The seven-year rule for background checks: what the FCRA limits, the $75,000 exception and the states with their own lookback laws (2026)

The seven-year rule for background checks is the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act limit in 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a): a background screening company may not report arrests that did not lead to a conviction, civil suits and judgments, collection accounts or other adverse items that are more than seven years old. It does not cover criminal convictions, which federal law lets a screening company report no matter how old, and it does not apply at all when the job pays, or may reasonably be expected to pay, $75,000 a year or more (§ 1681c(b)(3)). As of November 2026, at least twelve states add their own limits; California's, the one most people search for, covers convictions too and has no salary exception.

This page covers the time limits only: what the rule says, when the seven years start, the salary exception and every state limit we confirmed in the state's own code. The steps for ordering a report and rejecting a candidate because of it are on the FCRA background check process, and the full California picture, including records an employer may never use, is on California background check laws.

What does the seven-year rule actually say?

Section 1681c(a) is a list of items a consumer reporting agency (in hiring, the background screening company) may not put in a report once they pass an age limit. The parts that matter for employment:

Two details surprise people. First, the paragraph that covers arrests reads "seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is the longer period," so ask your screening company how it reads that for arrest records. Second, the rule binds the screening company. It says nothing about what an employer may ask a candidate or find on a court website itself; state and city laws, covered below, fill that gap.

Why can convictions be reported forever under federal law?

Because Congress changed the rule in 1998. The original FCRA limited "records of arrest, indictment, or conviction of crime" to seven years from the date of disposition, release or parole. The Consumer Reporting Employment Clarification Act of 1998 struck that paragraph, moved arrests into the "date of entry" paragraph and added the words "other than records of convictions of crimes" to the catch-all (Public Law 105-347, section 5, approved November 2, 1998).

That history explains the state laws. Most state lookback statutes use the same pre-1998 wording, which is why they still say "from date of disposition, release, or parole" and still cover convictions. State laws in effect by late 1996 survive federal preemption, because the FCRA's preemption clause for § 1681c subjects "shall not apply to any State law in effect on September 30, 1996" (15 U.S.C. § 1681t(b)(1)(E)). A California appeals court relied on that date in 2022 to hold that California's seven-year rule for convictions is not preempted (Kemp v. Superior Court, G061122).

When does the seven-year clock start?

• Federal arrests: from the arrest's "date of entry" (§ 1681c(a)(2)). In a January 2024 advisory opinion the CFPB said a later dismissal does not restart the clock and that a dismissed charge cannot be reported once seven years have passed from the charge (89 FR 4171). The CFPB withdrew that opinion, with dozens of other guidance documents, effective May 12, 2025 (90 FR 20084), so as of November 2026 the statute's text is what remains.
• State rules using the older wording: from the date of disposition, release or parole. The Kemp court held that "from the date of . . . parole" in California's statute means the date parole starts, not the date it ends, and quoted the FTC's 1990 commentary on the old federal text: if the person was sentenced to confinement, "the date of release or placement on parole controls."
• Hawaii: an employer's own lookback excludes periods of incarceration (HRS 378-2.5(c)).

Example (illustrative dates): a candidate was convicted in 2016 and released from prison on parole in March 2020, and the report is run in November 2026. Federal law lets the screening company report the conviction. In Texas, which counts from disposition, release or parole, the release was less than seven years ago, so the conviction stays reportable for a job paying under $75,000 until March 2027; California counts the same way and has no salary exception. A 2017 arrest that ended in dismissal is a different case: its date of entry is more than seven years back, so under federal law it is generally not reportable for a job paying under $75,000, and in California it may not be reported once it is known that no conviction resulted.

What is the $75,000 salary exception?

Section 1681c(b) switches off the time limits in paragraphs (1) through (5) for a report used in connection with "the employment of any individual at an annual salary which equals, or which may reasonably be expected to equal $75,000, or more." The figure is written into the statute and is not adjusted for inflation. It refers to the position the report is for, so the screening company needs the expected annual pay of the job, not the candidate's pay history (which many states bar you from asking about anyway).

State thresholds differ, and some states have none:

• No employment salary exception: California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Montana and New Mexico.
• $20,000: Kansas, New Hampshire and Washington, which in practice exempts most full-time jobs.
• $25,000: New York, for the convictions limit.
• $75,000, matching federal law: Maryland and Texas.

Which states add their own lookback limits?

Each row below was checked in the state's own code in November 2026. Most limit what a screening company may report; Hawaii and Massachusetts chapter 151B limit what the employer itself may ask about or consider. The list covers the laws we confirmed and is not a survey of every state.

Some states have seven-year rules that reach only credit reports. Nevada's NRS 598C.150, for example, sits in a chapter whose definition of a consumer report is built around payment history, so we left it out of the table. Because state laws that took effect after September 30, 1996 can be preempted on these subjects, screening companies sometimes apply a state limit differently; get your vendor's position in writing.

Do cities set their own lookback limits?

Yes, and city limits usually bind the employer, not just the screening company. Two examples from the cities' own pages, checked November 2026:

• Philadelphia: amendments to the Fair Criminal Records Screening Standards Ordinance, effective January 6, 2026, limit employers to felony convictions (or release from custody) within seven years and misdemeanor convictions within four years, whichever date is later, and bar consideration of summary offenses (Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations summary). The state context is on Pennsylvania background check laws.
• San Francisco: covered employers may not consider a conviction more than seven years old, unless the job supervises minors or dependent adults (Office of Labor Standards Enforcement). The California page covers San Francisco and unincorporated Los Angeles County together.

Does the seven-year rule stop you from considering older records yourself?

Not under federal law. The FCRA limits the report; it does not stop an employer from asking a lawful question or reading a public court record. But that is where state and city law takes over: timing rules (see ban-the-box interview questions), records you may never use (California's Labor Code 432.7, explained on the California page), and the employer-level limits above in Hawaii, Massachusetts, Philadelphia and San Francisco.

At the federal level, the EEOC rescinded its 2012 guidance on arrest and conviction records on October 28, 2026. Title VII still applies, including its disparate impact provision (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(k)), and weighing the Green factors from the 1975 Eighth Circuit case (the nature and gravity of the offense, the time since it and the nature of the job) remains a sound way to make and document a decision. The age of a record is one of those three factors whatever the reporting rules allow.

What should recruiters and staffing agencies do?

1. Set the package by work location and pay. Give the screening company the state and city where the person will work and the job's expected annual pay, so it applies the right lookback and salary threshold. For a remote role, confirm which state's rule the vendor applies.
2. Ask the vendor three questions in writing: which state limits it applies to convictions, how it counts "disposition, release or parole," and whether it reports dismissed or sealed cases at all.
3. Do not fill the gap yourself. If a report leaves out an old record, do not search for it on a court website where state or city law limits what you may consider.
4. Agencies: decide by the placement. The pay rate and location of the assignment decide which limits apply, and the client contract should say who orders the report and who sends each notice.
5. Write it into the policy. A background check policy that names the lookback for each job family keeps recruiters consistent; each state's background check page has the rest of that state's rules.