Oct 6, 2021 @ 8:46 AM EDT | United States
In observance of Indigenous Peoples’ / Columbus Day on Monday, October 11, 2021, some U.S. courthouses, schools in session, and businesses may close. As a result, criminal searches, drug and health testing and verifications with external dependencies may be delayed by 24 to 48 hours. We also recommend that candidates and employees call their chosen collection site to verify hours of operation as some providers have modified hours. For reference, here‘s a list of 2021 holidays. Thank you for your continued trust in Sterling.
Sep 23, 2021 @ 1:24 PM EDT | United States
The agency that processes State of Georgia (GA) criminal search requests is operating with limited staff from Monday, September 20 to Friday, September 24, 2021. The agency is working as quickly as possible to process requests, but turnaround time delays are expected through Friday, October 1, 2021. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available. Thank you for your patience.
Sep 21, 2021 @ 3:42 PM EDT | United States
Starting Wednesday, September 29, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. ET through the afternoon on Monday, October 4, 2021, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is conducting system maintenance on its Consent Based Social Security Number Verification (CBSV) service. Please note services will be unavailable during the maintenance window, but we will process your requests as soon as we can. Thank you in advance for your patience.
Sep 17, 2021 @ 12:43 PM EDT | United States
Motor vehicle record (MVR) searches for North Carolina are unavailable as of Thursday, September 16, 2021. We are monitoring the situation to reinstate MVR fulfillment as quickly as possible. As a result, please expect delays. Thank you for your patience.
Sep 15, 2021 @ 10:57 AM EDT | Global, United States
As you may know, Sterling is currently experiencing delays in fulfilling some county court searches in the state of California, specifically in Los Angeles County. These delays are due to recent legal action that has made it increasingly difficult to obtain identifiers needed to fulfill searches. These issues are impacting not only Sterling, but all court researchers and all background screening companies.
A ruling in a case titled All of Us or None vs. Hamrick is being used by county court clerks to justify withholding of full date of birth information and driver’s license numbers, most notably in Los Angeles county. Full date of birth information (month, day and year of birth) is a key identifier that’s used to match candidates to court records. Without full date of birth, it is increasingly difficult to obtain sufficient information to effectively match subjects to records.
Sterling will continue to offer services in all California counties by taking additional steps to find sufficient identifiers as required by law to match a candidate to a record. However, please be advised that criminal checks in some California counties will likely take longer than usual due to the additional steps needed to look for additional identifiers. While the issue today is limited to Los Angeles County, other counties may follow suit and we expect this situation to continue as identifiers become scarcer. In all cases, if sufficient identifiers are not available to meet our legal requirements and reporting standards, records will be cleared. We are exploring all possible resources to continue to fulfill your search requests.
Sterling is working with our trade associations to restore access to identifiers. Unfortunately, there is no quick path to resolution, and we anticipate this issue will continue in the foreseeable future.
We will continue to keep you up to date, and we understand that you may have questions and concerns, so please feel free to contact your Sterling Client Success representative.
Sterling is not a law firm, and this communication does not constitute legal advice. Clients should consult with their legal counsel for advice on all legal matters.
Aug 31, 2021 @ 4:54 PM EDT | United States
From Friday, August 27 to Monday, August 30, 2021, several state repositories were unavailable in the Department of Justice (DOJ) National Sex Offender public website. As of Tuesday, August 31, 2021, the DOJ has resolved the issue. Our automation has restarted and is now processing all impacted orders. Searches that do not require additional investigation – above 90% – should be closed before start of business on Wednesday, September 1, 2021, but searches that require additional investigation could take approximately 48 to 72 hours longer. Thank you for your patience.
