The report anatomy
Every Information Direct background check report follows the same structure. Once you've read one, you've read them all, which matters when you're reviewing ten a day.
- Header. Report ID, date, applicant name, and overall disposition (Complete, Complete with records, or In progress).
- Candidate block. Name, DOB, address history, SSN trace summary. This is the identity context - everything that follows matches against these identifiers.
- Criminal sections. County criminal, statewide criminal, federal criminal, and national sex offender registry. Each lists records or "No responsive records."
- Civil sections. Civil court records (liens, judgments), if ordered.
- Verifications. Employment, education, license. Shows what was verified, what couldn't be, and source.
- Other searches. MVR, credit, OIG/SAM, international checks - whatever you ordered.
- Summary of rights. FCRA-mandated Summary of Consumer Rights and state-specific addenda.
Reading a criminal record
A typical criminal record entry contains:
- Date. The filing date (not the date of the alleged offense, which often isn't in court records).
- Jurisdiction. County, state, or district. The jurisdiction matters - a county misdemeanor has different implications from a federal felony.
- Charge. The charge as it appears in the court record. We don't reinterpret the charge; we report what the court says.
- Classification. Felony (F), misdemeanor (M), infraction (I), or ordinance (O). In a few jurisdictions, the classification isn't in the court record and we mark it "Unclassified."
- Disposition. The outcome: Convicted, Dismissed, Diversion, Acquitted, Pending, Nolle Prosequi (prosecutor dropped), or specific state codes.
- Sentence, if any. Fine, probation, incarceration, etc.
What you can do with that information depends on federal and state law. The FCRA itself does not prohibit acting on any category of record, but EEOC guidance, state ban-the-box laws, and California's Fair Chance Act (among others) restrict what you can act on, when you can ask about it, and how you must document your decision. See our Compliance center for the state-by-state rules.
"No responsive records" vs. "No record"
A frequent misreading: "No responsive records" is not the same as "applicant has no record anywhere." It means that the specific source searched - this county, this federal district, this state repository - returned no record matching the applicant's identifiers. An applicant with a misdemeanor in County X, two states over from where they now live, will show clear on a check of County Y if County X wasn't in their address history. This is why the address-history-driven county search methodology matters: it's only as complete as the address history.
This is also why we include a national criminal database search alongside counties. The national database is a secondary pointer - it catches records in counties we didn't search and tells us to go back and verify them at the source before reporting. National database hits are never reported in isolation; they're always confirmed at the primary court before inclusion.
Verification results
Employment and education verifications have three possible outcomes:
- Verified. Employer or school confirmed the dates, title, and degree. The report shows the source (HR contact, Work Number, registrar), the date of verification, and the specific fields verified.
- Verified with discrepancy. Something didn't match. Maybe the applicant said they were a "Senior Manager" but HR reports "Manager." Maybe the degree was claimed as a B.A. but the registrar records a B.S. We report the discrepancy verbatim; the disposition decision is yours.
- Unable to verify. We couldn't confirm after documented attempts. We'll show how many contact attempts we made, dates, and reason (employer defunct, employer does not disclose, etc.). The report does not characterize the applicant's honesty; it records that verification did not complete.
Source-of-record attribution
Every finding in the report has a source line at the bottom of its entry: which court, which clerk, which HR system, which registrar. This matters for two reasons: (1) if the applicant disputes the finding, you have the exact source to refer to, and (2) if you're audited - by the EEOC, CFPB, or a regulator - you have a complete chain of provenance.
Severity and "actionable" flags
We do not categorize records as "disqualifying" or "non-disqualifying" - that judgment is yours and must be based on your written hiring criteria and applicable law. The portal can surface a configurable flag if you want one (e.g., "felony within 7 years" or "OIG exclusion") but the flag is an attention marker, not a decision. Document your decision criteria in your HR policies and apply them consistently.
Disputes
Applicants have the right under FCRA ยง1681i to dispute any finding. If they do, we reinvestigate at no cost. Reinvestigation typically completes within 30 days. During reinvestigation, the finding is marked "Disputed" in the report. You should not take final adverse action on a disputed finding until the reinvestigation is complete.
If the dispute is valid and the record is corrected, we reissue the report with the correction and notify you. If the original finding holds, we reissue with the dispute note and the applicant's explanation, if provided.
Exporting the report
From the report's detail page, click "Export PDF" for a print-ready version, or "Export JSON" for machine-readable. The PDF is what you typically retain in the employee file. JSON is useful if you want to import findings into your HR system for analytics or retention management.
Retention
You're required under the FCRA and the FTC Disposal Rule to retain consumer reports per a documented retention schedule and dispose of them securely when the schedule ends. The portal keeps reports in your account indefinitely; export and store them according to your schedule, and use the "Archive" button when it's time to remove them from active access.