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Personal background checks are now common in screening employees, in dating, in knowing a new neighbor, in checking out people you do transactions with. Indeed it can be a very useful precautionary measure in keeping yourself, your family or your business safe.

What are the most common uses of personal background checks?

Due to technology, dating can be done online on some matchmaking websites and though you may have been talking to each other through messengers and emails and you may have seen each other’s faces on webcams, it may not be enough to know the person you are dealing with. Personal background checks are therefore useful in making sure you are safe, especially if you both decide to see each other personally.

If you are running a small business, or you are looking for a nanny for your kids, personal background checks are very important and should never be disregarded. Employment background checks will help you a lot in preventing future troubles with an employee or staff of your business. Moreover, it will help you prevent lawsuits in negligent hiring for employees you get. It will help you a lot also in making sure your kids are in good hands if you leave them with their nanny. Having personal background checks on new neighbors or tenants is also helpful especially if you are dealing with possible sex offenders or those with criminal records.

What information you need to get in doing personal background checks? The most common information to secure in background investigations are birth records, criminal records, bankruptcy history, sex offender records, property records, credit records, motor vehicle reports, education and employment information, personal references, and social security number to check on the person’s identity.

You have to be careful to follow rules though. Say if you are hiring a nanny and you want to do a background check, it has been mandated by FCRA and some state agencies that you ask written permission from the individual. You should understand too that there are records that may not be given to you without permission from the individual. School records, medical records and military service records are among these, although most of the public records can be easily accessed.

Other information that you may not get in a personal background report includes bankruptcy history that is more than 10 years old, civil suits, records of arrest, accounts placed for collection and paid tax liens that are more than seven years old.

Who are allowed to do personal background checks? There are companies who offer services on securing background checks for you - especially if it is for employment screening. With the readily available technology nowadays, you can also do the checking yourself. You can find helpful sites that provide you access to public records and database. You can also find online services for background checks. You can also start simply by talking to the neighbors, friends and references.

You have to keep in mind though that in some states, there may be different rules in releasing records of an individual. You must also take note of these differences to avoid any trouble in your background check.