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ONLINE BACKGROUND CHECKS
by Joseph RyanIt may be that you've never considered using the Internet to run a background check.Neither did I until I tried it. But it's really not difficult if you know how, and it'sfree.The fact is, there are many situations in life where it's extremely helpful orreassuring to be able to quickly find out something about an associate's or neighbor'sbackground.Consider a few scenarios:* You're thinking of investing your hard-earned money in a business and you wantto know more about the current owner.* Your son or daughter has a new girlfriend/boyfriend and you want to check theperson out.* You're considering dating a person you met on the Internet and want to knowmore about that person.* New neighbors have moved in next door and they've been acting a little odd (orso you think). You have kids and would really like to find out more about thesepeople.* You're in college and thinking of taking on a roommate, but before you acceptanybody into your apartment you want to check them out.* A local used-car dealer has a good price on a car you want. But you'd like tocheck out the owner of the lot and see if he's been sued or has a criminal recordbefore buying a car from him (i.e., run a quick background check).The Internet now makes these kinds of background checks possible - for free - andit's perfectly legal as long as you adhere to a few simple guidelines, as describedbelow.In this Guide I'll discuss how you can access online public records pertaining to justabout any adult U.S. citizen. As I said, it's easy, but you do need to know somethingabout public records and where to access them.-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q & A
 
The easiest way to overview the subject of background checks online is withquestions and answers.Q: Are online background checks legal?A: The answer is yes, as long as you only access public records for your own use.That means records like real estate records, bankruptcies, tax liens, and criminalrecords. Three things you should be aware of, however: First, you can't legally do abackground check on someone you're thinking of hiring without his/her writtenpermission (a signed release); second, you can't use "pretexting" in your backgroundcheck (for example, calling a bank and impersonating the account holder in order tofind out how much money he/she has in the account - this is strictly illegal); third,you can't legally access someone's "non-public" information, especially medicalrecords and credit reports, without a signed release from the subject.Also - please never hire someone else to do any of those things. You could be heldresponsible. There are plenty of private investigators and others with Web sites thatwill gladly use pretexting to determine someone's place of employment or financialassets, for example. You should avoid these people like the Black Plague.(If your interest is primarily in employment- or credit-related backgroundchecks, you should familiarize yourself with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.)Q: Where do I get the information for the background check?A: There are two ways to do it. You can do the work yourself for free, usinggovernment web sites that allow you to access public records (e.g., County/State realestate sites, etc), or you can hire a background-check company to do it for you.Needless to say, the latter method is easier and faster but you need to be confidentthat the company you hire is legitimate and will do a good job. I offer severalrecommendations in Part II of this report. I'll also recommend a free Web site thatwill make doing it yourself much easier, if that's the route you prefer to go.Q: What can I find out about someone?A: First the bad news: You can not "Find out anything about anybody," even thougha few Internet snake oil salesmen may tell you otherwise. But with that said, there isstill a lot you can find out about someone through public records. For example youcan --- Verify name and address- Determine past addresses- Determine marital status (married/divorced/single)
 
- Find assets (most easily, real estate)- Check for bankruptcies and tax liens- Check for honorable military discharge- Verify occupation or profession- Check on political contributions/affiliations- Find out if subject has been written about in the news- "Listen in" to subject in online discussion groups- Determine if subject has sued anybody or been sued- Find out if subject is a sexual offender- Check for criminal records (in most States)- Determine if subject has served time in a Federal prison- Find out if subject is a pilot and/or owns a plane- And much more, as you'll learn as you get into the subject of public records moredeeply .Q: What about things like "How much is he worth?", "Is he a drug addict oralcoholic?", "What do people think of him?", "Does he have AIDS or othersexually-transmittable disease?", "Does he have children?"A: Remember, you can't legally access somebody's credit report or medical records.And if you're thinking of employing your subject, you have to comply with the FairCredit Reporting Act, which among other things requires a signed release beforedoing a background check. You need to be clear on all that. But there's no lawagainst guesstimating. For example, you can get a pretty good idea of someone'sfinancial worth by where he/she lives. Home values are public information. So isstock ownership when the stockholder owns more than 5% of a public company.You can not however, access his bank or brokerage account information without asigned release or court subpoena.One good way to find out personal information legally is to check civil lawsuits. If he's been sued or has sued somebody, the lawsuit case file (which is publicinformation) will often tell you a lot, especially if it's a divorce filing.Another way is to hire a private investigator. But you need a reputable P.I., andfrankly a lot aren't reputable. Some P.I.'s are macho former military types who are
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