The Expert Podcast

So when is a background check not a background check If you are. Considering…looking into the criminal history of a subject for the purposes of employment. Maybe renting real estate apartment. Maybe doing a business deal. Sometimes.

Knowing about a person's criminal past might be tempting to know about however, You need to be aware of the laws regarding obtaining that information even if it's factual and using it Here's an example where…a private investigator. Was hired. Bye. An employer prospective employer. To look at.

An applicant about a job. And the background check agency or the investigator. Looked up and they found a criminal history of the person. And they provided that factual information to the employer. The employer once they received it declined the job offer to that applicant.

The applicant discovered this and they sued both the employer and the background check agency. For the use of that information…

What's the basis for that Well, in this particular case, this was in a state of California. And in the state of California conviction of a crime. More than seven years is not…allowed to be used. For the purpose is of employment or hiring. So…even providing that information to the employer.

Was not proper…

Even if the employer got it and said I'm still gonna offer them a job. The just the employer knowing about it would have been prejudicial to that applicant now. Even if you are using a background check for other purposes besides employment and you might say look this is not what I'm doing. It doesn't matter. There are.

other specific examples in different states at the federal level where a criminal background check. Or knowledge of criminal background history. May not be. Usable…

In making certain decisions. Employment is one, many times. renting an apartment is something that has limitations on it. You may not be able to use credit. In all…scenarios.

Some cases, insurance companies will use background checks before they issue insurance policies that may not be usable So. If you are concerned. using a background check. For criminal records or activities. You want to make sure that you get good legal advice about when and where and how you can use that.

If you are a private investigator and you're giving out. Criminal records to third parties. Even if you say look you have to use it in the right way or you have a client agreement that says you can only use it for legal purposes. You may want to find out how that person is using it so that it's proper. And at the worst case scenario you advise them.

A lot of clients may not know. that they can't use criminal records for certain purposes They might just think I can use it now. If you are a company. Who He…

wants to know about certain criminal backgrounds and you want to make sure you get good information You may want to do the search yourself because third parties not knowing what you're using it for might not give you all the information. Part of the reason is there's a lot of ambiguity depending upon how you do criminal background checks. You may find incorrect information For example if your subject name is Joe Schmoe and you find a criminal record for Joe Schmoe it might be a different Joe Schmoe It might be somebody with the same name, even lived in the same city. Or it might be something where there was an arrest but not a prosecution. Many of the background check sources are just electronic databases That aren't the original source.

Now if you go directly to the government agency the police department the prosecutor the courthouse, and you find the records there. Now you know that those are correct records. A lot of the electronic third-party records are cheap. Pay 10 bucks 15 bucks. But they may not be a hundred percent accurate That's part of the reason these laws are in place So using a background check is important to know how and where you use that information.

And. The source of it, a lot of these online. You know background checkers or, you know date checkers. They don't have a hundred percent information and they don't also get records from every jurisdiction There might be missing something If it's important to get it, you may find that they don't check certain states because they're too hard or too expensive. So making sure you understand how the background check is being done…

is as important as getting it done because they're not all created equal. Some are just an electronic basically a Google search for that person. Some of our very in-depth original source. Searches. They give you proper information.