How to do Basic Background Checks

If you pay attention to the news, you've probably seen the story about the Florida couple with 13 adopted kids that was murdered. So far eight people have been arrested in that case. This morning Fox News Channel mentioned reported that one of those arrested was a Realtor and some of the others were folks who have done work on the house.

Sadly,this is not an isolated story. More and more often now you hear stories of how murdered victims had relationships or ties to their killer. It's getting more difficult to know who to trust anymore as the news continues to remind us that you can really never know a person.

While most of us don't spend the time or money to do proper background checks on people who may be working around the house for us or others we encounter that can pose a potential threat, there are some basic step we can take for a preliminary check.

There's very little privacy today in America. And while many of us think that's a bad thing, it does allow you to find information on others more easily these days. Anytime you invite strangers to your home (realtors, landscapers, handymen, repairmen, computer techs, etc,), it's prudent to do a quick check on those people to see if any red flags are raised.

Here are some free checks you can do quickly and easily:

• Search the person's name in Google, MSN and Yahoo
  
• Search the person's name on MySpace.com
• Search the person's name on Facebook
• Search the person's name on WhitePages.com
  

These are just some of the basic steps you can take without spending money. But often times they will give you more information about the character of the person you're dealing with.

If you need more detailed information about a person, then you should spend the money to do a proper background check. It's not as expensive or complicated as it sounds. But if you're hiring a nanny, babysitter, etc. then you should really consider doing a proper background check.

One of the best sites open to the public is Intelius. This site offer a variety of different searches for a small fee.

People Search and Background Checks

In today's world, it's not uncommon to want to do a background check on somebody. There's many different reasons why you might want to check somebody out.

You may be:

• Considering hiring them (employee, nanny, caregiver, etc.)
  
• Considering renting a room or house to them
• Considering living with them (potential roommate)
• Dating them
• Suspicious about a neighbor or other person you have contact with

The list goes on. You might also just be looking for somebody you may have lost contact with - an old friend or relative.

In the old days, you'd spend hours digging through public records to find information on somebody or do a background check (or hire somebody to do it for you). Now, you can use an online database which keeps track of public records for you. These sites generally have a lot of information (most of which comes from public records) and charge a small fee to access it.

One of the bigger sites that I like is called Intelius. This site will let you search for people using a variety of variables (name, SSN, etc.). They'll also let you do instant background checks and criminal checks on people.

These sites are a huge time saver when you're looking for information. However, many us don't like having our public records easily available for anybody who wants them. And sadly, it's not always easy to have yourself removed from these databases.

Intelius does allow you to have your own records removed if you like. You just have to fax them valid proof of your identity (like a drivers license). However, after removal, you may find yourself back in the database as new public records are added to it. So, you'll either have to continually ask to be removed or have your public records sealed.

Technology is one of those double edged swords. While extremely helpful and valuable, modern technology has also resulted in a near total loss of privacy. Thanks to the Obama administration, even your medical records aren't private anymore.

For more information about background checks, click here.