Please Note: The material on this website is provided for informational purposes only. It is not a consumer reporting agency as defined by The Fair Credit Reporting Act and should not be used to determine an individual's eligibility for personal credit or employment, or to assess risk associated with any business transactions such as tenant screening.

Any person or organization can become victim to deception if they are dealing with individuals that they do not know well. In order to avoid such a situation, you should run a background check on a person who you plan to work with or to have a relationship with. Find out more about this method for determining the trustworthiness of people.

Legal Aspects

Is it legal to perform a background check on a person? It is perfectly legal for any person to access records which are made available to the general public. These include criminal records and vital records. For other types of records such as driving records and credit records, the person’s consent may be required for the check to be performed. You can readily obtain this consent no matter whether you are acting as a potential employer, landlord, business partner, investor or a private person. If it is illegal for you to access any personal records, they will simply not be made available to you.

Service Use

The easiest way to perform a background check on someone is to use a dedicated online service. You just need to know the full name of the person and which state and city records you want to search. Results are generated instantly.

There are also services which use human intelligence as well as software to perform the checks. These can usually provide more comprehensive information. The risk of generation of incorrect information is also lower.

In some states, legal entities and private persons that want to run checks on potential employees and tenants are required to use special services approved by the respective state. You have to check whether this is the case in your state if you are an employer or a landlord.

It is up to you to decide how much information you want to get on the person. More thorough checks typically require more time and effort and possibly more money. Confirming their education and employment background, for instance, may require more time and effort as schools and employers have to be contacted directly.

Information Accuracy

You need to ensure that the background check service which you use will generate accurate information. If you receive information whose accuracy is doubtful, you should use another method to double check it. You have to be absolutely certain that you will make a decision based on real facts.

The background check can be a highly useful tool for protecting yourself, your loved ones and your organization. Do not hesitate to use it when it is needed.