Business and Economy
3 Reasons To Use A Free Background Check
Background checks are an essential part of the process of hiring an employee, renting out a property, or approving a loan. They tell companies essential information about whether they can trust the individual with important financial decisions. But are there times in everyday life when a background check is called for?
It might seem a little intrusive at first. After all, most people would rather others didn’t look into their background. However, there are occasions on which doing your due diligence is totally called for.
The good news is that you can do a free background check on just about anyone. Before you write it off as an invasion of privacy, consider the following scenarios.
A New Neighbor
If you live in a suburb, you have certain security expectations. You want to be able to walk home at night without worrying about potential muggers. And you want to know that your children can play or walk to friends’ houses without the danger of anyone hurting them. Now, when someone sells their property or rents it out to a stranger, they are responsible for making sure the person is trustworthy. A homeowners association may have certain requirements.
But you can’t be sure they did their homework, or even if they decided to overlook some stuff in their haste to sell or rent.
A background check will find you a person’s basic criminal history, as well as whether they’re on the sex offenders’ registry. It can also find anything murky from their past, even if it didn’t make it onto their permanent record.
Dating
We’re used to immediacy these days. Want to get somewhere? Open Uber or Lyft and you’ll have a ride in no time. Want something to eat? Uber Eats, Postmates, and other services will get your food to you. Interested in dating? Tinder, Hinge, Grindr, and more will find people nearby.
The problem with the last example is that dating apps don’t have the same security controls. Anyone can use them, and pretend to be someone they aren’t. This is fine if you’re meeting at a public place like a restaurant, but what about the inevitable moment they ask you over to their place?
A background check beforehand can save you a lot of anxiety, and will give you a head’s up if the person you’re considering dating is problematic.
You’re renting
While background checks on a tenant are commonplace, it’s as important for tenants to check on their landlords. When you’re agreeing to rent someone’s place, you’re trusting them when they give you a history of the place. You’re trusting they’ll see to maintenance. You’re trusting they’ll keep to the terms of the contract.
And you’re also trusting that they’re going to be solvent for the foreseeable future. If they miss payments on their house or apartment, you’re going to find yourself with no place to stay.
Doing a background check beforehand to ensure they don’t have evidence of a criminal past or a string of bad credit is the responsible way to go about it.