0 5 Reasons To Do a Background Check

5 Reasons To Do a Background Check

It's an unfortunate fact that if you go through life trusting everybody you meet at their word, you're pretty likely to be disappointed at least a few times. But there are some situations in business, financial transactions, and even interpersonal relationships where misplaced trust can land you in hot water and even in physical danger. These are the times when a background check for criminal or civil troubles in a subject's past can help you make the right decision in a variety of situations. Here are some examples of times when a background check is the smart thing to do:

Hiring an Employee

This is probably the most obvious and common situation that necessitates a background check. If you're hiring somebody to work for your company, not only are you likely trusting them around your cash, assets, and access to privileged data but you're also taking them on as a representative of your business and as an extension of yourself. You don't want to be responsible for your latest hire cleaning out the cash register or be liable for hiring the guy guilty of sexual harassment.

While most states have limits restricting how far back an employer can search an applicant's history of criminal activity or other improprieties, an employee background check can provide twofold protection against hiring the wrong person. On one level, you can simply weed out any bad apples whose illicit activities occurred within the state-mandated limit which is usually between five to 10 years. On another level, if there is an applicant who has bad intentions but a record that goes back beyond the search limit, he or she may be deterred by a request to consent to a background check and move on to a less vigilant employer.

Starting a Business-Due Diligence

Founding a business endeavor with one or more partners is a serious undertaking, and it's always a good idea to take the right precautions from the start, rather than run into trouble down the line. A due diligence background check is a rather involved and detailed examination of the subject's past that goes beyond criminal records. When starting a business with a partner, you'll need to know if they have a suspiciously long history of failed ventures, allegations of workplace harassment or other improprieties, or a history of unpaid debts, fraud and other bad behavior. Due diligence background checks will also uncover the subject's history in the legal system. Whether the subject has filed an inordinate amount of lawsuits or been slapped with a number of lawsuits themselves, it should send up some red flags. In this situation, you might want to rethink your involvement.

Roommates

Whether you're looking for a new roommate to share your rent or seeking tenants for a property that you own, a background check is always a good idea. When it comes to roommates, it's not easy to suddenly find yourself sharing your home with a stranger. Obviously, your first and foremost concern should be for your own safety, and a background check of potential roommates can quickly root out the criminal element by revealing things like assault charges, child abuse, domestic battery, weapons violations, drug offences and more. You'll also learn if the possible roommate's past involves things like check fraud or DUI charges which, while not necessarily violent crimes, point to character issues that are undesirable in a new roommate.

Tenants

Landlords will also want a background check of civil records as a way to ensure a new tenant is in the clear. A review of civil records will let you know if the tenant has any past evictions and save you from a lot of headaches in dealing with a potential deadbeat. You'll also learn about the rental applicant's civil court records. Once again, it's a good bet that anybody who seems to spend a lot of time on either side of lawsuits is likely to be more trouble than they're worth.

Romance

Okay, so a background check is far from the most romantic move you can make in a new relationship but it's often a smart one. Once upon a time, when more people tended to meet their potential dates via friends, family, work or school, background checks on romantic partners may not have been as necessary. But in an increasingly plugged-in world of online social networking and internet dating, it's less likely that somebody you know will be able to vouch for your new potential love interest. No matter how perfect, charming, or sincere a person might come across, it's very difficult to tell in the beginning if they're the real deal or a well-crafted persona. If they turn out to be the latter, you could wind up being anything from simply disappointed to in serious danger.

In this situation, you'll want to run at least two basic background checks-a family law inquiry and a criminal check. First of all, with a family law inquiry, you'll be able to find out if the new Romeo is actually married and just looking for a little fling on the side, or if your new romantic interest hasn't been open about any past marriages, divorces, or even children. And a criminal check will reveal if this is really the kind of person you would want to spend your life with. Do they have past incidents of domestic assault, weapons charges, stalking incidents, or even child abuse or sexual abuse violations? And just like with a potential roommate, even if they have history of violent crime, things like DUI charges, drug charges, or fraud and other financial related incidents could prevent you from wasting your time with a lowlife.

While you might be tempted to dismiss the idea of doing a background check on a romantic partner or you might consider it to be cold or cynical, remember what's at stake. If you were a lender, you would certainly run a credit check before trusting somebody with your money. With a romantic partner, you're possibly entering into a lifetime of intimate commitment; doesn't it make sense to run a check before trusting them with your heart?