Employment screening

First Advantage — the data, and your rights when its report costs you

One of the largest employment background-check companies, screening millions of job applicants a year for employers worldwide. Criminal-record and employment-history errors here cost people job offers.

2,647
complaint mentions in the federal CFPB Consumer Complaint Database (2026-08-10)

What people complain about

“That record isn't mine” (mixed file / identity mix-up)
416
Cost someone a job
151
Eviction record problems
36
Paid debt still showing
36
Dispute ignored or mishandled
11
Bank-account denial / closure
10
Cost someone housing
9

Rows mentioning First Advantage and the pattern's keywords — an indicative breakdown, not a census.

Get your file — free

Request your free file from First Advantage via the consumer/applicant section at fadv.com. After any adverse action you're entitled to a free copy under the FCRA — you never need to pay a third party to obtain it. The CFPB also keeps the authoritative directory of consumer reporting companies and their contact routes at consumerfinance.gov.

Your three rights after a denial

Full plain-English walkthrough on our home page.

What disputes can't do — and we won't help with

Disputes fix errors. They don't erase history that's true — accurate records survive investigation. If the record is real, what helps is settling and documenting it, second-chance programs, and time. We built this site for honest people hit by wrong records.

Counts are complaint rows in the federal CFPB Consumer Complaint Database whose text mentions the company (case-insensitive scan of 27.8 million rows, 2026-08-10). Text mentions, not official per-company tallies — treat them as a relative signal of where consumers report problems. Source: files.consumerfinance.gov bulk data. Company descriptions checked August 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.