Hire with fewer surprises.
File.Business does not run background checks. We connect you to FCRA-compliant partner providers for criminal history, employment verification, education verification, motor vehicle, and credit reports.
Background Checks, plainly.
Background checks are part of careful hiring for many roles, particularly anything involving money, vulnerable people, vehicles, or sensitive information. Done right, they reduce the worst-case hires. Done wrong (without FCRA compliance) they create lawsuits.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that governs how third-party background checks are run. Key requirements: written disclosure to the candidate (a separate document), candidate authorization, pre-adverse-action notice if you decide not to hire based on the report, and final adverse-action notice. State and city laws (ban-the-box, fair-chance laws, salary-history bans) add more requirements.
Our partner network covers compliant background check providers across categories: criminal history (national, state, county), employment verification, education verification, professional license verification, motor vehicle reports, credit checks (where permitted by state law for the role), drug screening, and identity verification. Integrated with our onboarding flow so candidate consent and disclosures are captured properly.
Common situations.
What the network includes.
- Vetted FCRA-compliant providers
- National, state, county criminal records
- Employment and education verification
- Motor vehicle reports
- Credit reports (where permitted)
- Drug screening
- Identity verification
- Candidate-friendly portals
- Integrated with our onboarding flow
- State and local compliance (ban-the-box, fair-chance)
- No File.Business fee
Four steps. We handle the rest.
How we compare.
- Multiple partner providers
- FCRA-compliant
- Onboarding native
- Adverse-action guidance
- State/local compliance
- No File.Business fee
| Checkr | GoodHire | Sterling | File.Business | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per check | $25-$80 | $30-$80 | $30-$150 | partner pricing |
| FCRA compliance | built-in | built-in | built-in | built-in |
| Onboarding integration | API | API | API | native |
| Adverse-action guidance | yes | yes | enterprise | yes |
| No platform fee | direct | direct | direct | yes |
“We were hiring 12 people across three states with different ban-the-box rules. The partner handled all of it, kept us compliant, and the candidates said the experience was the smoothest they had had.”
The File.Business Promise
If we miss a deadline on a service you pay us to manage, we cover the penalty. If you change your mind within 60 days, we refund our fee in full. Your data stays yours, always.
Common questions.
Does File.Business run background checks?
What is FCRA?
What are ban-the-box laws?
Are there state-specific compliance issues?
Can I run a credit check?
How long do checks take?
What if the candidate disputes the results?
Adverse action?
Drug screening?
Pricing?
Find a provider in about 5 minutes.
Tell us a few details. We do the rest. You get a single dashboard for everything.
On the $129/yr Compliance Annual Filings plan, we cover state late fees.
When you autofile your annual report through the $129/yr plan and we miss the deadline, we pay the state's late fee. The guarantee applies to that specific plan and the filings it includes. Other File.Business services are billed at the prices on this page.