The Complete Guide to Running a Background Check

Background checks are one of those things everyone thinks they understand until they actually need to run one. Then it gets complicated fast. Are you hiring someone? Screening a tenant? Just trying to figure out if the contractor your neighbor recommended has any red flags? The term "background check" covers everything from a quick Google search to a formal, legally regulated screening process -- and the rules that apply depend entirely on what you're planning to do with the results.

I've spent enough time digging through public records to know that the details here matter. Let me walk you through it.

What a Background Check Actually Includes

There's no single standard definition. What you get depends on the provider, the purpose, and your budget. But most background checks pull from some combination of these sources:

Criminal Records

This is the big one -- the reason most people run background checks in the first place. A criminal records search can cover felony and misdemeanor convictions, pending charges, arrest records (where the jurisdiction allows it), sex offender registry status, and federal criminal cases.

Here's what a lot of people don't realize: criminal records are maintained at the county, state, AND federal levels, and no single database covers all of them. Not one.

County-level court records are your most detailed and reliable source. State criminal repositories (run by state police or investigation bureaus) aggregate county data but can have reporting gaps. The FBI's national database is the most comprehensive, but you can't just log in and search it -- it's restricted to specific authorized purposes like certain employment screenings requiring fingerprint checks.

Identity Verification

A background check typically confirms the subject's name, date of birth, SSN validity, and address history. Basically, it answers the question: "Is this person actually who they say they are?" You'd be surprised how often the answer reveals something unexpected -- like a name mismatch or an SSN that was issued in a different state than the person claimed.

Employment and Education History

For employment-related checks, providers usually verify past employers and educational credentials by contacting the institutions directly. Resume fraud is genuinely more common than most employers think. I saw a study a while back suggesting something like 40% of resumes contain at least one misrepresentation. Degree mills don't help either.

Credit History

Common in financial services hiring and tenant screening. Under the FCRA, you need the person's written consent to pull their credit for employment purposes. Credit reports show payment history, debts, bankruptcies, and credit inquiries -- but they don't include a credit score when pulled for employment.

Driving Records

For jobs involving driving, employers pull motor vehicle records (MVRs) from the state DMV. These cover license status, violations, accidents, DUIs, and suspensions. Pretty standard stuff if you're hiring a delivery driver or anyone who'll be behind the wheel for work.

Civil Court Records

Civil searches turn up lawsuits, judgments, liens, and bankruptcies. Relevant for positions with financial responsibility, tenant screening, and business due diligence.

Public Records and People Search Data

Tools like OpenDataUSA aggregate publicly available data -- address history, property records, voter registration, business filings, known associates. This type of search won't replace a formal background check for regulated purposes, but it gives you useful context and can surface things that narrower checks miss entirely. More on what public records include in our guide to understanding public records.

When Background Checks Are Legally Required

Some industries don't give you a choice:

• Financial services: FINRA requires broker-dealers to run checks on registered reps.
• Healthcare: Most states mandate criminal background checks for hospital, nursing home, and home health employees.
• Education: Teachers and school staff get criminal history checks in every state, though the specifics vary.
• Transportation: The DOT mandates background checks and drug testing for commercial drivers.
• Government and defense: Federal employees and contractors with security clearances go through extensive investigations.
• Childcare: Federal and state laws require criminal checks for childcare workers. No exceptions.

Even when it's not legally mandated, background checks are standard practice for most employers, landlords, and volunteer organizations working with vulnerable populations. And honestly, skipping this step when you're bringing someone into a position of trust is just asking for trouble.

FCRA Compliance: The Rules You Can't Ignore

The Fair Credit Reporting Act is the federal law governing background checks when they're used for employment, tenant screening, credit, or insurance decisions. If you're running a check for any of these purposes, you have to follow FCRA rules. Here's what that looks like in practice:

Disclosure and consent. Before you run a background check on a job applicant or tenant, you need to give them a clear, standalone written disclosure saying you're going to do it. They have to sign off in writing. And this disclosure can't be buried in paragraph 47 of your employment application -- it has to be its own separate document. A lot of companies mess this up.

Pre-adverse action notice. Thinking about not hiring someone (or denying a rental application) because of what the background check found? You have to give the person a copy of the report and a summary of their FCRA rights first. Then you wait -- typically five business days -- to give them a chance to review and dispute anything that's wrong.

Adverse action notice. If you go ahead with the negative decision, you send a final notice including the background check company's contact info, a statement that the company didn't make the decision (you did), and notice of their right to dispute the report and get a free copy.

Using a Consumer Reporting Agency. For FCRA-regulated checks, you have to use a company that qualifies as a CRA and follows FCRA procedures. Not every people search service is a CRA. Not every background check product is FCRA-compliant. OpenDataUSA provides public records data for informational purposes and isn't a consumer reporting agency. If you need FCRA-compliant reports, use a service that explicitly offers them.

Free vs. Paid Background Checks

There's a real difference between what you get for free and what you pay for. Don't kid yourself on this one.

Free Options

• County court websites: Many counties offer free online searches of criminal and civil case records. Good source, but you're limited to one county at a time.
• State court portals: Some states -- Wisconsin and Minnesota come to mind -- provide free statewide court record searches.
• Sex offender registries: The DOJ's National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) aggregates all state registries. Free and actually pretty comprehensive.
• Federal court records: PACER charges a small per-page fee but gives you direct access to federal criminal and civil cases.
• People search tools: Services like OpenDataUSA let you search aggregated public records at no cost for basic results.

Paid Services

Paid providers give you broader coverage, faster results, and (with CRA-compliant services) legal protection. They typically search multiple counties and states at once, verify identity through SSN traces, and give you everything in a structured report. Prices run from about $20 to $100+ per report, with volume discounts for employers who screen regularly.

Common Limitations and Pitfalls

Background checks are useful. They're not magic. Here are the things that trip people up:

Geographic gaps. No database covers every county. If someone got arrested in a tiny rural county that doesn't report to state or national systems, a standard check probably won't find it. Multi-county searches help, but complete coverage is basically a myth.

Name-matching headaches. Common names create false positives. Imagine you're screening someone named Maria Garcia in Los Angeles County. You're going to get a lot of results, and most of them won't be your candidate. Always verify using date of birth, SSN, and address history.

Stale data. Court records and public records databases don't update in real time. There can be a lag of weeks or even months between an event and when it shows up in a searchable database. Something that happened last week might not surface yet.

Sealed and expunged records. These shouldn't show up in background checks, but they sometimes do because of data propagation delays. If you come across an expunged record, you're generally prohibited from using it for hiring or tenancy decisions.

"Ban the box" laws. Many states and cities restrict when during the hiring process you can ask about criminal history. Some prohibit it entirely on the initial application. Know your local rules before you ask the question.

Best Practices

• Always get written consent before running a check for employment or housing.
• Use FCRA-compliant services when the law requires it.
• Apply your screening criteria consistently to all candidates. Cherry-picking who gets checked is a discrimination lawsuit waiting to happen.
• Give people the chance to explain or dispute negative findings before you make a final call.
• Keep results confidential and stored separately from personnel files.
• Review the EEOC's guidance on using criminal records in employment decisions -- your policies shouldn't have a disparate impact on protected groups.

Bottom line: background checks are a powerful tool when you use them responsibly and within the law. Start with a public records search to get a baseline sense of what's out there, then escalate to a formal FCRA-compliant check when the situation calls for it.