You can run a background check on yourself by pulling records from the same places employers and landlords use: your free credit reports through AnnualCreditReport.com, your FBI Identity History Summary for $18, your state’s criminal history bureau and DMV, and the county court where you’ve lived. Federal law gives you the right to see everything consumer reporting agencies have on file about you, and most government records are available with a request and a small fee.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681g – Disclosures to Consumers
People usually do this before a job search or apartment application, when they suspect identity theft, or when they have a common name and worry about mixed files. Catching an error before someone else sees it puts you in control; finding out afterward, if you find out at all, is a much harder problem.
Start With Your Free Credit Reports
Every nationwide consumer reporting agency must give you a full file disclosure once every 12 months at no charge, as long as you request it through the source Congress designated for that purpose.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681j – Charges for Certain Disclosures
That source is AnnualCreditReport.com, the only federally authorized site for free reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You can also call 1-877-322-8228 or mail in a request form. As of 2026, all three bureaus have permanently extended a program that lets you check each report once a week for free through the same site. Equifax is also offering six additional free reports per year through 2026.3Federal Trade Commission. Free Credit Reports
To confirm your identity, you’ll be asked for your full name, date of birth, Social Security number, and current and previous addresses. A government-issued ID or utility bill may be required.4Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act
A credit report covers payment history, outstanding debts, credit accounts, and public records such as bankruptcies. It does not include criminal history, employment verification, or driving records. For those, you need to go elsewhere.
Request Your FBI Identity History Summary
Your federal criminal record is kept by the FBI as an Identity History Summary. It contains arrest information from fingerprints submitted by local, state, and federal agencies, and it may also include federal employment or military service entries.5Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
There are two ways to request it. Electronically, you submit your request online and then visit a participating U.S. Post Office to have your fingerprints captured digitally. By mail, you get fingerprinted at a local law enforcement agency and send the completed fingerprint card to the FBI. The fee is $18 either way. The electronic option is generally faster; a mailed request can take several weeks.5Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
If your summary comes back with entries that aren’t yours, the FBI directs you to the agency that submitted the original fingerprint card. That submitting agency is responsible for the accuracy of the data.6Federal Bureau of Investigation. U.S. Department of Justice Order 556-73
Check Your State Criminal and Driving Records
The FBI’s file is federal. Your state also keeps its own criminal history, and the two do not always match. Each state has a bureau of investigation or equivalent agency that handles requests. Most require fingerprints and charge a fee, commonly a few dollars up to around $35. Methods and processing times vary by state.
Driving records come from your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, usually available online, by mail, or in person for a small fee. The record shows traffic violations, license status, and accident history. If you drive for work or are applying for a job that involves driving, it’s worth pulling.
Search County Court and Public Records
Civil judgments, criminal case files, and property records live at the county level, typically at the county clerk’s office. Many jurisdictions have free online case-lookup tools for basic information. Certified copies or full case documents cost a per-page fee that varies by county.
These searches are the way to confirm that a dismissed case or resolved lawsuit isn’t still showing as open somewhere. The catch is jurisdiction: you have to search each county where you’ve lived. There’s no national court database that will do it for you.
What a Full Background Check Typically Covers
Once you’ve pulled the sources above, you’ll have most of what a paid screening company would compile. A comprehensive employer report can include:
- Criminal history: felony and misdemeanor convictions, pending cases, and sometimes arrests, subject to state and federal reporting limits.
- Credit history: payment behavior, outstanding debts, accounts, and public records like bankruptcies or civil judgments.
- Employment verification: past employers, titles, and dates.
- Education verification: degrees, institutions, and dates of attendance.
- Driving record: violations, license status, and accidents.
- Address history: prior addresses linked to your name and Social Security number.
- Professional licenses: status and any disciplinary actions or sanctions.
Healthcare practitioners and certain other licensed professionals can also use the National Practitioner Data Bank’s Self-Query to see any malpractice payments or adverse licensing actions reported about them.7National Practitioner Data Bank. NPDB Home
How Long Things Can Stay on Your Report
When you review what came back, know the time limits. The Fair Credit Reporting Act caps how long most negative information can appear on a consumer report at seven years. That covers civil suits, civil judgments, arrest records, paid tax liens, collection accounts, and charged-off debts. Criminal convictions have no federal time limit and can be reported indefinitely.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
Bankruptcy is the exception to the seven-year rule. It can stay on your report for up to ten years from the date the court entered the order for relief.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
A nine-year-old collection or a decade-old arrest that never became a conviction should have dropped off. If it’s still there, that’s grounds for a dispute.
How To Dispute Errors You Find
When you file a dispute with a consumer reporting agency, it must reinvestigate free of charge and resolve the matter within 30 days of receiving your notice. That window can be extended by 15 days if you submit new supporting information during the initial period.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681i – Procedure in Case of Disputed Accuracy
If the investigation confirms the error, or the information can’t be verified, the agency must promptly delete or correct it and notify the company that furnished the data.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681i – Procedure in Case of Disputed Accuracy
Put the dispute in writing. Attach documentation: a paid-off account statement, a court dismissal order, proof of a name mix-up. Be specific about which entry is wrong and why. Vague complaints tend to come back rubber-stamped as verified.
If the Agency Won’t Fix It
If a reporting agency ignores your dispute or keeps reporting information it couldn’t verify, the FCRA gives you two tiers of liability to work with.
For willful violations, where the agency knowingly or recklessly disregarded its obligations, you can recover actual damages or statutory damages between $100 and $1,000, whichever is greater. The court can also award punitive damages and must award attorney’s fees and costs if you win.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681n – Civil Liability for Willful Noncompliance
For negligent violations, where the agency broke the rules without deliberate intent, you can recover actual damages plus attorney’s fees and costs.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681o – Civil Liability for Negligent Noncompliance
The statute of limitations is two years from the date you discover the violation, or five years from the date it occurred, whichever comes first. Consumer protection attorneys often take these cases on contingency, because the FCRA makes the losing side pay attorney’s fees.