Background Check Lookback Checker (7-Year Rule)
Federal law stops screening firms from reporting most negative items older than seven years, including arrests that did not lead to a conviction. Convictions have no federal time limit, and the seven-year limits fall away for jobs paying $75,000 a year or more. Enter one record, its date, the report date and the job's expected salary to see whether the FCRA lets a screening firm report it, and the date that changes.
Use the tool
Background Check Lookback Checker (7-Year Rule), vettedpad.com
Check one record
Pre-filled with an example. Change any field and the answer updates. Dates as YYYY-MM-DD or MM/DD/YYYY.
The statute counts arrest records from their date of entry.
The date the screening firm makes the report.
At $75,000 or more, the federal seven-year limits do not apply.
Can a screening firm report it under federal law?
Reportable
15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(2)
The record is inside the seven years until February 10, 2027. From February 11, 2027 it antedates a report by more than seven years.
If the governing statute of limitations runs longer than seven years, the record stays reportable until it expires.
- Date of entry
- February 10, 2020
- Last day inside seven years
- February 10, 2027
- Report date
- October 22, 2026
Same dates, every record type
| Record type | Federal answer | Cite |
|---|---|---|
| Arrest that did not lead to a conviction | Reportable | 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(2) |
| Civil suit or civil judgment | Reportable | 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(2) |
| Paid tax lien | Reportable | 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(3) |
| Account placed for collection or charged off | Reportable | 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(4), (c)(1) |
| Other adverse item (not a conviction) | Reportable | 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(5) |
| Criminal conviction | Reportable | 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(5), convictions excluded |
What it computes
How far back can a background check go? Under federal law, seven years for most negative items, with no limit for criminal convictions and no limit at all when the job pays $75,000 a year or more. The limits bind the screening firm, a consumer reporting agency: the statute says no agency “may make any consumer report containing” the listed items. The checker takes one record and tells you which side of the line it falls on, and on what date it crosses.
“Civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest that, from date of entry, antedate the report by more than seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is the longer period.”
15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(2)
Each record type starts its seven years from a different date. Civil suits, judgments and arrest records count from the date of entry. Paid tax liens count “from date of payment” (§ 1681c(a)(3)). Accounts placed for collection or charged off start when the 180-day period that begins with the delinquency runs out (§ 1681c(c)(1)), so the checker adds 180 days to the date the delinquency began. Any other adverse item gets seven years under § 1681c(a)(5), which covers everything “other than records of convictions of crimes”. That carve-out is why the FCRA lets convictions be reported no matter how old.
The $75,000 salary exception
“The provisions of paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (a) are not applicable in the case of any consumer credit report to be used in connection with— … (3) the employment of any individual at an annual salary which equals, or which may reasonably be expected to equal $75,000, or more.”
15 U.S.C. § 1681c(b)(3)
The figure is fixed in the statute and is not adjusted for inflation, so a job at exactly $75,000 qualifies. The statute's wording is “consumer credit report”; how courts read that phrase for criminal and civil records is a question for your counsel. For what each search on a report can show, see what shows up on a background check.
How the checker counts
- An item antedates the report by more than seven years from the day after its seventh anniversary. On the anniversary itself it is still inside.
- A February 29 start date ends on February 28 in a year without one, the earlier day, so the checker never keeps a record in one day too long.
- Civil suits, judgments and arrests stay reportable past seven years while the governing statute of limitations is still running. The checker asks you, because that period depends on the claim or offense and the state.
- Bankruptcies have their own ten-year limit (§ 1681c(a)(1)) and are not part of this checker.
The checker applies the federal rule in 15 U.S.C. § 1681c as written. It is not legal advice, and state law may add limits or steps of its own.
Worked example
Five records from one applicant's file, all on a report dated October 22, 2026. Run any row through the checker to see its dates.
| Record type | Date | Salary | Federal answer | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrest that did not lead to a conviction | 2020-02-10 | $48,000 | Reportable | pre-filled example |
| Paid tax lien | 2019-10-22 | $60,000 | Reportable | 7th anniversary is the report date |
| Account placed for collection or charged off | 2019-03-01 | $55,000 | Not reportable | clock starts 180 days later |
| Civil suit or civil judgment | 2017-06-05 | $82,000 | Reportable | salary exception |
| Criminal conviction | 2009-04-20 | $40,000 | Reportable | no federal limit |
The tax lien row is the edge case: paid on October 22, 2019, it reaches its seventh anniversary on the report date and is still inside the window. A report made one day later could not include it. The collection account fell out on August 29, 2026, because its seven years started 180 days after the delinquency began.
What to do
- Read each adverse line on a report against its own start date, not the date the report was ordered.
- Ask the screening firm about anything that looks older than the limit allows; the duty to leave it off is theirs.
- If a reportable record may cost the applicant the job, follow the pre-adverse and adverse action notices and time them with the adverse action timeline.
State notes
- Federal
- CA
The checker computes the federal rule only. Some states add their own time limits on what a report may contain or what an employer may consider, so check your state before you rely on an older record. Our ban-the-box laws by state guide covers when you may ask.
California, read October 22, 2026
California's Fair Chance regulation bars employers from considering “An arrest or detention that did not result in conviction”, with limited exceptions, before or after a conditional offer (2 CCR § 11017.1(b)(1), citing Labor Code section 432.7). So in California a federally reportable arrest may still be off limits for the hiring decision. The same regulation says bright-line policies that include “conviction-related information that is seven or more years old” face a presumption, which the employer can rebut, that they are not tailored enough to defend (§ 11017.1(f)(4)(C)). The Civil Rights Department's June 2025 fact sheet goes further and says not to consider those convictions at all; follow the stricter reading.
The regulation also notes that employers using background checks are subject to California's Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (Civil Code section 1786 and following), whose own limits this checker does not compute. The California Fair Chance Act guide covers the notice steps.
Collections and other credit items are covered in the credit check for employment guide. To find a screening firm that has passed industry accreditation, start with the accredited screeners roster.