Overview
Civil records cover disputes between people and organizations rather than crimes. Lawsuits, judgments, liens, evictions, and small claims all live here, in a court system entirely separate from the criminal one.
This component causes more confusion than any other, for one reason. A civil record and a criminal record look similar on a report, and they mean completely different things.
Throughout this page, “screening company” refers to the outside firm an employer hires to run the check. In the law it is called a consumer reporting agency, or CRA.
Civil Is Not Criminal
A civil case is not a crime, and losing one is not a conviction. Nobody is prosecuted, nobody is guilty, and nobody goes to jail. The state is not a party. A civil case is one party asking a court to order another party to do something or pay something, and the loser is found liable, not guilty.
The differences that matter:
| Who Brings It | Criminal cases are brought by the government. Civil cases are brought by a person, a business, or an agency acting as a private party. |
| Standard of Proof | Criminal requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Civil usually requires only that something is more likely true than not. |
| The Outcome | Criminal produces a conviction and possible incarceration. Civil produces a judgment, usually money or an order to act. |
| Being Sued | Anyone can be sued by anyone, for anything, at any time. A filing reflects that someone made a claim, not that the claim had merit. |
That last row is the one employers most often get wrong. A civil filing is an accusation that a court has not yet evaluated. Many are dismissed, settled without any admission, or decided for the person named as defendant.
What Civil Records Include
- Civil judgments, meaning a court decision that one party owes another
- Lawsuits, whether resolved, dismissed, or still pending
- Liens, including tax liens and mechanic’s liens
- Evictions, which are a landlord and tenant proceeding
- Small claims matters below a state dollar threshold
- Restraining and protective orders, which are civil even where the underlying conduct was criminal
- Contract, employment, and personal injury disputes
Bankruptcies are federal court records and are treated separately, covered on our credit reports page.
Where Civil Cases Live
Civil cases are split across courts by the amount in dispute, and the split is set by each state. Most states run a lower civil court for smaller amounts and an upper civil court above a threshold, with the dividing line varying widely.
This creates a coverage problem. A search of upper civil court in one state and a search of upper civil court in another are not searching comparable things, because the thresholds differ. A search that covers only upper civil misses everything below the line, which is where evictions and small claims almost always sit.
Federal district courts handle a separate category, including disputes between parties in different states above a dollar threshold, and cases arising under federal law. A federal civil case will not appear in a county search, exactly as with criminal records.
What Can Be Reported and For How Long
Federal law limits how old these items may be when a screening company reports them.
| Civil Suits and Judgments | 7 years from the date of entry, or until the governing statute of limitations expires, whichever period is longer. |
| Paid Tax Liens | 7 years from the date of payment. |
| Other Adverse Items | 7 years. |
These limits lift entirely for positions paying, or reasonably expected to pay, $75,000 a year or more (15 U.S.C. 1681c(b)).
Note the “whichever is longer” clause on judgments. Where the applicable limitations period runs beyond 7 years, federal law permits the longer window rather than the shorter one. Several states impose their own caps that are stricter than the federal baseline, so the state where the work is performed has to be checked.
Why a Credit Report and a Civil Search Disagree
Since 2017 the national credit bureaus have voluntarily removed most civil judgments and tax liens from credit files, because the records frequently could not be matched to a person with enough confidence.
That was a policy decision by the bureaus, not a change in the law. The court records still exist and are still public. A screening company that searches court records directly can find a judgment that no longer appears anywhere in a credit file.
So an applicant who pulled their own credit report, saw nothing, and assumed the matter was gone can be genuinely surprised. Both documents are accurate. They are drawing from different sources.
The Accuracy Rules That Apply Here
Public record information carries specific obligations, because these records are known to be hard to match to the right person.
Where a screening company reports public record information likely to have an adverse effect on a candidate, it must either notify the candidate that the information is being reported and to whom, or maintain strict procedures to ensure the information is complete and up to date (15 U.S.C. 1681k).
A tighter rule applies to investigative consumer reports. A screening company may not furnish one containing public record information about a civil judicial action, tax lien, or outstanding judgment unless it has verified the accuracy of that information within the 30 day period ending on the date the report is furnished (15 U.S.C. 1681d).
Both rules exist for the same reason. Civil indexes are name based, common names generate false matches, and a satisfied judgment is often never updated in the index that reported it.
When a Civil Record Is Actually Job Related
Most civil records tell an employer nothing useful about a candidate, and 1 category carries real legal risk if acted on.
Cases the candidate filed as plaintiff deserve particular care. Rejecting someone because they previously sued an employer for discrimination, filed a workers compensation claim, or brought a wage claim can itself be unlawful retaliation. The underlying activity is legally protected, and using a public record of it as a hiring criterion converts a lawful lawsuit into a reason not to hire.
Where civil records can be genuinely relevant:
- A fiduciary role, where a judgment for fraud or breach of fiduciary duty relates directly to the duties
- A role requiring bonding, where the bonding company sets the standard
- A professional licensing requirement that specifies particular civil findings
- A restraining order relevant to workplace safety in a role with vulnerable people
Outside cases like those, the honest question is what the record predicts about job performance. Usually the answer is nothing.
The Rules Employers Must Follow
Three rules apply. Each has its own page on this site, so this is the summary.
Get Written Permission First
A civil records search obtained through a screening company is a consumer report. The employer must give a standalone written disclosure and obtain written authorization before requesting it. See our FCRA overview.
Do Not Penalize Protected Activity
Discrimination charges, workers compensation claims, and wage complaints are protected. Screening candidates out because a public record shows they exercised those rights is a retaliation claim waiting to be filed.
Follow the Steps Before Rejecting Someone
If a civil record is going to cost the candidate the job, the employer must send a preliminary notice with a copy of the report, allow time to respond or correct an error, and only then issue the final decision. Given how often civil records are matched to the wrong person, this step does real work here. See the adverse action process.
For Applicants
- Being sued is not a finding against you. A filing means someone made a claim. If it was dismissed or decided in your favor, the disposition is the part that matters and it is worth supplying.
- Check the disposition, not just the case. Court indexes frequently fail to record that a judgment was satisfied or vacated. An old paid judgment showing as outstanding is a correctable error.
- Common names produce false matches. Civil indexes often hold little more than a name. If a case is not yours, say so and ask what identifiers the record contained.
- Your credit report is not the whole picture. Since 2017 most judgments and liens have been absent from credit files while remaining in court records.
- A case you filed should not be held against you. If you were the plaintiff in a discrimination, wage, or workers compensation matter, that activity is legally protected.
- If the report is wrong, dispute it. Our guide to disputing a background check covers the process.
Best Practices
- Run civil searches only where the role gives you a specific reason, and write that reason down
- Decide in advance which civil findings would matter and which are noise
- Never treat a filing as equivalent to a finding, or a civil judgment as a conviction
- Do not consider cases the candidate brought as plaintiff, particularly employment claims
- Confirm the disposition before acting, since satisfied judgments are routinely still listed as open
- Check whether your search covers lower civil court, since evictions and small claims sit below the upper court threshold
- Verify identity carefully, because civil indexes match on name far more often than criminal ones do
- Apply the same standard to every candidate for the same role