Background Screening FAQ’s Why should I conduct My Personal Background Check? Performing a personal background check is your opportunity to verify information provided about you by your job other employers or criminal records that have not been corrected by the court system Background checks also help confirm dates of attendance and degrees or certifications earned. It can also reveal information that was either mistakenly omitted - such as residency in other state. What does a Background Check consist of? A genuine Background Check means verifying the background history of a person. In the context of normal civilian  pre-employment screening, this usually refers to the completion of one or more  of the following: an ID. verification which includes the verification of their  Social Security Number and their address and employment history, a Criminal Conviction History check, a Civil Litigation History check, a Drivers License  Record check, a Personal Credit History check, an Education Verification, an  Employment Verification, a Professional License Verification --- and usually, a  Drug Test to detect the use of illegal drugs and/or the illegal use of controlled substances. . Is this practice legal? Every  aspect of the research performed by HireSafe is fully compliant with all Federal  and State laws and applicable legal standards. By using HireSafe, employers legally protect themselves and ensure that the rights of their applicants are also being upheld.  Although we cannot provide legal or hiring advice to our clients, our legal advisors ensure that HireSafe procedures comply with the Fair Credit Reporting  Act and other Federal and State laws concerning privacy, discrimination and equal opportunity. These laws dictate what records can be reported, how they  can be utilized, and, who can use them. All records are subject to Equal Opportunity laws, which prohibit unfair use of the data. How are the records  used? The records are used to verify the statements of the prospective employee or tenant, as well to alert the employer or landlord to  potential safety issues. Employers and landlords have an obligation to exercise reasonable care in the hiring and leasing process. For example, a child day care center needs to know if an applicant has an undisclosed criminal background. Do you need a special license to run background  checks? Currently, the State of California does not  require a specific license for a company performing Background Checks. However,  the president and CEO of HireSafe,  Alfred Firato, is a licensed California Private Investigator (CA PI #25313), which provides our clients with an extra layer of protection and  professionalism. Mr. Firato is a founding member of the National Association of  Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS). Can I do a nationwide criminal background check? Yes, but an accurate county court nationwide criminal history search would be cost prohibitive. We offer  the "Nationwide Criminal Profile Search" but it does not include all states and is done by searching databases, and the contributing courts. These databases rely on courts to submit their records to them and many of the courts do not participate - and if they do participate, the  records are frequently outdated. There is no central repository of criminal records available to the private sector - to conduct a nationwide criminal  history check for this criminal background check, we would need to search over  3,300 courts throughout the country. Contrary to what you may have heard  or read, there is NO, repeat, NO NATIONAL CRIMINAL REPORTING SYSTEM available to the public. The National Criminal Information Center (NCIC) is maintained and run by the FBI and is authorized for use only by law enforcement in the pursuit of an investigation. The NCIC is NOT available for use by the general public under any circumstances. Stored data base searches help in  a secondary and back-up role when the counties from the address of record have also been searched. Stored database criminal records from jurisdictions beyond the primary recorded counties could point to convictions that would not have otherwise been known. How  do you know where to look for a criminal record? The  best way to determine where your applicant has lived is to from an Address  History Search. This is based on their Social Security Number and uses  information from the credit reporting agencies as well as numerous other  resources to develop a complete history of residency, or their address of record. Each address will have the County identified, and a County Criminal  Record search can be completed for the appropriate counties. Our system automatically orders the appropriate County Criminal Searches without any  additional data entry. It is a reasonable conclusion to look at ALL the counties  from the address of record for criminal records, a practice that will maintain  the integrity of the due diligence process if the background report becomes a legal issue. A complete and legally recognized background check will always  include all counties from the address of record. What if I have lived in other  states? HireSafe can retrieve criminal reports from  anywhere in the USA, Canada and 172 foreign countries. What if someone has  changed their name, been married, etc? If you know the  alternate name, you can include it in your background check search request. If  an additional name is disclosed during the background check - by the Address  History/Social Security Trace for example - then you should include it in your searches. A complete and  legal background check will always include all aliases, maiden names or AKA’s. How much does a background check cost? Background Checks vary in cost depending on the types  of searches included in the report and number of county courthouses need to be  searched. All county court record searches are conducted at the court house, anywhere in the USA. Will I encounter any surcharges when ordering a  background check report? In some regions, governmental  agencies, schools or employers that provide us information charge a small fee  for releasing this information. Rather than increasing our prices for all services, we add these fees to a customers order as a surcharge (at no  additional markup), only when such a fee applies. These fees, when applicable, average approximately $6. (However, the New York state Office of Court Administration imposes a whopping $55.00 per name fee!) How long will it take to complete the background check? Employee background check reports generally are  complete in 48-72 hours. If a criminal record is found, the entire court case  file must be pulled to retrieve the necessary data. Often this involves additional time by the court clerk. Academic and Employment Verification  completion times vary greatly, owing to the individual nature of each  organizations cooperation. Every effort is made to return a completed request  in the fastest time available without a compromise in accuracy. How will I receive the results of the  search? Completed report notices for background check  reports are sent E-mailed directly to you. The results can be viewed online with the proper password at: https://www.instascreen.net/hire-safe/. What does it cost to sign  up? Nothing! We do not charge any registration fees, standard setup fees or monthly minimums. You pay only for the services and reports that you request. Can we talk to you about questions or issues that we may have? Emphatically YES! We welcome all calls from our  clients as a way to learn more about your business and what role we can play to assist you. Call us toll-free any reasonable time at: 888 792-4473 or in Sacramento County, at: 916 226-2550. Or E-mail us at: research@hiresafe.com RETURN to home page