Most background checks go back seven years, which is the federal reporting window under the Fair Credit Reporting Act for most adverse items. Convictions are the exception: federal law sets no time limit on them at all (15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)(5) exempts records of criminal convictions from the seven-year rule), and a handful of states impose limits shorter than seven years. So the honest answer is: seven years as the default for most items, no federal limit for convictions, and state law as the deciding factor.
The federal baseline
Under the FCRA, the standard reporting window is seven years for most adverse items, including:
- Arrests and other non-conviction records
- Civil judgments and suits
- Paid tax liens
- Accounts placed for collection
Bankruptcies are reportable for ten years. Because federal law places no limit on convictions, state law is what decides how far back those can reach in practice.
Where convictions differ
Convictions have no federal time limit, so they can be reported indefinitely unless a state restricts them. Several states do restrict them, and some limit non-conviction items more tightly than the federal floor. That means two candidates with identical histories can receive materially different reports depending on where they live.
States with shorter limits
Several states restrict reporting more tightly than the federal floor, including:
- California — non-conviction records generally limited to seven years; convictions reported under state rules that are stricter than the federal floor.
- Massachusetts — a ten-year limit on most criminal court information, shorter for non-convictions.
- Montana — a seven-year limit on most adverse items.
- Washington — limits on reporting non-conviction and older adverse data.
- New York — restrictions on non-conviction reporting.
Additional states restrict credit checks for most roles, which matters more than the lookback window for finance-adjacent roles.
What "seven years" measures from
It measures from the date of the disposition or the date of entry, depending on the item and the state — not from the date of the offence. An old offence that took years to resolve can therefore fall inside the window even if the conduct was long ago.
What this means in practice
- The employer does not get an unlimited history of most items (convictions are the exception).
- What appears depends on where you have lived and where the employer operates.
- A record outside the window should not appear — and if it does, it is a dispute.
- Jobs that legally require fingerprint-based checks (some healthcare, finance, and government roles) can see broader history, because those run under different statutory authority.
If a stale record shows up
You are entitled to a copy of the report before an adverse decision. Dispute anything outside the applicable window in writing with the screening company, citing the state and the item's date. They must reinvestigate.
For employers
Check the lookback limits for every state where you hire before you set a screening policy. A single national policy will either over-collect in strict states or under-collect in permissive ones, and both create legal exposure.
Where this fits in a hiring process
If you are the one running these checks at volume, the hard part is applying the same standard to every candidate rather than the search itself — AI candidate evaluation covers how to structure that step.