The final judgment in a legal preceding after all the evidence is presented to the court.

FCRA requires that two adverse action notices need to be sent to job candidates that will not be hired following completion of a background check:

1. Pre-Adverse Action Notice: Letter is sent to the candidate when an employer decides not to hire the candidate based in whole or in part on the results of the background check. The letter should include a copy of the background report.
2. Post-Adverse Action Notice: Letter contains the information that adverse action was taken against the subject by the employer. The Consumer Reporting Agency is not involved in the decision to not hire the subject; the decision to hire is solely that of the prospective employer.

An AKA name is an additional name a person was known by at any given time. Often an AKA may be a legal additional name such as a maiden name, legally changed name, or a middle name used as a first name. An AKA may also be used for other reasons, for example a name used to hide criminal records or illegal immigration status.

Typically background checks include a search of various public records. This may include criminal records, employment history, education verification, and in some cases civil records. Other important components may include Social Security Number traces (to locate person’s residence history), driving history (full name and date of birth). In the case of common names (such as John Smith); these personal identifiers help to prevent both false positive and false negative results especially for criminal record searches.

Civil records record court decisions in disputes between individuals. A background check of civil records is typically used to evaluate patterns of litigious behavior. For example, a civil record search may reveal a person who exhibits litigious behavior or information that would aid a criminal record search like name changes and restraining orders.

Credit history review is an essential tool to help prevent workplace theft, fraud and embezzlement. Credit history may indicate significant negatives such as federal, state or county tax liens, bankruptcies, auto repossession, home repossession, bad-debt charge-offs, and multiple accounts in collection status, and may indicate an individual that is under substantial financial pressure.

Employers are required to provide a safe and secure work environment for all employees. Knowledge of felony and misdemeanor criminal records may be an important consideration for employers.

European data protection and privacy acts are strictly enforced. The UK Data Protection Act limits the search of personal information of people living in the United Kingdom. Organizations in the United Kingdom are legally obliged to comply with this Act in most cases and limits the data a background check can legally discover.

Driving history provides date of birth and full name of the subject which enables accurate identification of criminal records; In the case of common names (such as John Smith); this information prevents both false positive and false negative results. Driving History also provides record of traffic convictions and violations that can be instrumental when conducting threat risk assessment in cases of workplace threats of violence.

A process which evaluates the assets and liabilities of a specific company; it may include a financial evaluation, business reputation, competition, offices, and other factors. Due diligence may also check the veracity of information provided about a company or person (typically an executive or investor).

Most universities / colleges will confirm completed & awarded degrees. Some will confirm attendance for individuals that attended but did not graduate. When a degree cannot be confirmed, we will ask the university to confirm a document claimed by the applicant/ job candidate; this may prevent instances of fraud or forged documents.

Employment history verification typically includes the person’s dates of employment, their job title, plus salary confirmation, and eligibility for rehire if provided by the employer. Currently employed individuals may not consent to having their current employer contacted.

An act of spying on a company, it’s employees, vendors or clients to adversely affect that company or detract from it’s competitive business advantage.

A deep-level screening based on the information provided by an executive to determine the veracity of the information provided, and further evaluation of information that has not been disclosed either accidentally or deliberately. Executive responsibilities may be both financial and fiduciary; and ultimately may affect the outcome of key business relationships and bottom line profitability.

All records of an arrest, court case and related penalties may be expunged (or purged) from the public record. In some cases records may be sealed away and made unavailable to public repositories if a judge is petitioned by the subject successfully. Such records cannot be reported for employment-related purposes. Federal criminal records cannot be expunged.

A United States federal law that regulates the collection and use of consumer information, including consumer credit information, for employment purposes.

A United States federal law that prohibits United States firms from bribing foreign officials in order to obtain or retain business

An employment background check report is called a Consumer Report in California. A subject’s rights and an employer's obligations are included in this Act. Investigative Consumer Reports are limited to publically available documents and personal interviews of a subject’s personal acquaintances and business associates by “any means.”

Negligent hiring is the premise that an employer can be liable for the violent and criminal acts or of its employees if the employer did not adequately investigate the employee’s background and could have prevented hiring the employee.

Negligent Retention occurs when an employer fails to remove an employee from a position of responsibility after it becomes known that the employee behaved in a way that posed a danger to other employees.

A summary of all real property purchases, loans and refinancing that are recorded by a specific county where the property is located.

This act prohibits the transfer of personal data of European citizens to non-European Union nations that do not meet the European standard of privacy protection. The standard of “adequacy” is set by the European Commission.

A threat is a communicated intent to inflict harm upon another person. A warning, implied or implicitly stated, by a party that harm against another person is imminent. A threat may be against a person’s safety, well-being, or health.

This federal act was initiated to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and to prevent, detect and prosecute international money laundering and financing of terrorism.

Violence or threats that are made by anyone internally or externally at a company (including employees, co-workers, managers, clients or others outside the company) against individuals within the company.