What methods do background check investigators use to gather information about individuals they are investigating for others?

Fortunately, we don’t have to use the Internet, as many PIs do nationwide. They charge for what you can access for free.

In 1982, we started our in-house computer system called US UNITE. Through this system, we access background investigation data and produce court-ready documents. Although you may not use this information in a court proceeding, you should seek that quality in your investigator.

Your investigator must acknowledge that all the information obtained is through the Privacy Act, the Fair Credit Report Act, and the GLB Act. If they don’t or have no idea about these three laws, then find someone else.

We will give you a detailed list of the methods and/or indexes we have used for the past 43 years. First, though, a common misconception to put on the table. We can not access a person’s credit report without their permission. If your client has a judgment against the subject, you can generally access a credit report as the client is a judgment creditor without their consent.

Using our system, we gather information from the following indexes for our basic search:

1. Twenty-year address history
   
2. Obtaining or Confirming the subject’s SS# and Date of Birth
   
3. SS# or Date of Birth being used other than their own
   
4. Name of anyone using their social number, including their address
   
5. All Statewide Real Property
   
6. Consumer Public Filings Nationwide, which include bankruptcies, notice of defaults, judgments, tax liens and problems with the IRS
   
7. Corporate and Limited Partnership Information
   
8. Uniform Commercial Code Index Information
   
9. Civil (Plaintiff and Defendant) and Criminal (Felonies and Misdemeanors) records
   
10. Fictitious Business Name Index
    
11. Professional Licensing
    
12. Name and addresses of neighbors and businesses
    
13. Education and Employment Verification
    
14. Driver’s License and Vehicle Records
    
15. Professional and Personal References
    
16. Review Online Presence and Social
17. Media Analysis
    
18. Working with Attorneys, We Obtain Subpoenas For Restricted Information
    
19. Surveillance
    
20. Interviews and Interrogations of Subjects with Direct Knowledge of the Subject.
    
    Whatever the depth and scope of a background investigation, your investigator should be in a report form with a table of contents for easy reading and comprehension.