Background Checks FAQ

There are times when it may be necessary to run a background check on a minor. Most commonly, background checks are run by companies that hire minors – considered to be anyone under the age of 18 in the U.S. – just as they would do when recruiting an adult. Of course, it’s perfectly legal to run a background check on an adult, but is it legal to run one on a minor?

The answer is yes, but on the condition that there is written consent given from the minor’s parent or guardian. That’s because minors aren’t able to enter legally-binding agreements themselves, meaning they won’t be able to give consent. Of course, this affects the results you will obtain. For example, since a minor isn’t able to enter a legally-binding contract then you’re unlikely to find out anything about a minor’s credit score. Criminal records are a large part of background checks as well, but juvenile court records aren’t released to the public. However, it is possible to find out about a minor’s education history and past employment, allowing companies to obtain references.

It’s a good idea to check whether you need a person’s permission before running a background check. You don’t want to get in legal trouble for it, after all. But the answer isn’t always clear and, ultimately, depends on the reasons for running the check in the first place.

If you just want to run a personal background check on someone, like a potential partner before a date or a new neighbor who just moved in next door, permission isn’t needed. In these instances, you can freely run a background check since the majority of results come from public records, which are available to anyone. Your background check service is tasked with pooling those records to create a comprehensive report.

However, due to FCRA regulations you can’t run a background check on someone without their permission if it’s to be used to make an important decision. Businesses hiring new employees and landlords looking for new tenants are the most common examples of when this would be the case. There are FCRA permission forms that must be signed before a background check can be run. This is particularly important since many specialist background check services go into much further detail than your everyday check. For example, they look at credit reports, tax records, and immigration status – all of which require permission before being checked.

When it comes to running background checks on a minor – something that may happen for companies that hire employees under 18 – permission is needed from the minor’s parent or guardian. This is because minors aren’t able to enter legally binding contracts, although the results you’ll get for a background check on a minor are limited anyway.

Yes indeed, most background check services have a section dedicated to the target’s credit score and credit report. Since this is highly sensitive information, the details contained may be reserved for premium searches, meaning that basic checks may not display it. It is also true that companies don’t trust the results of online background check services when it comes to your financial status, so they will conduct an official inquiry whenever necessary.

Screening a candidate’s credit status has become a routine process for jobs that involve handling money (for example cashiers, accountants, or bank employees) or require having access to someone else’s property (such as a police officer, healthcare provider, or firefighter). This is because of the assumption that if you are bad with your own finances, then dealing with other people’s valuables might be too tempting and lead to theft. It’s important to know that a credit check isn’t an invasion of privacy, although the employer must always first ask for the candidate’s permission before a search is conducted. As for jobs outside of the above-mentioned suggestions, the jurisdiction of several states – such as California, Colorado, Washington and New York City – can limit the corporate rights to perform credit reports.

Yet there are some myths that should be dismissed about the process. A poor credit report might not immediately disqualify you. Some scores are more alarming than others, and if you are able to give a truthful and plausible explanation for the low score, the company performing the check might ignore it in light of your more appealing credentials. Finally, employers won’t read too deeply into the report since all they wish to know is whether your finances and in order or not. When you are asked to give permission for a credit check, the most reasonable course of action is to conduct the search yourself. Access a background check service yourself to reveal how much information is available about you. This will of course allow you to better prepare for an upcoming interview.

Absolutely! Most background check services – both screening agencies and online search engines – dedicate a category to licenses and permits. In this section not only do you get a definitive answer as to whether or not the subject has a driving license but you can also see the plate number of any vehicle they own. Data like this is usually well-documented by authorities and is often available online, meaning that background check services have no problem accessing it and is therefore very rarely missing from the reports.

As for any possible misdemeanors you’ve committed while behind the wheel, these they are actually included among the arrest records. Speeding tickets, penalties for inappropriate parking, and any accidents involving you and your vehicle that are available to the public will all no doubt pop up in a background report.

Can I hide this from my employer?

If you are wondering whether it’s possible to hide your driving records from future employers during a job screening, then we have bad news for you. Even though it’s an option to request a public record search site to remove your profile, doing so won’t make the evidence disappear. As long as the data is available in public archives, any search engine will be able to display it without much difficulty.

Lying to your employer or trying to weasel out of mentioning any black marks in your driving records is generally a bad idea. Companies aren’t allowed to run a background check without the applicant’s consent, but if they do – and denying the request might well sabotage your chances at getting the position – then the jig is up. To make matters worse, companies usually enlist experienced agencies to do the screening, who can dig up even more data than a background check site might. In brief, it is better to be transparent and accept that employers can have all-seeing eyes when it comes to deciding whether to hire you.

A background check doesn’t have to include a drug test, but there are certainly times when it will be a requirement. Whether you have to take one or not depends on the job and the company’s own drug screening policy. For example, some fields – like government, healthcare, and transportation – require regular tests, often by law. And although you’ll find that tests are rarer in other industries such as retail or administration, they’re still quite prevalent and it’s up to the company to make its own policy.

There are a few reasons why companies do drug tests as part of their background checks, but mainly it’s either to ensure a safe workplace, deter employees from using drugs, increase productivity, or to comply with local laws. It makes sense that pilots, construction workers, or any other job in which an accident could prove fatal, will be tested regularly. But there are some industries where drug tests are still required even if the stakes aren’t so high, like supermarkets and call centers, where it’s still common practice.

However, before any tests can be done, any prospective or current employers will have to get consent for drug screening. This is a legal requirement, and people do have the chance to refuse to undergo a drug test, although in some states employees can be fired for refusing.

So what happens if your drug test returns a positive result? Are you still likely to be hired? Often, if you fail your drug test it will cost you your job. Sometimes there are false positives (like testing positive for opiates by eating too many poppy seeds) and in this case, to prevent you from being fired, it’s essential to request another test.

Generally, tax records won’t show up on any background check report but there are some exceptions. Since the IRS doesn’t share information with third parties, it’s impossible for background check services to find out about your tax returns – so don’t worry if you returned them late. Of course, if it has gotten to the point where taxes haven’t been paid and your credit score has been impacted that’s another story. Since background checks often include credit reports, this would become visible to anyone running a check on you, like a landlord or employer.

Many background checks services look to see if you have any tax liens on a property, as this information is publicly available. However, if you’ve paid off the lien at least seven years ago then it shouldn’t show up on your credit report. It’s important to note that if you’re applying for a job then a prospective employer will need written consent to check your credit. Although you could say no, it may affect your chances of getting the job.

If you want to know exactly what kind of financial information may show up, you can check your own results first by using a credit score checking service, contacting the credit bureaus directly, or running a background check on yourself. This is especially important as you may discover wrong information that needs correcting, like an old tax lien that has been paid off but still appears on your report. In that case, you’ll need to contact the IRS and provide proof. Sometimes you may even find an unusually low credit score, which can be a sign of identity theft – but don’t worry, there are plenty of identity theft protection services out there to help you out.

Yes, a background check reveals immigration status, although indirectly. Citizenship, genealogy, and personal history are featured prominently within the reports, though it’s worth mentioning that the results won’t explicitly mention that the subject is an immigrant.

There is no dedicated category that states a definite ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer, so if you are curious about this, then you will need to piece it together from less obvious details. For example, the place of birth is often a big giveaway, and let’s not forget that the answer depends heavily on the type of report that you’ve requested.

Background check services gather information from various public sources. However, if the data is only available offline, the corresponding fields will be left blank in the report. You also won’t find any indication about the subject’s immigration status if you’ve asked for a criminal record check unless the person has been charged with regards to immigration.

Legal implications of doing a background check on immigration status

Bear in mind that you aren’t allowed to look up a person’s immigration status if it involves any sort of decision-making. It’s okay to do so if you are a cautious neighbor or a curious roommate, but conducting a background search when considering them for a particular opportunity – the most obvious being when hiring for a job – and basing a decision on the resulting information could land you in trouble.

The situation is especially sensitive for employers screening candidates for a position. Companies are legally obliged to ask the person’s permission before conducting a background check, and even then, the involvement of a professional agency is required as public record search engines don’t qualify as trustworthy sources in this matter.

On the other hand, employers are required to check the immigration status of their future employees because hiring illegal immigrants is against the law and has serious legal implications.

Can an illegal immigrant pass a background check?

Yes, an illegal immigrant can pass a background check. In fact, it’s one of the requirements for going through a legalization process. Fortunately for immigrants, revealing illegal entry to the country is incredibly difficult, considering background checks are limited to data available in American government databases.

In other words, there’s no information about an immigrant when they enter the country for the first time – illegally or otherwise. Additionally, background checks aren’t able to tell whether the immigrant has any criminal records in their home country.

However, illegal immigrants can still be deported unless they earn legalization. Having said that, deportation status rarely shows up in a background check when someone attempts to come back to the country after being forced to leave.

There are two main ways of running a background check: either do it yourself or enlist a dedicated background check service to do the hard work for you.

You can find out a large amount of background information yourself including names, email addresses, and criminal records. It’s possible to learn a lot about a person just by typing their name into a search engine or looking at their social media profiles – it’s a useful thing to try with your own details to know what others can see about you. For more detailed information there are also public records that anyone can access. This is particularly useful when you’re looking for a person’s criminal records, which can either be done by going to a court office in person or accessing them online. It’s worth noting that not every county has its public records digitized yet.

The other option is to use a specialist background check service to do all the leg work instead. Although this method comes at a price, it will save you a lot of time and effort. Indeed, background check services have instant access to millions (sometimes billions) of records already. Of course, what shows up depends on the type of background check you’re doing and who you’re running it on. For example, if you’re running a background check on yourself, you won’t have to worry about getting consent for things like credit reports. If you’re looking for someone’s criminal records you’ll get nationwide results, so you won’t be restricted by local public records. Then there are services that specialize in running background checks just for businesses and landlords. So, when it comes to background check services there’s a solution for everyone.

Understandably, people may want to remove their information from background check websites. After all, privacy is important – that’s especially true as people can use the data found on these services maliciously. Fortunately, every background check service offers a way for people to remove their information.

How you remove your personal information varies depending on the service you’re using, but generally they all have similar methods. Often the service will provide its own online form for you to fill out and then you’ll have to wait a short period of time (usually 24 hours) for your data to be deleted. Sometimes you have to contact the service’s customer support team directly, and they may even ask for proof (like a copy of your ID) before acting. There are services that can do this work for you – often they also remove your information from marketing lists – but they are less effective as background check services aren’t obliged to remove any data unless it comes from the person directly.

Unfortunately, you’ll have to remove your data from each service individually. However, there are many services owned by the same company meaning that if you remove your information from one service then it will be taken off all of them. The best thing to do is search online for thorough guides that will help you remove your details from every service as efficiently as possible.

It isn’t easy to tell how far back background check services usually go as there are a lot of variables to consider. Each piece of information you find through a background check service potentially has an expiration date. These can be different depending on the type of check you perform and which state’s records you’re accessing.

For example, if you’re running a background check on someone’s criminal history then your results can vary dramatically. Misdemeanors can stay on record for anywhere between five to ten years, while felonies can stay on record for seven to ten years or sometimes even indefinitely. This all depends on which state the records come from, as each one has different laws. Due to FCRA regulations some things have set limits regardless of state laws, so you won’t be able to find out bankruptcies from beyond the past decade. Similarly, civil suits, judgments, and arrest records can’t be reported on for more than seven years.

However, on occasion you won’t have any time restrictions in your results. If you’re running a background check that looks at past education or employment then you’ll be able to view someone’s entire history.

The time it takes to complete a background check varies considerably, sometimes it can take seconds, or you could have delays that mean you’ll be waiting several days. One of the major factors is what kind of background check you’re running. A basic background check, like the kind that you’ll find from most services, can take under a minute while people searches take just a few seconds. Meanwhile, more in-depth background checks, like the ones performed by employers, can take up to three days to complete. That’s especially true if the check requires submitting extra information like fingerprints or processing drug tests.

All these times are estimates and they depend on the service you use, which means the final result may be faster or slower. Unfortunately, sometimes background checks have unexpected delays and will take longer to process.

Why your background check may be delayed

There are a few reasons why your background check might be delayed. One common disruption is due to the fact that not all public record information has been digitized yet, meaning that completing a background check requires a physical trip to a public records office.

Delays can also be caused by gaps or complications in the results. For instance, time spent abroad can have a big impact, especially due to different international privacy rules. Closer to home, a person with different aliases can also confuse background check services. Indeed, anything that relies on cooperation from other organizations could potentially cause delays. This could be the case when dealing with information such as licenses or permits. Finally, a delay could be caused by human error. Incomplete or incorrect forms are often an issue, as well as background checks that haven’t been submitted with the person’s consent.

When it comes to background check services, it’s not always easy to tell how much they cost up-front. That’s because the price can vary greatly depending on the type of background check you do. For example, there’s a large difference between running a general person search and a comprehensive background check – and the price reflects that. You can expect to pay about $1 for the former and $20-$40 for the latter. When it comes to specialist background check services aimed at businesses prices can be higher. It’s extremely rare to find a background check service that is willing to offer reports for free. While websites often let you run quick searches to find a person in the database, to get more basic information than a name or location you’ll have to pay up.

However, background check services still need to lure in customers so there are ways to get discounts. If you need to run multiple reports, then investing in a subscription is the best method as many services offer unlimited reports with memberships. There are discounts you can take advantage of too, aimed at new customers with a low introductory fee. On top of that, background check services often include customer satisfaction guarantees, so you can get a full refund if you’re not happy with your report.

While the use of background check services is generally legal, it’s still important to exercise caution when doing so to respect other people’s privacy rights. Companies have been relying on some form of background checking for years as a means of validating their hiring choices and screening applicants for promotion and reassignment. But beware, as different rules of legality apply to different types of information.

Basic personal information such as gender, age, occupation and even marital status is gathered from public records, and as such it’s perfectly fine to search for them. Verifying employment and education history is also widely allowed across the country. Lastly, checking records of military service, driving license, drug tests and social media content are permitted as well. If you are an employer or a recruitment agent, then be careful when searching criminal history since this is limited in certain areas. The laws in Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey and several other states forbid asking about criminal convictions in job applications. California, Colorado, Washington and New York City (among others) also limit access to credit history unless the applicant is applying to a financial institution.

Online background checking sites explicitly state that they aren’t recruitment agencies, and as such the reports they provide may not be used for screening employees. Still, the common courtesy suggests that employers should always inform the applicants whenever a background check will be involved with the application process and should also ask for their written permission. Also, all applicants must be judged under the same terms to ensure equal opportunities. Using background checks is fine if the gathered information isn’t used for decision making or the right to privacy is affected. It’s a good idea – even encouraged – to look up your own profile to get an understanding of what a background check might have on yourself, giving you the knowledge to perform better in job interviews.

As background checks are used to verify that a person is who they say they are, background reports will generally provide a person’s name (including aliases and previous names), current and past addresses, date of birth, previous employment, education history, and criminal history. For the latter, you can expect that any previous arrests, convictions, court records, or outstanding warrants will be displayed. Some delve much deeper and can find out about relatives, permits, licenses, and even check social media.

Naturally, you’re not always going to get the same information every time. There are various circumstances that mean you can run the same background checks on different people and get entirely different results. One big factor is the location. Different state laws may affect what is a matter of public record – this is especially true when it comes to criminal records, where even the offenses themselves differ. Some local areas may not yet have digitized all of their records, making it much more difficult to find them. Another thing to consider is that it’s possible for people to remove their own details from these services, which makes it much more difficult to get results.

Finally, there are some instances where you need a person’s approval before performing a check. This is especially true for any kind of background check made by a business that will influence an important decision, like checking on a new employee or new tenant. To ensure that the background check is totally compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), businesses must have written consent.

To put it simply, background checks are a way of verifying that a person is who they say they are. Generally, these come in the form of full background reports with a lot information about the person. You can do this yourself, but the process can be incredibly time-consuming. Instead, many people turn to dedicated background check services to do all the hard work. Of course, there are various types of background checks that are performed for a variety of different reasons, like companies checking the employment history of a new hire, landlords verifying a tenant’s credit score, or anyone checking on a potential partner before a date.

Although it may sound like an intrusion of privacy, professional background check services all work within the confines of the law. Background check services collect a lot of information from digitized publicly available records, using an algorithm to speed up the process. This means they’re able to access birth records, court documents, marriage certificates, even hunting licenses. Some services also use social media to find out more personal details.

Commonly, these services run checks to find out a person’s criminal record (including sex offender registries), credit report, employment history, and to get an overview of their social media activity. On top of that, a few services even provide drug screening. Naturally, what results you’ll have access to depends on the background check service you choose as each have their own specialties.

Absolutely. Education and work history are among the top subjects that employers look for when conducting a background check.

The depth of a background check on your employment history entirely depends on the public information available. Previous occupations can easily be discovered by running a quick search, though depending on the service the report may also detail the length of the employment and the position that you held. Further information such as the quality of your work or the reason you left, however, will not be included in the results. In most cases recruiters simply use these results to crosscheck the statements in your CV and not for gathering dirt on you.

This is unless you have commit a felony or theft. Such crimes appear in your criminal record, which is also brought to light by a background check. If you apply to a certain type of job, such as a truck driver, your future employer will probably want to know whether your license has been revoked in the past. However, it still stands that background checks won’t provide enough information to accurately judge an employee’s skills, which is why recruitment agencies may ask for employment verification or even contact the previous workplace.

As a job-seeking individual you may dislike the idea of such a thorough check on any applicants but try to imagine yourself in the employer’s position. They would rather avoid hiring someone that is likely to steal office equipment or might harass coworkers of the opposite sex. Choosing an unqualified individual via falsified credentials is also unfair for the other applicants, and will infer an additional cost to the company when submitting the position again. The best you can do is be transparent and professional, and create a CV that speaks for itself. An informative CV with verification of your employment history reduces the need for a deep background check.