Pre-adverse action notice: how long to wait

What the notice must include

Two items under federal law. Some states and cities add more.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you give the person these items before you take adverse action based in whole or in part on a report from a consumer reporting agency (15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(3)(A)):

1. A copy of the report
2. “A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act,” the form the CFPB prescribes (12 CFR pt. 1022, app. K)

The rule covers anything in the report, such as criminal history, credit, driving records or verifications. It does not cover information you collect yourself without a consumer reporting agency. FTC staff say the notice cannot be in the same document as the final notice (FTC staff report, 2011).

Extra steps by place

Most state and local rules apply only when criminal or conviction history is behind the decision. The calculator lists the steps for each rule that applies to the job. These are the common ones.

• Name the convictions or record items behind the decision, and give a copy of the record you used.
• Explain the right to respond, what the response may include and the deadline.
• Attach your written assessment of the record: Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, New York City (the Fair Chance Analysis) and Rockland County (the Article 23-A analysis).
• Hold the job open during the wait: Washington, Seattle, New York City, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, San Diego County, Prince George’s County and Rockland County.
• Send it the way the law requires. Los Angeles County requires regular mail in every case, plus email if you have an address. New York City guidance says to agree on the method in advance, and allows email only if agreed.

Waiting periods by state and city

The table and the calculator read the same rules.

How we count the days

Where a law is silent, we take the reading that gives the later date, and we say so. Waiting longer does not break a waiting-period rule. Deciding early can.

1. Start from receipt. The clock starts when the person gets the notice, not when you send it. A notice handed over in person arrives that day. For tracked mail, we use the delivery date. In Los Angeles County, we use the later of that date and the mail rule below.
2. Apply the mail and email rules. California treats untracked mail as received 5 calendar days after mailing to a California address, 10 days to another state and 20 days outside the US. It treats email as received 2 business days after it is sent (2 CCR § 11017.1(c)(2)(E)). Los Angeles County uses the same mail days (L.A. County Code § 8.300.060). A Chicago Commission on Human Relations rule presumes mail arrives on the 3rd day after mailing (CCHR Rule 270.110). No rule or decision says it applies to this notice. We apply it and count the days as business days. We use the later of that date and actual delivery. A mail date set by one of these rules that falls on a weekend or holiday moves to the next business day.
3. Mark an assumption. If no mail rule applies and you do not know when untracked mail arrived, we assume 5 calendar days and mark the result as an assumption.
4. Skip the day of receipt. Day 1 is the next business day.
5. Count business days. Each state and local rule skips weekends and the holidays of its own governments: federal, state and local. The federal guide skips federal holidays, the job’s state holidays and the holidays of every state and local rule that applies. A holiday that falls on a weekend is skipped on the day it is observed. For example, July 4, 2026 is a Saturday, so we skip Friday, July 3 (5 U.S.C. § 6103; E.O. 11582).
6. Read “days” as business days. San Francisco, Montgomery County and Prince George’s County say “7 days” and do not say which kind. We count 7 business days, which gives the later date.
7. Give the person the whole last day. The earliest decision is the next business day.
8. Add extensions. If the person tells you, within the period, that they dispute the record and are getting evidence, California adds 5 business days and Los Angeles County adds at least 10 more. Both need the dispute in writing. San Diego County adds 5 business days when the person tells you within the 5 business days, in any form. Its Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement (OLSE) also adds them when the person will send evidence of rehabilitation or mitigating circumstances. We add the extra days after the first period ends. Los Angeles County also allows time for a reply mailed or emailed on the last day, so we add that time before the decision date.
9. Use the latest date. We compute every rule that applies and show the latest date. A shorter state or city period never replaces the federal guide.

If your notice gave the person a longer deadline, wait until it passes. A holiday declared on short notice, by the President, a Governor or a local government, adds a day. The calculator cannot know about it in advance.

After the wait: the final notice

Send it after you decide.

Once you decide, tell the person. The notice may be oral, written or electronic. It must include these items (15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a)):

1. Notice of the adverse action
2. The name, address and phone number of the consumer reporting agency that supplied the report, with its toll-free number if it is a nationwide agency
3. A statement that the agency did not make the decision and cannot tell the person why it was made
4. Notice of the right to a free copy of the report from the agency, if the person asks within 60 days
5. Notice of the right to dispute the accuracy or completeness of the report with the agency
6. If you used a credit score: the score and the related details, in writing or electronically

Several states and cities add their own final notice. Illinois and Chicago require the convictions behind the decision and your reasoning. California, Illinois and Chicago require any process you have to ask for reconsideration, and the right to file a complaint with the state or city agency. Los Angeles County requires a copy of your second written assessment. San Francisco’s Article 49 sets a 30-day deadline for final decisions on or after August 10, 2026. The calculator lists the items for each place.

To write both letters, use the adverse action letter generator.

Questions

Sources

• 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(3), pre-adverse action notice
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a), final notice
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(h), (k), (y), FCRA definitions
• 12 CFR pt. 1022, app. K, Summary of Your Rights
• FTC staff letter (June 27, 1997), Weisberg
• FTC staff report (2011), 40 Years of Experience with the FCRA
• 5 U.S.C. § 6103, federal holidays
• Executive Order 11582, Sunday holidays
• Cal. Gov. Code § 12952, California
• Civil Rights Department, Fair Chance Act, California
• LAMC § 189.03, Los Angeles
• L.A. County Code ch. 8.300, Los Angeles County
• San Diego County Code §§ 21.2701–21.2708, San Diego County
• S.F. Ord. No. 128-26, Police Code art. 49, San Francisco
• 775 ILCS 5/2-103.1, Illinois
• Chicago Mun. Code § 6-10-054, Chicago
• RCW 49.94.010, Washington
• SMC ch. 14.17, Seattle
• N.Y.C. Local Law 4 of 2021, New York City
• 47 RCNY ch. 2, NYC Commission on Human Rights rules
• Rockland County Code ch. 290, Rockland County
• N.Y. Correction Law art. 23-A, New York State
• N.J.S.A. 34:6B-11 to -19, New Jersey
• Phila. Bill No. 250373-A, Phila. Code § 9-3504.1, Philadelphia
• Montgomery County Code § 27-73, Montgomery County, MD
• Prince George’s County Code § 2-231.05, Prince George’s County, MD

Last reviewed October 1, 2026 · General information, not legal advice.