More and more organizations are requiring criminal background checks on volunteer help. This is most prevalent in the education sector where K-12 schools are now mandating criminal background checks on their volunteers. This trend comes with caution and trepidation on the part of parents who want to do volunteer work for the school but are either hesitant to give up their personal information like their social security number or just don’t want to go through a background check. School officials state that they already have enough difficulty getting the volunteer help they need and by mandating background checks on such help they fear they will not get enough volunteer help to fill all the open positions. Certainly flexibility is needed when conducting background checks on school volunteers and school background screening policies need to reflect this.

The current majority view is that volunteer background checks are necessary for risk mitigation, weeding out potential malfeasants and also to reduce insurance rates. It is common understanding that volunteers that spend time with at-risk populations like children and the elderly should go through a criminal background check that includes a national sex offender search. However, schools and other organizations need to take into consideration the length of time since an offense occurred as well as to identify what offenses would result in not hiring the volunteer. Discretion should also be used to minimize the number of eye balls allowed to look at a volunteer person’s criminal history to avoid reputation damage and discrimination.

Right now the trend is clear as across the United States more and more schools and other organizations have been updating their employment screening policies to include volunteer help. To read more about volunteer background checks and protecting at-risk populations view recent CriminalBackgroundRecords.com press release: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2104-10-21-Volunteer-Checks-A-Critical-Tool-in-All-Areas-of-Volunteering.html

Many landlords simply perform a credit check on applicants prior to renting or signing a lease.  However an eviction report is perhaps the most telling document a landlord can use as it greatly informs a potential tenant’s rental history.  An eviction report is a singular disqualifier as no landlord or property manager would rent to an applicant that has just recently been evicted by a previous landlord or apartment management company.  Typically a good eviction check costs around $20 to perform and is worth every penny.  A thorough tenant background check should include a credit check, criminal history check, national sex offender search and an eviction search.  The more information a landlord has the better their leasing decisions will be.  To learn more about the importance of eviction reports in the tenant screening process read recent TenantScreeningUSA.com press release:  http://tenantscreeningusa.com/tenant-screening-news/evictions-reports-integral-to-the-tenant-screening-process/

False unaccredited degrees from diploma mills are on the rise and can cause problems for employers. For a fee a diploma mill offers degrees, diplomas or certificates to people with little or no coursework required. Quick degrees that require little or no education is not what employers are looking for. Many employers are requiring a legitimate bachelor’s degree as part of a job requirement. It is now more important than ever for employers to conduct an education verification prior to hiring to make sure the degree listed on the resume is in fact a valid degree and satisfies job requirements. An education verification can be conducted through a third party background screening company like CriminalBackgroundRecords.com. An education verification typically costs around $20. In addition to a criminal background check an education verification as part of a pre-employment screening policy is a smart idea as diploma mills keep producing false and unaccredited degrees. Performing an education verification in addition to other valuable background checks will help screen out diploma mill degrees and help employers hire the right candidates. To read more about how education verifications can help weed out diploma mill degrees view recent CriminalBackgroundRecords.com press release: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2014-8-22-Diploma-Mills-The-Scourge-of-Employers-and-Education-Verification.html

Laws regarding ban-the-box made in 2013 have no uniformity, and new laws in the works for 2014 look to add even more confusion for US based employers. In some jurisdictions and States that have enacted ban-the-box legislation aren’t just removing the “criminal history” checkbox on job applications, they also require the employer to wait until after the first phase of the employment screening process before placing a criminal background check on the applicant. Initial phase can be unclear but typically means after a first interview has been conducted. Some States like Hawaii make employers wait until after a conditional offer of employment has been made in order to perform a criminal background check on the applicant. One thing is clear, this initiative is not going away and more ban-the-box laws are going into effect in 2014 leaving employers to scramble to make sure their 2014 employment screening policies stay or become compliant with local and State laws. Partnering with an independent third party background screening company can greatly assist employers stay compliant with laws concerning employment screening, especially ban-the-box related laws. To read more regarding the impact of ban-the-box legislation view recent CriminalBackgroundRecords.com press release: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2014-1-13-Background-Screening-Trends-2014.html

Sacrificing tenant checks to ensure continued income is not a good idea for off-season rentals. A Martha’s Vineyard landlord rented out her house for the winter (off season), and ended up with some bad tenants that destroyed her property and even stole her bike. The damage was so extensive that the security deposit didn’t come close to covering the costs. Off-season rentals can be a huge challenge and lures in a lot of bad tenants. The temptation to keep a property full sometimes leads to costly tenants and even expensive and time consuming evictions. If it is a must that a property be occupied year long then it is equally imperative that thorough and professional tenant checks are conducted prior to handing over the keys to your valuable property. Some landlord’s especially single unit owners sacrifice tenant checks in order to ensure continued income. As the Martha’s Vineyard woman found out, it is not worth skipping the tenant screening process to keep your rental property leased. In the end the cost of a professional tenant check is negligible compared to the cost of a bad tenant. To learn more about the challenges of off-seasonal rentals read recent TenantScreeningUSA.com press release: http://tenantscreeningusa.com/tenant-screening-news/off-season-rental-properties-dont-sacrifice-tenant-checks-to-ensure-continued-income/

There are several background record reports that should be included in most employment screening policies. Companies and organizations looking to make new hires should perform background checks on them that include a criminal history check, social security number trace, sex offender registry check and in some cases a motor vehicle record check and consumer credit report check. Put simply the purpose of proper background screening is risk mitigation. Even with new laws and regulations emerging in the employment screening arena, incorporating professional background reports in the employment screening process protect the company/organization, its already existing employees and those who the new employee would come in contact with while working. The key in the current employment screening atmosphere is to use a professional third party background screening company that can provide legal background reports and help with compliance issues during the constantly evolving laws, rules and guidelines associated with the background screening industry. To learn more about this subject read recent CriminalBackgroundRecords.com press release: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2013-10-3-Background-Screening-and-Risk-Mitigation.html

Institutions of higher learning have been adding questions about criminal history and sex offender status as part of their student application process. The University of Washington is one such college that recently added such questions to their student application process. The University’s questions are very specific: “Have you ever been convicted of a violent felony offense, are such charges currently pending against you and have you been required to register as a sex offender in the USA or abroad?” Changes to the University’s student application process were prompted due to the discovery of two Level Three sex offenders that were enrolled in 2012. With background screening laws changing and being disputed, and the background screening requirements not being standardized and the proper use of criminal history records varying from industry to industry it is a good time for organizations including colleges and universities to partner with a professional third party background screening company. Such a partnership should help Universities stay compliant with current law regarding the background screening industry while giving them access to the most current and accurate background records available. To learn more about this subject read recent CriminalBackgroundRecords.com press release: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2013-9-10-College-Applications-Include-Criminal-History-and-Sex-Offender-Questions.html

With all 50 US States required to maintain their own sex offender registries it only makes sense that academia, government and corporate America search these registries prior to hiring. Penn State University has recently updated their employment screening protocols to now include criminal background checks. After the sex abuse scandal and subsequent cover up the University is taking proactive measures to thwart the likelihood of another incident. The incorporation of professional background checks is a great course to take in a larger effort to mitigate risk and increase safety. Most professional third party background screening companies in the USA now include a national sex offender search with their criminal background checks.

To learn more about Penn States’ new criminal background check policy read recent CriminalBackgroundRecords.com press release: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2012-09-12-College-Football-Criminal-Background-Checks.html

Anyone can go to a county court house or other place where court records are stored and lookup these public records themselves. However, it is time consuming and sometimes courts have fees for accessing certain public records. Nowadays it is much easier to lookup public records online through a third party background retrieval company like CriminalBackgroundRecords.com. For a small fee one can look up their own criminal history or search for other public records like eviction records. The site has added a new Public Records webpage to help browsers and users understand what a public record is and some of the rules that apply for using certain public records for employment screening and other uses. To learn more about Public Records and restrictions that apply for certain uses of such information visit the Public Records webpage found at: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/public-records.html

For public record researchers finding as many possible matching records as they can on an individual is ideal.  However, all users of public information do not share this belief.  In fact employers a huge group of people that use public records, primarily criminal background records don’t want lots of data, they want real information that helps them to make wise employment screening decisions.

As the background retrieval industry moves to meet the demands of the employment screening clients within it, the quest of providing relevant, up to date and current criminal background checks begins.  Part of accomplishing this feat is to provide more exact matching logic schemes that produce only criminal records associated with the person being investigated and not a bunch of data on people that aren’t being investigated.  The key factors in achieving more precise matching is the pairing of unique identifiers like exact name, date of birth and social security number matching.  Another key process for employers using instant criminal records retrieval searches like statewide or national criminal background checks is to then perform a county criminal check if a record is found at the state or national level.  This ensures that the criminal record influencing an employment decision is in fact accurate, up to date, current and pertaining to the individual in question.

CriminalBackgroundRecords.com facilitates the removal and or expungement of criminal records for people with a court order to maintain the relevancy and accurateness of the criminal records they provide.

To read more about the relevancy of criminal records and the emergence of more precise employment screening as well as why using county criminal checks as a final qualifier of accuracy of criminal record reports is a wise decision read recent press release found at:  http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2012-02-21-What-if-Criminal-Record-Found-is-not-You.html