Be Your Own Private Eye

If you have ever been issued a court decision you know that court records are generated in the process.  In the case of a birth or death, divorce or property arrangements, some form of legal document is given to those involved directly in the case.  For those who are not directly involved, getting those records can take some time and diligence.

Court records of a public nature are frequently found online.  Many states provide these records without charge for legitimate purposes.  Those records that aren’t online may be closed or presently unavailable; it takes time to get old records scanned in.  More recent documents are more likely to appear online as the scanning process takes off.  The problem is that the sheer amount of information available online can make the process tedious.

When looking for your own court records, you are still going to encounter some restrictions.  It might seem to you that any records pertaining to your life should be accessible to you, but prior to the 1980s it was very common for adoption records to be closed.  In a worst case scenario you may find yourself delving into records that aren’t legal to view, and that can get you into trouble.  The more information you have going in to your search, the more likely that you will find the correct record.  Persistence is important in such a search, and it may take more time and emotional energy than you want to invest.

This is where the professional search company comes in.  They can teach you what you need to know to search court records properly, or you can simply hire them to do that job.  If you are looking for an unusual court record there is no doubt that a professional company will have a better shot at finding the documents.  Consider using this valuable resource when you go looking for court records online.

For obvious reasons, people are very protective of their Social Security Numbers, which is why a private individual can’t initiate a social security search.  With someone’s number and birth date it only takes a few minutes to steal an individual’s identification.  Once your identity has been stolen it can be a matter of moments that causes a loss of control over you life.  Credit cards, bad loans and stolen bank accounts are just the beginning of your troubles, and it can take years to recover your credit history and score.

Still, a social security search is the best way to investigate someone and get accurate information about them and their financial situation.  The solution to this seeming dilemma is to use a private company to search out information about someone using their social security number.  Creditors, banks, medical institutions and the federal government, as well as a select number of others have the right to search a person’s history utilizing their social security number.  Several online companies can access the same information discreetly, providing you with accurate information.

As we all know a quick search on Google for a specific individual can produce mixed results.  The more you know about the person you are investigating the better your odds of finding the right individual, but it can be a hit or miss proposition.  If you ever want to see how erratic the results are, see what you can pull up on your own name.  You are more likely to find your Facebook page than you are to find any useful information.

If what you need is accurate, reliable information, choose a reputable online search service and let them do the work for you.  Once you have the basics you may very well be able to track down all the documents you need, on your own and become your own private eye.

In the modern world in which we live, it is increasingly common to meet new dates over the Internet.  The advantages provided with Internet dating are quickly decreased when you realize that anyone can say anything about themselves in an online profile.  Using people search programs you can safely investigate any individual before you ever meet them.  This fantastic new ability has the benefit of preventing potentially dangerous situations, especially for young women.

Running a people search on a criminal data base will keep you from falling prey to some con artist that has a history of financial scams or worse crimes.  Searching public divorce records helps you verify whether or not the fellow you saw last night really did get a divorce.  Did your date really go to Yale?  Check the school’s graduation records.  A universe of information is available online; you just have to know how to look for it.

It is surprising to discover just how much inaccurate information is available on sites such as Google and Facebook.  Since we all have the ability to create a public profile on any number of social sites, verifying data is critical to safety in the modern age.  A good online search program is the way to go.

Today anyone can enter a request for access of public records and get results in a matter of minutes.  Using a search site is just smart for women who all too often find themselves on the bad end of a scary date.  Many sites have an annual membership, allowing you to access public records of numerous individuals all year long.  If you use online dating services this is critical to your safety.  As long as your date gives you an accurate name, you can do a background check before you leave the comfort of your home.   If the name they gave you doesn’t even match the phone number used, you already know that something may not be quite right.

Take charge of your safety and security, use an online search site and know something more about a potential date than the color of their hair and hobbies.  Online people search is the way to go.

An essential part of being a private investigator is developing the ability to find, track, monitor and obtain information.  These are essential skills you have to learn so you can succeed in this industry.  If you will be conducting research using court records as a private investigation newbie, here are tips you should use:

Know where to look
Not every court record you need to obtain about an individual can be found in only one source.  Many times, you’ll find that you will have to go through different database sources in order to obtain a comprehensive report.  Certain court records, for example, may be available only through county or state databases while others will only require you to go local.

Learn how to use court records legally
If you’re a private investigation newbie, you’ve probably heard of the secret or exclusive national database that you can access in order to obtain not just court records but every other personal record known to exist on anyone in the country.  Well, this is a myth.

There is one such records database but it can only be accessed and used by authorized law enforcement personnel of the FBI.  In case you or someone you know obtain court records from this database through illegal means, you should understand that there are legal consequences you’ll have to face.

If you want to use court records efficiently, find out any restrictions that are in place in your state.  Some states, for example, restrict the use of court records that have been sealed or expunged.  There are also states that limit how you can use first-offense records or non-conviction records.  These restrictions can significantly affect how efficiently you can use these court records on behalf of your client.

Learn how to interpret information
There are ways people can access court records without the help of a private investigator but many still turn to professionals for help.  The reason is that there are terminologies used in court records that most people do not readily understand.

In the course of your training as a private investigator, you should be able to learn what these terminologies are.  You will be able to use court records more efficiently if you can read and interpret court records without having to turn to another professional for help, saving time and money in the process.

Be careful when dealing with personal information
In your capacity as a private investigator, you are expected to be discreet about whatever information you might uncover.  This is especially true if you are a newbie.  Be careful about making copies of the documents, even if they are permissible copies.  Do not be careless about handling them.  A good part of your value as a private investigator newbie lies not just on your ability to use court records efficiently but also in helping protect an individual’s right to privacy.

image credits to sxc.hu

A nanny plays a crucial role in many family’s lives.  They don’t only take care of your children, they also help you maintain a career, keep your sanity and otherwise live a normal, stress-free life.  But not all nannies are perfect and some of them may even mean bad news.  So how to screen your nanny?  Do it the way a private eye should.  Here are some tips you can use:

Look for a professional nanny service
Unless you know the nanny very well, best hire someone who works for a nanny service agency.  These are companies that screen, hire and deploy nannies to households.  What they do is to essentially function as the nanny’s employers and offering the nanny’s services on his/her behalf.

Always look for an agency that has had good standing.  If the agency has sufficient experience, they will be able to offer you guaranteed service – which, in the long run, will keep you and your children safe.

Ask for a resume
Nannies should have a list of employers on their resume.  This piece of paper should give you a good idea of the extent of the nanny’s experience.  Review the list carefully and take note of certain information, such as:

- the nanny’s employers
- the number of children under their care
- the length of service
- types of services she can perform such as tutoring

Ask for referrals
The nanny’s list of referrals is very important information.  The list should have the complete name of these referrals, along with their contact information such as addresses and phone numbers.

Referrals are generally the nanny’s former employers – the family who hired them and the agencies they worked with.  Get in touch with these referrals and ask them about how the nanny performed while in their employ.  This should give you a good idea of the nanny’s skills, temperament and overall capability in taking care of your children.

If the list of referrals is not enough for you, don’t hesitate to ask for more.  Or, you could get in touch with the list of employers found in your nanny’s resume.

Interview the nanny
Never hire a nanny that you haven’t talked to.  Always schedule an interview with a potential candidate to assess what they are like in person.  Introduce them to your child and see how they interact.

Do a background check
Once you’ve narrowed down the list of nannies that you can potentially hire, you might want to screen further.  Always check your nanny’s criminal background.  If your potential nanny’s past is littered with crimes such as theft, robbery, assault and the like, they should have no business raising your kids.

If you need help, you could also hire a professional private eye to assist you.  This is if you don’t have the time or resources necessary to help you perform the screening yourself.  A private eye should be able to give you the information you need within 3 to 5 days, cutting your screening period significantly.

image credits to sxc.hu

One of the most common jobs that clients ask a private eye to do is to perform background checks on potential employees.  Employers know that making a bad mistake in hiring someone can be very costly for their company, not to mention very inconvenient indeed, especially since finding a replacement can be a hassle.  If you’ve been hired to check on a job candidate, here are tried and tested tips you can use:

Always ask if the potential employee consented with the screening
To protect the rights of all job applicants, the Fair Credit Reporting Act was implemented.  Be aware that the Act requires the inquirer (in this case, the employer) to show written proof that the potential employee agreed to have a background check performed on him.

You also have to let the applicant know the source of the information you obtained, in case their application is turned down based on whatever data you as a private eye gets to collect.  Remember that the information you will obtain from performing such a background check will affect the outcome of the potential employee’s job application.

Obtain a resume of the potential employee
The resume of the candidate will tell you plenty of things about the person.  It contains information regarding his former employers, the people he worked with (usually included as references) and the school where he got his education.

You should be able to match the information provided by the job applicant with what is factual: did he really work at the company he mentioned in his resume and in such a capacity?  Are his claims regarding the types of responsibilities he had truthful?  Did he really complete the education he said he trained for?

Ask what type of references your client needs
As a professional private eye, you should be able to offer your client different screening services.  Offering a complete, all-in-one package may not be that useful for your client because of the nature of the job that the potential employee will be performing.

You could, for example, offer a basic potential employee screening package covering an employment background check, resume verification and a criminal record check for most job vacancies.  Based on the qualifications required for the job position, you can then extend your screening services to include checks on the potential employee’s education and training, work documentation and any records that might show a criminal past.

Cover your grounds
Be careful about screening a potential employee for your clients.  Cover all the necessary issues to ensure that your client gets all the relevant information about their job applicant.  If they make a bad hiring decision based on the information you provided, they may not remain as your clients for so long.

image credits to sxc.hu

What, exactly, can an employment history record do for you as a private investigator?  In the course of performing your job as a private eye, you will come across a huge variety of records, both public and personal.  Many of these records, such as an employment record, will tell you things about a person you are conducting an investigation about.  But what exactly are you expected to do when using employment history records?

Usage of employment history records for background checks
Employment history records are frequently used as a reference during an investigation or a background check.  Often, this is in relation to a job application, when a client employer would like to screen a potential employee’s personal and professional past.

This is to determine how well suited or qualified the applicant is or if all the qualifications and information provided in his/her resume were truthfully stated.  Many employers would rather avoid problematic hirees, especially those who have a criminal past and those who might have lied or overstated their education, training or other qualifications.

Make a thorough research regarding someone’s employment history
Actually, employers are not legally required to make reference checks about their possible hires.  They simply turn to private investigators to conduct these checks for them in order to validate whatever information is offered by a job applicant.

Employers are also advised to have employment history records checked in order to avoid any liabilities that result from negligent hiring.  As a private investigator, it is your job to ensure that you perform a complete research regarding a person’s employment history records.  Missing a critical piece of information could cost your client a lot.

Know state restrictions regarding employment history records
Not every information you obtain out of someone’s employment history record can be considered as useful by your client.  There are certain states in the U.S. that forbid employers from using certain facts about their client as pre-employment qualifications.  These include age, race, national origin, ancestry, veteran status, physical disability or religion – information you can readily gather from an applicant’s employment records.

Find only relevant data
When checking a person’s employment history record, you should know beforehand the type of qualifications that are required from the applicant.  Focus on what the individual can give in terms of skills, training, knowledge, abilities, attitude and behavior at work based on his past and present performance.

Also, there is a wealth of information you can find on data that has not been provided on the individual’s employment history.  As a private investigator, you could, for example, check on any significant employment gap in the person’s work history – why did they not work for so long?  What were they doing during the interval?  What was the reason they quit in the first place?

When considering employment history records usage, a private investigator must always try to obtain data that will help their clients identify the most important information about a job applicant.  This in turn will help an employer make the right hiring decision.

image credits to sxc.hu

Probably one of the most common documents that you will ever come across with as a private investigator is someone’s criminal record.  Many clients will ask you for this document in the course of your investigation, particularly if they want to hire someone for a job, obtain information about someone they will work with or start personal relations with.  Since criminal records will be a critical component of your job as a PI, here are tips on how to use them properly and efficiently.

Take note of the extent of the violations
A minor driving infraction is not and will never be the same as theft or murder.  When using criminal records in your capacity as a private investigator, carefully assess the type of violations you might find on the criminal record.  Certain cases could only be misdemeanors and may not be considered as serious crimes or felonies.

Consider legal means
There will be times when you will be hired to sift through criminal records by a client, such as when they need to check on a potential job applicant’s background.  There is a limitation regarding the extent to which you as a private eye can use these records.  The Fair Credit Reporting Act will restrict your access to someone’s criminal records in case you’ll be investigating them for a job.

To comply with this Act, you should have the consent of the person before you can perform any background checks on them.  This consent must be in written form.  Make sure you have this because this will help you avoid any legal complications later.

Don’t be tempted by illegally obtained records either.  Although criminal records exist in the county or state level, there is only one nationwide database for criminal records and that is the FBI database.  This database is restricted and unless you are authorized, you cannot access any information contained here.  A black market offering this information is present but don’t fall for it.  If you get caught, you will be slapped by some heavy penalties.

Always practice total discretion
Some criminal records can be obtained by almost anyone online.  There are companies that offer access to information on records of a person’s birth, address, marriage, divorce, bankruptcy, arrests and jail time.  These are paid sites but many of them offer unlimited checks, which allow people to view other people’s criminal records, if such actually do exist.

However, as a private investigator, it’s your job to take good care that these criminal records are not viewed by anyone who has no business regarding the information.  Make sure to respect owner’s right to privacy and be extra careful about handling these records.  What information you might have should be kept between you and your client and should not be discussed with anyone else.

image credits to sxc.hu

Reverse records are very useful for tracing back information about another person.  They can help check a person’s criminal background and act as evidence regarding a possible criminal activity.  Furthermore, they can help prevent potential problems from occurring and can serve as a warning of any potential criminal or predator.  If you’re working as a private investigator, here are things you need to know about reverse records:

What are reverse records?
A reverse record is a document containing information about an individual, such as the name, address and contact number.  These information are often used for identification purposes and for tracing and tracking down a person.

What types of information cannot be accessed through a reverse record?
Only the basic information about a person is usually available as a reverse record.  Some personal information may not be included because of their sensitivity, such as financial records, medical, insurance, driving, social security and employment history.

With a reverse record, a private investigator can also look up the following information about a person:

- Date of birth - which helps you identify the person among others with the same name; also helps verify a person’s age
- Marital status – helps you verify if a person has been married before, how many times and if they have been divorced
- Address history – helps verify, locate and track the person’s whereabouts at a given period of time
- Property records – a list of that person’s assets, useful for determining the person’s financial capability and history
- Associates and relatives – through reverse records, you will be able to obtain information that will help you track a person’s former officemates and co-workers and quite possibly, some of their relatives

State restrictions
Just because almost anyone with the ability and the right access to a resource can make reverse records checks does not mean they can pretty much do anything they want with the information they obtain.  There are state restrictions that limit the use of these records for means that may be derogatory to the individual concerned or affect his personal and/or professional life.

When obtaining these reverse records for your client, make sure you are aware of any restrictions that may be in place in the state where you operate.

Respecting an individual’s privacy
Many of the stuff you’ll obtain from doing reverse records checks are publicly available records.  As a result, the individual who owns that record will not be able to identify who made the request for information.  But just because you are afforded a good amount of anonymity does not excuse you from sharing that information with people other than your client.  Be professional and respect a person’s right to privacy.  The more reliable you are as a private investigator, the more clients will come to trust you.

image credits to sxc.hu

Although the private investigation industry was largely unregulated, it does require aspiring PIs to obtain and maintain a license.  Licenses are usually valid for a set number of years, after which the private investigator will have the option to have it renewed.  However, there are also a number of ways that could cause you to lose your private investigator license.  In case you plan to work as a PI in the future, these are some of the reasons your license could get revoked:

Gross negligence
Negligence in the performance of duties is one of the main reasons that private investigators lose their licenses.  If they are careless or cause their clients or anyone unnecessary harm, it is considered as a violation.

Incompetence
Becoming a private investigator takes skill, training and experience.  Many of the cases that PIs are involved with require specialized knowledge.  If the PI has demonstrated that he or she lacks the necessary skill or ability to perform his duties, it could cause him to lose his license.

Fraud
If the private investigator has committed fraud or any act in which he or she has deliberately cheated his client/s or any person involved directly or indirectly with the investigation, it is considered reason enough to revoke his license.  Fraud may also be committed if the private investigator has obtained money, gifts or favors illegally or through the use of conscious deception.

In case the private investigator used a false identity during the time they applied for a license or if they have falsified their records, they could also stand to lose their private investigator license.  Furthermore, falsification of documents could even result to a criminal prosecution.

Misrepresentation
When performing their jobs, private investigators must sometimes have to use certain techniques in order to obtain the information they need.  They could, for example, use certain pretexts.  However, they are bound by law not to use misrepresentations of any kind.  They cannot claim authority or licenses that they actually do not have.

In case they use advertising to promote their business, private investigators must also take care not to misrepresent their services.  They cannot, for example, promise to perform certain duties that they cannot deliver or for which they have no authority to perform.

Felony conviction
Applicants for a private investigator license are required to have a clean criminal record.  If they can’t demonstrate this, they will not be able to obtain their license.  However, even if they are already practicing as licensed investigators, they could still lose their license in case they become involved in a crime or become convicted of felony charges.  This is especially so if the crime reflects negatively on their moral and professional integrity and honesty.

image credits to jantik