Backgroundchecks.com Platform FAQs

There are several reasons why 0 records might be found in a database search. You entered incorrect information like a misspelled first or last name and/or the incorrect date of birth. You entered a hyphenated name, middle initial in the first name box, a suffix such as JR, SR II, III, IV at the end of the last name or a special character in the first or last name box. The search was conducted by name and date of birth; but available public records do not associate this name and/or date of birth with the record. The subject searched is a minor and we do not search juvenile records. You entered a hyphenated name. Our database does not provide results for hyphenated names, therefore, you must enter the last name with a space rather than a hyphen (-) or you may use the last part of the hyphenated name for the best results. Do not add any generations such as Jr. Sr. II or III. You entered two first names. We are referring to names like Bobbie Sue, Amy Lynn and Billie Joe - please do not use them. Use only the first part of the two-part name as any extension of the name will be reported. Example, if you are searching Amy Lynn - Just use Amy and if there is a match with Amy Lynn it will come back. You entered a nickname. Court records use the subject's full legal name, not nicknames. You entered a middle name as a first name. Court records use the subject's first name, not a middle name that the subject goes by. The record you might have expected to find is not within the agreed available covered jurisdictions. backgroundcheck.com, like all criminal record database search companies, offers limited criminal record coverage, and most likely the known record is not within our coverage acknowledged in our terms and conditions. The fact is, not all county, or municipal courts nationally will share their information with third party companies or do not have the records indexed in a searchable format. For an upfront understanding of our state and county coverage, visit our interactive coverage map. The record you might have expected to find is expunged or sealed by court order.

Our US OneSEARCH database currently contains over 650 million criminal records derived from a comprehensive list of sources.

Automatic jurisdiction suggestions highlight specific counties or parishes where your subject might have criminal records. When ordering criminal background checks online, you must supply the individual’s full name, date of birth and Social Security number. In real-time, backgroundchecks.com uses this information to conduct an address history search behind the scenes.

This Social Security trace lists information about places the subject has lived in the past. For example, the trace may furnish seven years of an individual's address history. Our service uses this information to automatically suggest the relevant county courts associated with any of the individual's past addresses.

Such information simplifies targeting your searches to areas where an individual may have criminal records. During the ordering process, our system will also provide additional county recommendations based on areas not fully covered by our criminal history database. Coverage gaps often exist because courts may not always digitize records or make them electronically available. We suggest all the counties where your applicant has lived while also highlighting other areas where you may wish to explore in greater detail due to potential gaps.

You can add up to 25 counties per individual criminal background check order.

How are criminal background checks done? Most felony and misdemeanor records exist at the county court level. These courts may also feed their records into state-level repositories. However, the most up-to-date records are almost always at the local courthouse. Most employers check the courts within their local area as a starting point. However, you could miss essential records if you do not search multiple jurisdictions.

An individual who temporarily lives in another county or state could have a criminal record there. If you only review someone’s current county of residence, you could miss out on reviewing those relevant convictions. A multi-jurisdictional search is one tool to solve this problem. At backgroundchecks.com, our database of more than 650 million records provides a clear snapshot of where an applicant may have other criminal records.

Whether you use this approach or check multiple counties simultaneously, the goal is the same. Find records that don’t exist in your immediate area.

Our auto-suggest tool is a good beginning. Address history searches can help inform you where an applicant most likely has other criminal records. However, you may also wish to add more counties for additional confidence. There are a few ways to decide on different counties, and you might try places such as:

• An individual’s hometown. If you know an applicant originated from another city or state, you might add that town’s county.
• Previous workplaces. You may learn other important information in the process of verifying employment. Check county court records where your applicant worked but did not live.
• Metropolitan areas. If your applicant lives in a metro area county, they may have also moved around other areas within the metro. Check counties throughout the metro for a more thorough result.

With these options and the results our tool auto-suggests, you can access a more comprehensive background check.

Adverse action refers to all negative employment decisions due to background check results. An adverse action may be denying or rescinding a job offer, firing an employee, or rejecting a promotion opportunity. The FCRA requires employers to follow a strict process for communication with the applicant when planning such action. There is a pre-adverse action period, an opportunity for comment, and a final adverse action notice.

Companies that use consumer reports, such as background checks or credit reports, must follow the FCRA's adverse action guidelines. Taking action requires the mandatory sharing of specific paperwork with the applicant. Violating the FCRA provisions can lead to civil fines for each offense.

If you decide to decline an application or employee because of their background check results, you must provide written notice of your intention. This step is called a pre-adverse action letter or notification. It informs the applicant that adverse information in their background may result in the loss of the job opportunity.

Alongside this notice, you must provide a copy of the background report. It is also mandatory to provide the official document called A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to applicants during pre-adverse action.

You must wait a reasonable period for the applicant to respond. Individuals may dispute your findings and provide evidence in support of their claims. Such disputes require a re-investigation by the background check company. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) opinion letters state that five business days is the minimum time employers should allow for a response.

If the individual does not dispute the background check within the expected time or an investigation yields no change in the outcome, an employer can formally disqualify the applicant. This step requires a formal adverse action notice and serves as the conclusion of the hiring process for that individual. This notice must include several things by law:

• The contact information for the background check company that provided the information.
• A clear statement that the background check company was not the deciding party in the adverse action—the company cannot provide a reason for the decision.
• A notice of rights informing the individual that they can dispute their background check results.
• A notice that the individual can receive another copy of their background check from the company within 60 days, free of charge.

At backgroundchecks.com, we streamline systems and services for our users wherever possible. Managing compliance with the FCRA and its notification requirements is one area in which we can help. Our email-based pre-adverse and adverse action notices simplify your compliance efforts. Watch our adverse action notification explainer video.

When ordering a background check, you may supply the applicant’s email address. A check box lets you add our notification services to your order should you require them. You are only charged for this service when we send an email.

When reviewing reports, you can indicate whether your organization may take adverse action based on a criminal record. Doing so automatically sends an FCRA-compliant notification to your subject via email. Based on your business needs, it places the report on hold for at least five business days, up to 20 business days.

After the waiting period expires, and without further disputes from the applicant, you can use our platform to indicate that you will proceed with adverse action. Doing so sends an email to notify the applicant.

With this system, achieving and maintaining compliance is far simpler. There is less manual work, no guesswork surrounding waiting periods, and no confusion about the correct language to use in writing. Simplify your FCRA compliance procedures with this feature of our platform today.

Each business faces differing levels of need during the hiring process. A complete package may not always be necessary to satisfy requirements in your organization. Sometimes, you only wish to order a single product on demand, such as setting up a drug check to re-test an employee. Re-screening is an everyday use case. In other cases, the exact combination of products you wish to use may not align with any of our pre-built packages. In that case, the Order Products feature lets you customize your report.

At backgroundchecks.com, customers have several options for approaching screening. We show you the pre-configured background check packages loaded into your account by default. You can also set up applicant self-entry. However, you may also choose to use the "Order Products" page, which allows you to order a custom background check. Rather than offering preset packages, the Order Products feature lets you customize your own package with as many or as few specific screening products as you require.

There are several product categories you can choose from when developing a package.

Multi-jurisdictional database searches 

Our extensive proprietary databases provide options for rapid results from hundreds of millions of records. You may select:

• US AliasVerify: to determine if a subject has criminal records under another name
• US OneVERIFY: a type of verified criminal background check (see below)
• Offender OneSEARCH: for polling sex offender registries
• National Security OneSEARCH: for checking names against more than 100 national and international security and sanctions lists
• Single and multi-state options

You may opt to use an instant or verified search in this category. In a verified search, clear results report back instantly, but we investigate any criminal record positives further. This practice ensures we can determine whether there is any additional or updated information relating to the record in our database. We encourage verification, but you may opt out when you understand the potential drawbacks.

Supplemental direct court searches 

You may wish to add courthouse searches for additional information and subject details. Remember that criminal and civil courts are separate. Someone who violated civil law or faced lawsuits will not have records in criminal court; this requires a different search. Supplemental products include:

• County court records
• Statewide court records
• Federal criminal court records
• County or federal civil court records

Additional reports 

You may order these reports independently or as part of a package combined with previous selections. These products include: 

• The US OneTRACE: a name and address history search using Social Security numbers.
• Drug Screening: Set up a multi-panel drug test to support drug-free workplace policies and compliance.
• Driving Record (requires additional verification): Obtain motor vehicle records to comply with Department of Transportation regulations.
• Nationwide Wants and Warrants: Learn if law enforcement currently has active warrants for an individual.
• Financial records, including credit and bankruptcy reports: to assess financial responsibility.
• License or certification checks: to verify professional credentials.
• Additional products for verifying employment and education history

After selecting the products you wish to add to your custom background checks, you can enter the subject's information and place your order.

 

 

 

The applicant can respond if you issue a pre-adverse action letter based on inaccurate information. They may advise that you have the incorrect person or information. If they do, the law requires you to contact your screening agency to conduct an investigation. You can then rely on the results of that investigation to change your decision or confirm it.

However, you risk violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) if you take final adverse action based on the wrong information or do not follow up with your screening agency. The applicant could sue your business for contravening the FCRA. This disregard could result in hundreds or thousands of dollars of fines alongside the costs of going to court and hiring attorneys.

You may receive multiple matches when using some of our reporting tools, such as the instant criminal database search. There may be more than one record based on information similar to the data you provided on your subject, which triggers the criminal record selection stage. It is up to you to select which records to add to your final criminal history report.

Records may seem related to the same individual for several reasons. The name on two records may match the name of your subject. If the date of birth also matches, there is a likelihood that the records relate to the same person. However, it is still possible for two people to share the same name and birth date. In these situations, you must confirm which records relate to your subject.

You cannot take adverse action based on records you are not sure relate to the subject. If you doubt the record is associated with your subject, do not add it to your report or use it.

Use common sense when selecting records related to your subject. Examine the information we provide on the record selection screen, which can include:

• Full name
• Date of birth
• Demographic information, such as height, weight, and race
• Photographs
• Address information

Use all the information available about an individual from their application and interview materials to check for matches. For example, an individual with the same name and birthday but incorrect demographic information likely indicates a coincidental but unrelated record.

Adding a new user to your account is straightforward. The first user you set up with your account is always an Administrator—only users with this role may create other users. You may also designate other users as Administrators when needed.

To add a new user, 

1. Log in to backgroundchecks.com 
2. Select the "My Account" tab. 
3. Under the "My Account" pane on the following screen, click on the folder marked "Users." 
4. Click "Add new user" to begin the process.
5. Provide the new user's name, contact information, and role.

All new users must go through the same account credentialing process as during setup, such as declaring the purpose of the background check and affirming their use as prescribed by law.

Hiring is an ongoing process in many companies. Even in small businesses, more than one person may hire and onboard new staff. Limited resources or high-volume hiring seasons can create a substantial workload for one person.

With an account at backgroundchecks.com, you can add others in your business who engage with the hiring workflow. These users can then order background check reports or access and review completed reports as needed. Multiple users create opportunities for an accelerated background check process and improved transparency between key stakeholders.

You may add one or several additional users to your account, depending on your needs. Some of those who may benefit from having access include:

• The business owner or senior management
• Heads of department
• Hiring managers
• Teams tasked with recruitment and interviewing
• Human Resources managers, team leads, or HR general staff

You may add as many users as necessary and define specific privilege levels. For example, an HR team member may access and review background check reports, but new orders may be reserved for a hiring manager.