Basic Background Queries

Background queries help you to decide whether the person, business, or asset, is someone with whom you and your company wish to associate. We can run car plates if you have vehicles on a property that require investigation. List price for retained clients is $100 per plate unless you have volume work, then a lower price can be obtained.

Through databases, the basic background query verifies identity information and identifies a possible criminal history, business associations, foreclosures, bankruptcies, liens, places lived, vehicles owned, licenses held, and many other items of possible interest. Background investigation beyond that will be billed at normal rates or billed against additional retainer time.

Database checks are not guaranteed to be accurate, although they usually are correct. They also are not exhaustive. Regardless of the information contained in databases, there still could be additional information and records somewhere, and often there are. For guaranteed, correct records, additional effort must be employed, usually by physically sending an investigator to an entity such as a courthouse to find and obtain a copy of the document (see the Certified Document Retrieval page). Certified copies are a little more expensive than standard copies, and are the best evidence for court submission.

We do standard background queries for $800 (+ tax, which makes it $866) which is a pretty good deal for the personal attention given to each matter. This package is exceedingly better than cheap, nationally advertised, cookie-cutter backgrounds. Our investigation includes professional forensic analysis which often provides the client with a better understanding of what the information may actually mean and how it is relevant. We also use higher quality sources which costs us a lot. Our product is more expensive than the highly advertised services, but ours is the only type background that should be employed. The package includes a "tailored" investigation with all the standard inquiries and data with which people are familiar, and a detailed report (written or verbal).

Keep in mind that according to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) private investigative database-derived information can be used only for security purposes, not for financial decisions. For financial decisions you must run a credit check, which we do not do, unless specifically requested by the person-of-interest themselves. That stipulation is federal law. Consider that many employment positions have a security requirement for the position. That security component of the position is the reason for doing a background query.

True background investigations consist of interviews of friends, family, and employers, and of obtaining official documents from sources. Those kinds of investigations run into the many tens of thousands of dollars or more and can take 6-12 months. The FBI estimates that it spends over $100,000 per person for an employee background investigation.

COST - THE BIG QUESTION

The biggest question on the minds of most people is how to know how much money to spend on an investigation. When considering cost, ask yourself some questions about the problem you are trying to solve. Weigh the monetary costs to the investigation firm against the other costs of not doing the investigation. You may even want to write the information down and enlist the help of someone you trust to help you think through the problem. Writing and speaking out loud will usually help you think more clearly.

(1) What is the problem? Define the problem and all of its elements so that you completely understand it. 

(2) What is at risk? List every risk at stake. There may be more than one.

(3) What is the nature of each risk? Define each risk in detailed terms. Think of risk as anything that you may lose as a consequence of not conducting the investigation. For instance, define the potential cost in broad terms such as time, circumstances, opportunity, and money. Money is not the only way to measure risk. For instance, the risk may be the loss of a good relationship that you want to keep, or the continuance of a bad one that needs to end.

(4) Will that risk create additional risks in the future? The continuance of a bad business relationship which needed to end may result in continued stress, but it may be bigger than that. It may also lead to financial loss or even bankruptcy. It could mean the destruction of your reputation from bad client experiences with your company which could ruin your career for good. In that situation, spending $12,000 to avoid losing a career may seem like a pretty good investment. It becomes insurance. People often consider embezzlement of thousands of dollars as a risk they can identify. But have you considered that bad decisions made by an employee can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts, or millions of dollars in liability problems? What do you know about your subcontractors? And there are similar concerns in romantic relationships.

(5) How much money and time are you willing to spend to address the risks you have identified?

(6) If you spend that money on the investigation will you appreciate the peace of mind that it may provide?

(7) Are you willing to accept that you may not discover what you hope to find? Is the money spent on the investigation worth the investment to try to find what you seek? In many cases, clients find personal peace in just knowing that they made a good faith attempt.

"Clarity is critical. Engagement is everything," per business consulting company Audia (www.goaudia.com). You may have good information, talent, credibility, or good moral ground. But, if you do not take action, then whatever else you have does not matter, because nothing can be accomplished. You will not know what you do not search for.

Blue 6 can be the one through which you act. Let's make something good happen.