by mail starts with writing LexisNexis a dispute letter. Identify yourself, identify all the errors you found in your background check report, and tell LexisNexis how you want it to fix the errors. How do I send the dispute to LexisNexis? Enclose the photocopies of the evidence you collected and send them via certified U.S. mail to:
LexisNexis Risk Solutions
Consumer Center
P.O. Box 105108
Atlanta, GA 30348-5108
How to dispute your LexisNexis report online
Can you dispute LexisNexis online? Yes. We do not recommend doing so, as you may lose your right to sue LexisNexis later. To do so, visit the consumer portion of their website.
What will happen after filing a dispute?
The FCRA requires LexisNexis to investigate the dispute, correct the errors, and let you know the investigation results within 30 days of receipt of the dispute letter. If LexisNexis does not do this, contact Consumer Attorneys.
What Steps do Background Check Companies take to Correct your Report?
Depending on the nature of the errors, LexisNexis may investigate the sources of the information, or it may need to correct its internal system. For example, if the error results from an administrative error on LexisNexis’s end, they must fix it. But if LexisNexis received false information from a public records database, then LexisNexis needs to contact the source of the information in that database and request they fix it.
What if Your Dispute is Ignored by LexisNexis?
If LexisNexis ignores your dispute, contact Consumer Attorneys. If LexisNexis ignores your dispute it will be violating the FCRA. We have taken legal action against LexisNexis, sued LexisNexis, and settled suits with LexisNexis. We can handle your case too.
Sue LexisNexis If Errors Are Not Fixed
Another possibility is that LexisNexis will investigate but not fix the errors. Can I sue LexisNexis? Yes. This is when you contact Consumer Attorneys to discuss that option.
Contact Us
How do I dispute my LexisNexis report? Start by contacting us. Errors in LexisNexis background checks can have devastating consequences. Knowing your rights and taking action if you're affected is essential.
Our firm protects consumers' rights and ensures companies like LexisNexis follow the law and treat people fairly.
Contact us by:
- Visit our website. Once there, you can chat with a live representative or fill out a form to be contacted.
- Email us at [email protected] to request a meeting with an attorney.
- Call us at 1-877-615-1725.
We have represented thousands of consumers at odds with consumer reporting agencies, background check companies, and many others. Our goal is to hold these companies accountable when they make mistakes that hurt you, to get consumers the compensation they deserve, and to ensure things are as fair as possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Every consumer can dispute LexisNexis when they identify a mistake on their LexisNexis background check report - no matter how big or how small that mistake may seem. It starts with you requesting your LexisNexis report. You can get a free copy every year, or if a company takes adverse action against you because of something it saw in your LexisNexis Risk Solutions report, it must tell you that information and give you a report. You should review your LexisNexis report thoroughly, document all the errors and inaccuracies you see, and then contact a consumer protection lawyer.
A LexisNexis report includes: 1) Personally identifying information like your name, address, former addresses, Social Security Number, birthdate, telephone number, and other information; 2) your criminal history including arrests and convictions; 3) credit information like all past and current credit cards, mortgages, loans, apartment rentals, utilities, mobile phones, and bank information; 4) information about past employment and education including dates employed and degrees and reasons for termination; and 5) anything else sought by the company that requested your report. Each section provides some insight into your credit history and behaviors. Each section can be the source of LexisNexis complaints and a LexisNexis report dispute.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) gives LexisNexis protocols and timelines it must follow when a consumer disputes inaccurate information on their credit report. When a consumer disputes information on their LexisNexis background check report, LexisNexis must investigate the dispute, including a review of the evidence the consumer supplied, within 30 days. LexisNexis must correct the information, update the credit report, and alert the consumer. If LexisNexis fails to investigate or update the credit report appropriately, the consumer has legal rights and should contact a consumer protection attorney.
Daniel Cohen is the Founder of Consumer Attorneys. Daniel manages the firm’s branding, marketing, client intake and business development efforts. Since 2017, he is a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates and the National Consumer Law Center. Mr. Cohen is a nationally-recognized practitioner of consumer protection law. He has a we... Read more
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