Our national criminal background check requires only a first name and last name. However, you are more likely to receive accurate results when you provide more information on the subject, such as date of birth and social security number. If you intend to use the report for employment screening, tenant screening, or any purpose related to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you must include a date of birth. We recommend using a social security number as well if you have it, but date of birth is the key piece of information. Most courts do not release social security numbers because of identity theft concerns.
Once you enter the search criteria, we access an extensive network of databases to bring you the most accurate results available. The more search criteria you provide, the more quickly and accurately we can service your request. Once the information is accumulated, we send a report to your account that details our findings.
Government records, court documents, professional licensing organizations, and phone books are all examples of publicly available information. Our network of databases is able to access all of this information and more before we consolidate it into a clear, easy to read report that we pass on to you.
We pull data from a number of sources, and every source is updated at regular intervals. As soon as a source updates their information, we have access to it. This ensures that the information we provide is the most accurate available to a web-based criminal search. Generally, it takes 3 to 6 months for a new address to show in our records after a person relocates.
Each state creates its own guidelines as far as how much information to make public. When you select a state, we will indicate how long the records have been tracked for that state. Many states keep records going back seven years; some may go back as far as 30 years.
A record will include complete details of each criminal act. This will include the defendant's name; date of birth; case number; date of offense;
date filed; charge; the parties involved; county and state of incident; and a description of the crime. The report may also contain alias names
used by the offender; the status of the case; disposition; disposition date; sentence; and unique characteristics of the individual including height,
weight, eye color, race, and sex. The information contained in a criminal background check will vary depending on the state or county being searched.
Regulations, rules and filing practices vary in each jurisdiction. As a result the information contained in a record from one state or county could
significantly differ from that contained in another. For instance, some states have pictures available for criminals, which you would receive,
while others do not.
Additionally, a search may result in No Records Found, meaning that the subject of the search does not have criminal records within the scope
of that search. For example, a search performed in the state of Illinois will show no criminal records if the subject was convicted in Indiana.
Bear in mind, also, that a criminal record will only show convictions and not arrests.
We accept all major credit cards. Options to pay via PayPal will be added in the future.
A nationwide search and most state searches produce instant results, so you should see results immediately. County searches do not produce
instant results, nor do the states of South Dakota, Wyoming, Massachusetts, and Delaware. Because these searches must be performed in
person by a court researcher, rather than through accessing a database, the wait may be up to three business days. Some manual
searches may take longer. When you order a search, details regarding the timeframe for results will be displayed.
Some states either do not have a statewide criminal data repository, or the data they do have is of lesser quality than that found elsewhere
in the state. The data at the county district courthouses, sheriff's office, District Attorney's office, or police department may be of
higher quality than the statewide data. We assess where the most accurate and updated data is made available when deciding how to provide
you with criminal records. We have access to the largest network of criminal background record researchers, investigators, and repositories
in the U.S.A., and we assure you that we carefully assess our data sources to bring you the best information available. As new means of
accessing information arise, we will examine them for quality and accuracy. We test all new third party data to ensure it is up to our
high standards, and we will not use low quality, inaccurate or incomplete sources of information.
Yes. Most statewide searches are conducted through the use of computerized repository systems whose data is updated monthly. A county level
search, however, is performed by a professional court researcher in the county chosen. This search could find records that statewide searches
do not find, because the records could have emerged within the past thirty days. This means that a county search will include the most
recent information available, and is the most in-depth independent search for a specific area. Statewide searches are only as reliable
as the people updating the new data into the central repository. Of course, statewide searches have a broader scope than county searches.
A statewide criminal background check could find records from anywhere in the state, which wouldn't be found just by searching in one county.
The rule of thumb here is: if you have a good idea of the city or county in which a person lived for a substantial amount of years—or
committed a crime--conducting a county level search is your best bet. Otherwise, to cover more ground, it’s best to perform a
statewide criminal search.
Billing and Customer Service
No. We retain the confidentiality of our customers. The subject of your search will not know that a search has been performed or who has performed it, unless you choose to inform them yourself.
As a rule, the more information you have about your subject, the more likely we are to find them. That said, it is not impossible to find someone with limited information. Provide as much specific information as you can—such as middle initial, SSN, or date of birth—and that will get the process started.
You should try to verify the information you provided. For example, are you sure of the spelling of their name and their date of birth? Also, try to gather new information. Perhaps a common friend may know their last known city and state.
Yes. You will receive a confirmation of where the search was conducted, along with the information we used to do the search, and the fact that no records were found. We have to charge our customers for the search regardless of whether or not records are found, because we incur costs every time we run a search. You are paying us for the service of performing the search, not for the results provided by the search.
Questions can be addressed by contacting our customer service department here. Please include your order number in your correspondence if possible.
Yes. We are committed to providing accurate and legal records. Please contact customer service and we will help you with the necessary steps to get the record corrected.
Accounts and Services
Use the login prompt in the upper right corner of any screen. Your username is the email address associated with your account. From there, you can select Previous Searches to see searches that you have already performed and saved, or you can start a new search using the search page.
When you order a search, you will be prompted to open an account. This is the most secure way for us to provide you with your search results. If you wish, you can save your credit card information in our secure system to expedite your checkout process in the future.
You can also go to the member login box in the upper right corner of the page and select “register free” at any time to be prompted to set up an account.
No. If you have your information in an Excel spreadsheet or another format, we can work with you to accelerate your search process. Please to discuss options.
If you intend to use a criminal background check for employment purposes, the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires you to obtain written permission from the applicant in a clear and conspicuous manner. (There are some exceptions for the trucking industry.) If you do not have a form already available, click here for our release form. You are welcome to edit it as needed.
Our release form is in PDF format, which most computers already have. If the form does not open properly in your computer, you may download a free copy of Adobe Reader. You do not need to send copies of your release forms to us.
Employment screening is covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and applicable state laws. Key requirements of the FCRA include:
Written permission from the applicant is required before performing a background check for employment screening (see our earlier discussion for more details)
If you intend to take "adverse action" against someone as a result of performing a background check, including but not limited to termination or failure to hire, you must do the following prior to taking the action:
Provide the subject of the report with a copy of the report, along with our contact information.
Provide the subject of the report a written summary of their rights under the FCRA.
Regarding the rules for adverse action, it is important to realize that they are designed to protect the subject of the report in case there are errors in their record. Proper notification allows them a chance to dispute the results with us or the relevant agency. Therefore it is very important that these steps be done prior to taking the action. Additional regulations may apply. We do not provide legal advice and will not be liable for any actions taken or not taken as a result of the statements here.
Yes. Our website is protected by SSL encryption and other methods. All web communications, including credit card numbers, are secure and encrypted. If you need to e-mail us for any reason, please be aware that e-mail is not secure.
