What Will Show Up on a Background Check?
Purchasing items from online sellers can be tricky, so you want to make sure they’re legit. The same can be said for people looking for individuals looking for roommates. Now, you wouldn’t just live with anyone, would you? Even that Tinder date profile is looking a little too edgy for you. So what can you do? Your best course of action is to look into a background check. You know what they say, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
So, What Shows Up On A Background Check?
The short answer is, it all depends on the type of background check that it is. The following are the most common things that will come up on a background check:
Criminal Records
This is one of the most important aspects of a background check when it comes to employment, but what will show up varies from state to state. For example, in California, any convictions that are older than seven years will not show up on your background check. What they will be able to see are:
- Arrests
- Court records
- Convictions of misdemeanors and felonies
- Sex Offenses
- Warrants
- Incarceration records
According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, you are not allowed to be denied a job position based purely on your criminal record. What your employer should consider is the nature of the offense, when it happened as well as how it might affect the job position you are seeking.
Employment Verification
If you have told a few white lies on your CV, you might want to stop right now. Background checks allow employers to ensure all your employment history is accurate including where you have worked in the past, which position you held as well as the salary you might have had.
Credit Reports
Your employer will only be able to have access to your credit report if they are given explicit permission in writing from you. Although they will not be able to see your credit card score, they will be able to discover: loan information, accounts placed for collection as well as bankruptcy. Any bankruptcy older than ten years will not be visible and neither will accounts placed for collection after seven years.
Sex Offender Registry
US law states that all sex offenders have to be listed on a sex offender registry, no matter which state you live in, including all state, tribal and territory registries. On top of all that, this information will show up on a background check.
SSN Authentication
Some individuals will try and work within the US even though they are not allowed to. The one thing that separates these people from US citizens is a social security number. A background check will validate this number as well as show any name and address history that is associated with that number.
Driving Records
Every US state has its own driving records, but some allow for employers, volunteer organizations as well as schools to check back as far as ten years as to your driving records. Some states will only allow records from the past three years.
Personal Details
Within your background screening, there will be personal information included such as your address, former addresses, name, associated names (including your maiden name), and marital status.
Education Information
Again, lying on your resume is not an option when it comes to your education information. Your background check will reveal whether or not you went to college and if you graduated.
Social Media Profiles
If you have any profiles on social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other networking sites like LinkedIn, you should know that your background screening will come up with this information. It is best if you keep any explicit photographs and inappropriate humor to yourself or even a group chat on WhatsApp.
What’s Not Allowed on a Background Check?
Although these background checks are extremely useful to some people including employers, there are restrictions as to when they are and are not allowed to be used.
You are able to get a background check if you want to:
- Search for former classmates
- Look for friends or family
- Check out new neighbors
- Investigate the parents of your child’s friends
- Inspect unknown phone numbers
- Find out what is in your background check
- Screen your new boyfriend or girlfriend
You will NOT be able to use an online background check for any of the following reasons:
- Financial aid qualifications
- Screening tenants
- Credit reports
- Find out employees political affiliations
- Screening employees
- Screening teachers, doctors, coaches etc.
Best Background Check Service
1. BeenVerified
Although you can find a lot of information online, there are always questions that you might have, especially if you’re looking to check out potential dates or even roommates. This company searches public records for any information regarding the individual in question and gathers it all into one report for you, which is why they are one of the best background check services around.
The worst thing about searching public records is that they are quite difficult to find. In fact, the information you’re looking for might be scattered across different corporate or government entities. BeenVerified will send court runners out to retrieve any analog records as not all of them are digitized. These court runners are familiar with how the system works and know where and what to look for.
BeenVerified also offers an app that is available for both Android and iOS users. This application will allow you to look for people, phone numbers, email addresses as well as property records. The interface is simple to navigate and is much easier than looking at a browser window that might not have been adapted for mobile devices. Additionally, the BeenVerified app works on the Apple Watch which means that you can perform reverse phone number checks.
You can use BeenVerified for:
- Finding out what a background check might reveal about you
- Find out addresses
- Vet potential dates
- Look up potential roommates
- Check out the legitimacy of sellers online
- Investigate someone who is trying to buy from you online
You will not be able to screen tenants, evaluate someone’s eligibility for a scholarship, insurance, credit, employment or promotion.
You have two subscriptions on offer when it comes to BeenVerified, one costing a monthly fee of $22.86 while the other will set you back $14.62/mo which will ensure you get notified if any elements of the background check change.
Find out more about BeenVerified here.
2. People Looker
People Looker offers a fast and smart service, letting you know if any new information arises on your search even after you have completed it. They keep it simple, all you have to do is type in the person’s name into the search bar and they will dig through billions of records, compiling a report with any relevant information. A background check with People Looker will come up with results within minutes, often taking under two minutes to complete.
People Looker offer a variety of searches including people search, background check, reverse mobile phone lookup, reverse email, reverse property search and criminal records.
There is a plethora of information to find out such as your subjects name, phone number, criminal records, sex offender information, public photos, social media profiles, known relatives, court judgments, bankruptcy issues, licenses and marriage, and divorce records.
The great thing about People Looker is that it is really easy to use with a simple interface. They also offer an app for iOS and Android devices that you can download from the official App Store and Google Play. All you have to do is log in with your details and you are set to go. This background check service is really focused on mobile phones as it has features available that you cannot get in the desktop version including the reverse email and reverse phone number search.
When it comes to customer service People Looker have you covered. You can contact them via Facebook or Twitter or live seven days a week via a toll-free number. You can call them from 8am through 10pm EST during the week or from 10am to 10pm over the weekend.
Find out more about People Looker here.
3. TruthFinder
Find the most difficult information about your chosen individual with TruthFinder. While a simple internet search will tell you a few things that you may or may not have known, TruthFinder will uncover everything you need to know from the deep web. This includes information that you will not find on regular search engines. This is why TruthFinder claims to give you the most comprehensive picture possible regarding your subject.
Using public records including local databases, federal, state and county documents you can also have access to civil court data as well as licensing and professional databases as well as marketing data. On top of all that TruthFinder uses special software to scour the web to find accurate and hard-to-locate information, going into much greater detail than other internet searches.
If you do opt for the dark web search it might take a little longer than other background checks simply due to the intensity of the search. It can work both ways though. If you suspect that any of your personal data is being traded or sold on this platform you can run a search on yourself. Finding information that isn’t otherwise publicly available might be a good indicator that you have been a victim of fraud or identity theft.
When it comes to price you can sign up to the TruthFinder monthly service which costs $27.78 or even sign up to their Power Users plan which will get you access to unlimited reports for two months for just $46.04 paying with either your debit card, Amazon pay or PayPal.
Find out more about Truthfinder here.
Conclusion
Background checks are becoming a necessity when it comes to being informed about certain individuals. This is particularly true if you are looking to hire someone new to work within your company as it is vital to choose the right fit for the job.
However, about half of job applicants lie or choose not to disclose certain information about their previous work history or even their educational achievements. Although there are many sites that claim to run these checks, countless times those same companies come up with information that can be found on the internet with a simple search.
It is said that workplace crimes account for 18% of all violent crimes, which is not something you want to be dealing with. Additionally on average a bad hire can equal 30% of annual earnings for one company. Are you willing to take the risk?
Finding the right fit for a background check is essential. You need the right background check that will give you accurate information in a timely manner if you are working with a deadline. With 10% of all background checks coming up with at least one red flag, don’t you think you owe it to yourself to make sure you know who you’re dealing with?
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