[Skip to Step 2: FOCUS your background check]

Congratulations on discovering Background Check Gateway!

We're not exaggerating when we say that our website will open up -- and make easily accessible to you or your company -- the whole vast world of public records. 

You need no experience at all to conduct background checks using this website. 

Not long ago, "doing a background" on someone was an involved, tedious process, best left to (expensive) information brokers and private investigators. 

Not anymore! 

Three things have happened in the past five years that make it easy for you to conduct your own background checks for free: 

1. Computerization of public records. Today nearly all major counties in the U.S. have their public records in computer format. Why is this important? Because most of the background info you'll be searching for is to be found in county public records. In many cases, you can get the information you need just by placing a phone call to the county clerk; he or she can then do a computerized search while you wait! 
2. Internet posting of public records. What's more, many counties now have websites on which they've posted some or all of their computerized public records. All you need is the correct URL. 
3. Our own new online gateway to public records. Let's face it, even though the information you need is easily available, you still need help in locating the exact sources of that information. You probably have little or no experience in accessing public records. That's why Background Check Gateway constitutes a major advance in making background checks easy for everybody to perform. Our site leads you by the hand directly to the sources of the information you need, providing phone numbers, addresses, and URLs when available. Here's how it works: 

• Go to Step 2 to access a simple form which will help you focus your background check. (This step is optional). 
• Then, go to Step 3. This takes you to our Public Records Portal, where you'll find a list of questions related to background-check topics. Simply click on the specific question you want answered about the individual you're investigating. You'll then be taken to a list of public record resources which can provide the answer. 

Want to know more about the specifics of background checking? Then read on....

 WHAT EXACTLY ARE "PUBLIC RECORDS"?

 We're using the term public records to refer to records held by government at all levels, as well as by certain other organizations, which record a variety of factual information about individuals and companies, and which are available for free (or for a nominal charge) to all U.S. citizens. 

Examples are criminal records, divorce records, birth, death, and marriage records, civil litigation files, and tax liens, to name just a few. 

Such records should always be provided to you without question by government employees or other custodians of public records. Furthermore, your access should in all but a very few cases be kept completely confidential. (In those rare instances where local or state laws require that the subject be notified when someone accesses his records, such as is the case in accessing driving records in California, you'll be informed of this requirement in advance.) 

WHAT CAN I FIND OUT ABOUT SOMEONE? 

First, be clear about the fact that public records will not tell you everything about everybody! 

For example, if you want to know if your subject is a drug user, this will usually not show up in the public records unless he's* been arrested for drug use/possession. And you cannot access his medical records (which are not public records) without his permission. So you would in this case have to use other methods, such as surveillance (by a private investigator) or interviews of neighbors or associates (perhaps also by a private investigator). 

This said, there is a vast amount of information about individuals available in public records. Examples: his age, address, marital status, occupation, current and past employment, educational level, driving record, litigation record (including a possible divorce or divorces), criminal record (if any), bankruptcies (if any), military record, and financial worth (with some limitations). You can also use public records to gain a sense of his reputation and what people think of him. 

And much, much more, as detailed in Step 3 of this website. 

(*Note: you'll notice we continually use the masculine pronoun; that's because it's so much easier than saying "he or she" and "him and her" over and over and over...!) 

WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BACKGROUND CHECKS BEFORE I GET STARTED? 

It's not necessary to have any experience at all in background checking in order to use this website. If you wish, you can go Step 3 and begin your search immediately. But if you plan to do a fair amount of background checking, it's helpful if you're aware of a few facts-of-life about this type of investigation, as follows: 

1. Most of the information you'll need will be at a county courthouse or county clerk's office. Thus you must know what county your subject lives in! Or, if you want to check him out over a period of years, you must know what county or counties he has lived in during that time period. 


Click here for a note about geographic considerations and suggestions on how to determine your subject's location if you don't already know it. 

Click here if you know the city he lives in but not the county. 

2. Though your best sources are usually at the county level, you may also wish to access public records at the state level. State governments are repositories for many types of basic background information. But there are pros and cons to using state info -- 


Pros: State information supposedly includes all the counties in the given state. So this is a more comprehensive way to search for info about somebody than by county. 

Cons: State information is often incomplete, for a variety of reasons (most having to do with human error and/or bureaucratic inefficiency). Thus you're liable to miss something if you rely entirely on state information. 

Most experts, therefore, recommend that in a background check you search both the state repository and at least one county (e.g., the county the subject is currently residing in). 

3. Always start your background checks by focusing your investigation. First, you must determine what you presently know about the subject. Second, you must be clear about what you want to know about him and where you're likely to find that information. 


Step 2 of this website helps you to get your background check in clear focus. It's a good idea to stop there before jumping in to the investigative phase; it will save you time and help you to achieve professional results. 

In a typical background check, you're simply accessing a variety of public records in order to locate information about your subject. 

The specific types of information you're searching for (marital status, criminal history, etc.) will vary depending on why you're doing the investigation. For example:

• Is it a pre-employment check?
  i.e., verification/checking of a candidate's background prior to extending a firm employment offer 
  
  
• Is it a pre-job-interview check? 
  i.e., verification of basic resume info before conducting an interview 
  
  
• Is it a pre-relationship (or pre-divorce) check? 
  i.e., checking out a potential date or fiancé (or a spouse in preparation for a divorce proceeding) 
  
  
• Is it a special case situation? 
  i.e., exercising due diligence with respect to -- 
  • - potential litigants 
  • - potential tenants 
  • - business competitors 
  • - potential business partners/investors 
  • - neighbors, co-workers, others 

Just proceed to Step 2.