3 Free and Easy Ways to Background Check Your Neighbors

It’s easier than ever to research your neighbors online.

Maybe you just moved into a new neighborhood or city. Maybe some new people moved into your neighborhood. Whatever the situation may be, you may want to learn more about your neighbors.

Today, we’re highlighting some of the best strategies to learn more about your neighbors.

1) Run a Criminal Records Search: Criminal records search websites are free resources you can use to check a neighbor’s criminal record. Many of these websites provide extensive information for free, although you may need to pay for a more detailed record lookup.

2) Check Free Sex Offender Registries: The United States Department of Justice maintains the National Sex Offender Public Website at NSOPW.gov. Anyone can use this website to view information about neighbors who have committed sex crimes. Enter a name, search radius, or address to find instant information about a neighbor.

3) Search County and State Courthouse Records: If you want to do a deep dive on a neighbor, lookup local county and state courthouses for more information. These courthouses contain various public records about individuals, including birth and death certificates, marriage license certificates, deeds and mortgages, driving records, criminal and sex offender records, court records, and more.

Remember: you sleep beside your neighbors every night. If you don’t know who your neighbors are, then you may never feel truly secure in your own home. Run a free background check on your neighbors today for peace of mind.

What Appears on an Employer’s Background Check?

You applied to your dream job. You nailed the interview. Now, your employer is running a background check – and you’re nervous.

What appears on an employer’s background check? How far back do employer background checks go? Will employers be able to see a random arrest from when you were a teenager?

Today, we’re explaining everything you need to know about what appears – and what does not appear – on a typical employer background check.

Employment Verification: Your new employer will contact past employers to verify you worked there.

Education and License Check: Did you really graduate from college with a 4.0 GPA? Some employers contact schools to verify your education. Employers may also check licensing organizations and other regulatory bodies.

Criminal Record: Most employers run some type of background check on all new employees. 13 states prevent employers from viewing information older than seven years. Most states, however, allow employers to view any public information. Arrest records, misdemeanors, felonies, and other information can all appear on a criminal record.

Identity Verification: Some people use fake names or aliases to infiltrate an organization. Employers will check your identity to verify you have a validly issued ID, and that your information matches your name. Your employer may ask for a driver’s license, passport, or other piece of government-issued photo ID.

Driving Record: If your job requires driving a company vehicle, then your employer may run a driving record check. Your employer will check your motor vehicle record (MVR) from your local authority (like your DMV). Any DUIs or similar convictions may appear, as will speeding tickets, citations, fines, penalties, and other infractions.

Drug Use: Employers may require a drug screening before hiring you. In this situation, you may need to visit a clinic or lab to provide a urine, saliva, or hair sample. Your employer will receive a report highlighting any drug usage – including legal or illegal drugs, prescription medication, and more.

Employers can legally request this information – although they generally need your permission to do so. Employers must also work with a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) registered agency to run a background check.

Top 3 Free Online Background Check Tools

There are plenty of paid background check websites out there. But what if you just want a basic checkup on someone? What if you don’t want to pay $10 to $15 for a background check?

Lucky for you, there are plenty of free background check resources available – including government databases, county courthouses, and free online services.

Today, we’re highlighting the best three online background check tools you can use today in seconds.

The National Sex Offender Public Website

The National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW.gov) is a comprehensive database listing anyone in your neighborhood convicted of sex crimes.

With a few seconds of searching, you can see if anyone around you has a history of sex crimes. You can:

·         Search by name (using a first name and last name)

·         Search by location (entering an address, city or town, or state)

·         Search by radius (entering your own address, a school address, or any other location)

You can instantly view information from the people around you. Some are curious about what their new neighborhood is like. Others are investigating a creepy coach, neighbor, or teacher.

Whatever the reason may be, NSOPW is an excellent (and free) government resource used to track people convicted of sex crimes.

The National Center for State Courts

The National Center for State Courts website (NCSC.org) connects you with state and county courts across America. Most public records are stored in state or county courts. If you were arrested, married, or divorced in that county, for example, then your record appears in that county courthouse database.

If you know the general location where someone lives (or was arrested), or if you are curious about your county’s record-keeping practices, then you may be surprised what you find at the NCSC.org website. It’s totally free to use.

Free Criminal Record Check Websites

Some criminal record check websites require payment to complete a search. Other websites, however, are free to use.

Enter a first name and last name, then browse available information to get started.

In many cases, criminal record checks offer some information for free – and other information for paying customers. You may be able to view someone’s date of birth, marriage certification, and five arrest records for free, for example, and then pay extra to access a complete profile.

Whether doing a deep dive or a brief search, you can find plenty of free information at criminal record check websites.

It’s Legal and Normal to Run Background Checks on Your Neighbors

Take a look out your front window. Look up and down the street. Do you know the name and background of each one of your neighbors?

Even in a friendly neighborhood, it’s rare to know detailed information about the people you live around. Sure, you might know names and basic info. But most of us know very little about the people living within 100 feet of us.

That could be a problem. Millions of crimes are committed across the United States every year, and many of those crimes occur in safe, trusted neighborhoods. Plus, approximately 1 in 3 Americans have a criminal record. 

If you don’t know your neighbors, then you could be putting your family at risk.

That’s why many Americans now use background checks or criminal record searches to discover more information about their neighbors.

Yes, it’s legal to run a background check on your neighbors. In fact, in some situations, you would be stupid not to run a criminal record check.

Criminal Record Checks Are Legal When Done for Personal Reasons

You can run a criminal background check on another person without their permission in most cases. As long as you’re running the background check for personal reasons and are not planning to commit a crime with that information, there should be no legal reason why you cannot run a criminal record check on a neighbor.

It’s illegal to run a background check on someone without their permission if you’re using that background check to assess the person’s employability or credit score. Landlords also need to get the permission of the prospective tenant before running a background check.

For most others, however, it’s legal to run a check on your neighbors.

What You’ll Learn from a Criminal Record Check

Criminal records are public information. They’re accessible to the general public if you know where to look. Some of the most useful things you can discover about your neighbors from a criminal record check include:

• Marriage and divorce records 
• Misdemeanors and felonies
• Sexual offenses
• Arrest records, including arrests that did not lead to convictions
• DUIs, reckless driving citations, and other criminal driving offenses

Remember: one in three Americans have a criminal record. Statistically, if 100 people live on your street, then 33 of them will have a criminal record. Perform a quick criminal record check or arrest record search on your neighbors today to give yourself peace of mind.

Check Your Friend’s Records Online

Many people claim they know everything about their best friends. Some have been friends since their childhood and have been through a lot of things together. But how much do you really know about your closest friends? Maybe some time has passed, and you’ve been disconnected from them for a while. Did you do something crazy in your younger days together? Wondering if there are records of that attached to your names? Wouldn’t you like to know what they’ve been up to in your absence? Now you can find that information online!

Did you know there are websites which contain databases of people’s public records? You can find out if your friends have gotten married or divorced, if they’ve gone to court recently, if they’ve filed for bankruptcy, or if they’ve gotten in trouble with the law. By just typing in your friend’s name and adding some details, you can find out if your little mischief attached itself to your criminal records. These background search websites compile records from different institutions such as courts, police stations, sex offender lists, and other agencies. Within only a few minutes, you’ll be able to read a comprehensive report on your friend and what they’ve been up to. Offenses as a juvenile won’t appear on your records as an adult, but if you have a juvenile record you can file a petition in juvenile court to get it sealed. Details may also include updated contact information and address so you can catch up with them if they’re willing to do so. You might be looking for them because they owe you a drink, or because it’s been too long since you last met. See what your friends have been up to and let them know you’re interested in catching-up with them.

Are You Being Harassed By Anonymous Callers? Check Public Records Now!

It’s Friday night and you’re trying to enjoy your favorite series on Netflix. You have your pizza, soda, and chips ready. As you’re enjoying your show the phone rings. You pick up. You hear heavy breathing and nothing else. You’re trying to talk to this person, but then they hang up. You’re sick of this harassment and decide to get caller-ID. They call again and pull off the same stunt, except this time you have their phone number. What do you do now? Conduct a public record search.
 

Now that you know the number of your harasser, you can find this person’s name and address through a reverse phone number look up. With this information you can make a very thorough report to the police and get the matter resolved quickly. If it’s someone you know you can choose to confront them directly or head to the police anyway. You can also do a criminal background search to see if you’re in any danger from this person. If they’re registered as a sex offender or have arrest records for being violent then you need to report everything you know to the police right away! Don’t take harassing phone calls lightly, act now and save yourself from potential danger!

Should You Search For Criminal History of Your Kid’s New Teacher?

School is a place where you should feel confident about the safety of your kids. They’re there for most of the week, surrounded by friends and concerned adults. However, there just seems to be something odd about that new teacher at school. Are you being paranoid? Perhaps, but if your gut is telling you something is off, you should listen to it, because schools just aren’t as safe as they used to be.

Incidences of sexual harassment by teachers and other members of faculty are rampant throughout the U.S. Some of they may even be on the list of “sexual offenders”, but somehow slipped through the cracks and ended up being your daughter’s basketball coach. A lot of these sexual offenses are often covered-up because of the involvement of minors and because the school wants to avoid a scandal. For the schools to do a criminal background search on their teachers should be easy, yet somehow these offending teachers manage to get passed around through schools with a glittering recommendation. This practice is called, “passing the garbage” and schools do it all the time to get rid of their problematic teachers. It is because of this neglectful behavior that your children might end up having a violent P.E. teacher, a ‘creepy’ chemistry professor, or a math teacher dealing drugs to your kids! A simple public record search can tell you if you children’s faculty have been involved in criminal activities. You can see if they’ve been convicted of sexual offenses, theft, drug offenses, violent crimes, or if they’ve even served some jail time.

Your schools might not care what kind of criminal records their teachers have, but you should! You want your children to be in a safe environment and making sure their teachers are good, decent people is part of that!