One of the reasons that people might hire a private investigator is to perform background checks on someone. Perhaps you’re suspicious that a new neighbor isn’t really who they claim to be, or maybe you want to make sure you know exactly who you’re dealing with before entering into a business partnership with someone. The possible reasons for wanting to learn more about someone’s history are endless, but no matter what your reasons, a private investigator can find out just about anything you wish to know.
Background checks are important because they can put your mind at ease after learning the person you are dealing with is “safe”, and not a criminal or someone who has been known to do deceitful or illegal things. On the other hand, if the background check reveals something you find unfavorable, it prevents you from entering into a business or personal relationship with the person, saving you a lot of hassle in the end.
What Can Be Discovered
Many pieces of information can be uncovered during background checks. Background checks can reveal simple information such as previous addresses, or dig into more serious issues such as if the person has a past or present criminal history or has been involved in any civil litigation. You can find out someone’s assumed or alternate names, tax records, and history of liens, judgements, or bankruptcies through background checks.
Thorough background checks will also reveal motor vehicle ownership, social media searches, news archive searches, real property appraisals, resume and degree verification, and more. If a person is trying to hide something about themselves, most of the time a background check can reveal it.
Why Do Background Checks?
Background checks are important because they can tell you if someone is on the up and up, or pretending to be someone they are not. What if you were wanting to hire a nanny for your children, but discovered the candidate has a criminal history for child abuse and has been using an assumed name in order to obtain work in the childcare field? Hiring this person could have put your children in danger, so the background check saved the day by preventing you from hiring them.
Or what if you run a business and need an employee with specific qualifications, but they lie to you about their education, degrees, and previous employment? Having a background check done can reveal this information and save your company both time and money by preventing the hiring of the wrong person for the job.
Examples Of Why Many Businesses Do Background Checks
Many types of businesses and employers require a background check on potential employee before hiring them. Wilson Investigations is a private investigator Houston businesses hire to perform these types of pre-hire checks for a variety of reasons. For example, anyone who works with young children is typically required to pass a background check, to make sure they have no criminal history or any incidents of child abuse on their record. This helps to keep our children safe by not hiring potential pedophiles or abusers to work in close proximity to our children.
Another example might be a law firm who deals with helping victims of domestic violence. They may have just interviewed a candidate who seems perfect for the job and who has all the right qualifications, but upon completion of a background check, it is revealed he himself has been arrested for domestic battery against his own wife. Obviously, this is not someone this firm would want working for and representing them or their clients. For more information of what an employer needs to know about background investigations, click here.
Do Your Due Diligence
Background checks are a great way to reveal information someone may not want you to know. They are not done for purposes of just being nosy, but rather to prevent dealings with someone who has something in their past that you don’t want to bring into your present or future. They can serve as an effective way to determine if a person is the right candidate for the job, or someone you would feel comfortable associating with.
While a background is not one hundred percent foolproof in weeding out all of the potentially “bad” people, it can be a way to reveal shady and potentially harmful information from someone’s past that could be an indication of how they might behave in the future. Certain information obtained from a background may influence a decision on hiring someone or continuing to have a relationship with them, either business or personal.
