> You made me curious and while googling I came across some information that seems to indicate that companies in California cannot go back further than seven ye

> You made me curious and while googling I came across some information that seems to indicate that companies in California cannot go back further than seven years on a background check and cannot ask about convictions more than seven years ago. That's the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which is federal: Except as authorized under subsection (b) of this section, no consumer reporting agency may make any consumer report containing any of the following items of information: [...] Civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest that from date of entry, antedate the report by more than seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is the longer period. There is an exemption for salaries above $75,000 and underwriting/credit above $150,000, but most companies err on the safe side and never provide that information anyway.