Most states let employers pull criminal convictions from any point in your adult life, because federal law sets no time limit on reporting convictions. Only about a dozen states cap criminal record reporting at seven years, and in several of those the protection disappears once a job pays above a low salary threshold. So in the majority of the country, 10-year background check states are simply the default: a decade-old conviction, or one from twenty years ago, will show up on a screening report.
Why Federal Law Allows Unlimited Conviction Reporting
The Fair Credit Reporting Act sets the national floor. It tells consumer reporting agencies to drop most negative items after seven years: civil suits, civil judgments, arrests that didn’t lead to a conviction, paid tax liens, and collections. Bankruptcies get up to 10 years.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
Convictions are carved out. The FCRA expressly excludes them from the seven-year cutoff, which means a reporting agency can include a conviction of any age unless a state law says otherwise.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports A “10-year check” is a window employers choose, not one the law imposes. If your state hasn’t written its own rule, older convictions are fair game.
One narrower point matters here. Arrests and dismissed charges do fall under the seven-year limit, and a federal appeals court has held that reporting a dismissal after the seven-year window on the underlying charge has passed is prohibited, because the dismissal reveals the outdated charge. Pending charges, though, can appear regardless of age; the seven-year clock only starts once a case has a final disposition.
States That Cap Conviction Reporting at Seven Years
Roughly a dozen states have gone beyond the FCRA and told reporting agencies not to include convictions older than seven years: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Texas, and Washington. Whether that cap actually helps you depends on whether the state pairs it with a salary exception.
Strong Protection at Any Salary
California blocks reporting agencies from including convictions older than seven years no matter what the position pays.2California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1785.13 Washington does the same, with no salary override.3Washington State Legislature. RCW 19.182.040 – Disclosure of Information Montana also enforces a flat seven-year limit on criminal records in consumer reports.
Caps Undermined by Low Salary Exceptions
Kansas, Maryland, and New Hampshire each set their salary exception at $20,000 per year.4Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Statutes 50-704 – Obsolete Information Any job paying more than that lets the reporting agency include older convictions. Since $20,000 is below full-time federal minimum wage, the seven-year rule protects almost no one in practice.
New York’s threshold is $25,000. Apply for a position paying above that amount and the seven-year cap on conviction reporting stops applying to you.5New York State Senate. New York General Business Law 380-J – Prohibited Information
Caps That Match the Federal $75,000 Line
Colorado and Texas enforce a seven-year limit for positions paying under $75,000 per year, and drop the limit at or above that figure.6Justia. Colorado Code 12-14.3-105.3 – Reporting of Information Prohibited For most workers the cap holds; for executive and specialized roles above the threshold, full criminal history can be reported.
States With No Cap on Conviction Reporting
The majority of states have never passed their own restriction, so the federal rule governs by default and convictions can be reported indefinitely. Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all follow this approach. A 10-year lookback is routine, and employers can request an applicant’s entire adult criminal history if they want it.
Nevada is the state that catches people out. It used to have a seven-year limit on conviction reporting, but removed it in 2015. Older guides still list Nevada as a seven-year state; they’re wrong. Convictions there can now be reported without a time limit.
How the $75,000 Salary Exception Works Federally
Even for states that follow only federal law, the FCRA runs a two-tier system for non-conviction items. Below $75,000 a year, arrests, civil suits, and other adverse records must drop off at seven years. At $75,000 or above, none of the FCRA’s time limits apply, and all adverse information can be reported no matter how old.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
Convictions, remember, already have no federal time limit at any salary. The exception controls everything else: old dropped arrests, civil judgments, collections. California and Washington override this federal exception and hold the seven-year line across all salary levels.
Industries Where Longer Lookbacks Are Mandatory
Some industries face federal rules that override state protections. Banking is the clearest case. Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act bars anyone convicted of a crime involving dishonesty, breach of trust, or money laundering from working at an insured bank without written FDIC approval.7FDIC. Section 19 – Penalty for Unauthorized Participation by Convicted Individual
For certain serious federal financial crimes, the FDIC cannot grant an exception during the first 10 years after the conviction becomes final. The Fair Hiring in Banking Act did loosen things: offenses more than seven years old (or five years after release) are generally exempt from the ban, and designated lesser offenses like shoplifting or trespass are exempt after just one year.7FDIC. Section 19 – Penalty for Unauthorized Participation by Convicted Individual The 10-year hard ban still applies to the most serious financial crimes regardless of where you live.
Healthcare positions (where abuse registries may have no time limit), childcare, and jobs requiring a security clearance also carry extended lookback requirements that operate independently of FCRA limits.
When a Background Report Includes Something It Shouldn’t
Reports get things wrong. Records from someone with a similar name mix in, expunged convictions still appear, dispositions come through incorrectly, and reporting agencies sometimes ignore state seven-year limits. If a report violates a state cap or is simply inaccurate, you can dispute it.
Request your complete file from the reporting agency, then notify the agency in writing about the error. The agency has 30 days to investigate and must notify the original data source within five business days.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681i – Procedure in Case of Disputed Accuracy If you supply additional information mid-investigation, the window can extend by up to 15 days. If the item cannot be verified, it has to come out.
Willful violations carry real teeth. You can recover statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per violation without proving specific harm, plus punitive damages and attorney’s fees.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681n – Civil Liability for Willful Noncompliance A reporting agency that ignores a state seven-year rule is not just being sloppy; it’s exposed.
Adverse Action Notice Rights
If an employer decides not to hire you based on a background report, they can’t just send a rejection. Federal law requires two steps. Before the decision, the employer has to give you a copy of the report and a written summary of your FCRA rights.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports After the decision, they have to send a second notice identifying the reporting agency, stating that the agency didn’t make the call, and telling you that you can dispute inaccurate information and request a free copy of the report within 60 days. Many employers skip these steps. If you were rejected and never saw the report, that’s worth investigating.
Clean Slate Laws
Some states are removing the question of what shows up on a report by sealing records automatically. As of 2026, 14 states have enacted Clean Slate legislation that seals qualifying records without a petition. A sealed record shouldn’t appear on any background check, in a seven-year state or an unlimited-lookback state alike. Washington D.C.’s automatic expungement program took effect in January 2026, and Virginia’s Clean Slate law is set to begin sealing certain non-violent records in July. If a sealed record does surface on a report, that’s a violation you can dispute and potentially pursue damages for.