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To: MD Expat in PA

Im sure its different state to state. But in The Socialist Republic of MN, the state has a website where you can look up anybody’s records. For free, all you need is a name.

http://pa.courts.state.mn.us/


17 posted on 02/07/2013 7:29:07 PM PST by J05h
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To: J05h
Im sure its different state to state. But in The Socialist Republic of MN, the state has a website where you can look up anybody’s records. For free, all you need is a name.

I believe that all court cases, excepting for sealed family court cases, are a matter of public record and most states and counties have searchable databases, so yes, you are correct, it is free and all you need is a name.

However, the problem is without a DOB or a SSN and with someone with a rather common name it can be difficult to determine if you have the right person. I searched the database you linked to on criminal cases – closed on the name Joseph Brown and I came up with a lot of results, some with the name, Joseph Brown but with different DOB’s but of a similar age, and many Joseph Brown’s with different middle names but again some with the same but different DOB’s.

Another problem for some larger employers like the one I work for is that we hire in multiple states and we do a lot of hiring and so it would be impractical for someone in our department to search all these databases and hope we have the right person. Not to mention that some people, like myself have lived in several different states.

So it is worth the expense for us to use a reputable background check service that will not only perform criminal background checks but also DMV record checks (i.e. non-criminal moving violations), employment and educational verifications and reference checks (and credit checks if we chose to do those) all for a single and reasonable fee. But they will not perform these checks without a signed release from the applicant, the legally acceptable form for that particular state and an SSN and DOB and as I said, it is illegal to ask for an SSN and DOB on a job application.

And by having the applicant sign a release for a background check, it not only protects the employer from possible lawsuits if we were to perform an unauthorized background check and refuse employment to someone based on false results, it also protects the applicant as by signing the release, it also gives them the opportunity to question negative results that they believe are in error just like you do when you apply for credit or a mortgage if some of the information on your credit report is in error; it protects you and gives you the opportunity to rightfully dispute either inaccurate records or prove you are not the same person as the one that some database says has a criminal record.

And FWIW, I receive and process lots of requests for employment verifications for current employees when they apply for mortgages, car loans, etc. and for former employees when they apply for new employment and I will absolutely not give verbal verification of employment or salary information over the phone, I absolutely require they provide a release signed by the employee before I will even affirm that the person is or ever was our employee. Someone calling me claiming to be from XYZ Bank may not be who they say they are, could be a stalker, crazy ex, someone with a vendetta or someone trying to engage in identity theft, so no copy of a signed release – absolutely no information is given. The only exception is court ordered child support and IRS and state garnishment requests and they are never done by phone and always by a standard form via mail.

All that being said, I think the proposed Syracuse, NY legislation, not allowing an employer “to ask a job applicant whether he or she has been convicted of a crime” is stupid. But at the end of the day, an applicant can still lie or omit things on their application and only by performing a background check can an employer verify and most employers are not going to go to the trouble and expense either in money or effort of doing that unless they are ready to make a job offer anyway. This is just another example of how “legislators” make it more difficult for businesses to operate, burden them with needless regulations and I bet dollars to doughnuts that neither of these morons have ever run a business themselves or even had a real job in the real world.

18 posted on 02/08/2013 4:57:33 AM PST by MD Expat in PA
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