Using a license verification system to verify the professional licensing of an individual is an essential step in fighting fraud. Business to business fraud can occur when an individual or party involved in either a business transaction or in applying for a job is dishonest about the status of their professional license. Many professions require an individual to be properly licensed. For example, attorneys, doctors, accountants, and financial advisors all require a professional license. Without the proper licensing, an individual is not qualified to participate in a business transaction or to be hired for the job. If one enters into a business transaction with an unqualified individual, they may become victims of fraud. Further more, if a business hires an individual who is not properly licensed, they may become liable for fraud or other damages resulting from the negligent hiring. Thus, before entering into a business relationship with any other individual, it is essential to protect yourself by conducting a thorough professional license verification of all involved parties.A professional license verification typically involves surveying data found in numerous state, federal and private databases. For example, if one is going to perform a license verification of a person applying to be an attorney, the license verification check would search the databases of a particular’s state’s attorney registration roster. To do this, a license verification will effectively check for a proper professional license of the applicant or other third party by verifying such information as the individual’s name, address, license number and license expiration date in comparison to the same information stored within the various databases. A license verification system can also check for any limitations, restrictions or disciplinary rulings that may affect an individual’s professional license status.

Utilizing a license verification database is the most convenient, efficient and effective method to obtain a professional license verification on a third-party business partner or potential hire. When one uses an automated license verification system, the license verification process automatically surveys numerous databases, providing the user with a thorough license verification on the individual in question. Many license verification programs use an online database search engine in order to perform a license verification check. An online license verification program has the advantage of allowing one to check a professional license either individually or in a batch by searching either one or numerous license verification sources with just one click.

Since the status of one’s professional license can change rapidly, it is important to conduct regular license verification checks. Making license verification a regular part of one’s business and hiring processes will allow one to better protect themselves from the risk of being a victim of fraud. Continuously taking the necessary steps to conduct a professional license verification will help reduce the risk of fraud and assist with letting one run a more effective and profitable business. Instead of discovering that an employee or business partner lacks the proper qualifications after the fact, a license verification will allow you to take preventative steps to ensure you hire the right individual from the start.

In our last installment we discussed how to obtain criminal records and how to conduct a thorough search in the areas the subject lives.

Now we are going to discuss how to obtain driving records on your subject. For the most part these records cost money but they cost less than if you had to purchase them from a background check company or some other source.

First of all you can’t just go around obtaining driving records for no reason. Most states consider them “private” records as opposed to public records like criminal or civil records are. The federal government also has a governing document called the DPPA or the Drivers Privacy Protection Act that sets forth rules on how when and for what purposes you can obtain driving and motor vehicle record information. If you are conducting this background check for employment purposes then the FCRA applies as well. In addition many states have laws and rules that govern these types of searches as well.

For the most part you can obtain motor vehicle records if:

1) It is a requirement of employment. For example if the person is going to be a delivery driver or will be transporting materials for your company.

2) An attorney that requires the record to defend his client.

3) Insurance companies that need to determine the risk factor in insuring a client.

5) Obtaining your own record to make sure of its accuracy or defending yourself in a court case.

There are certainly other reason for obtaining motor vehicle or driving records many of them dealing with a need to determine a persons identity for legal purposes. You can read more about them in the DPPA. Of course different states may have different laws so you will have to determine those laws individually.

To obtain our record I am going to give an example on how to obtain one from Washington State.
The first thing you need to do is to determine where to write and what documents you will need.
I found the website for Washington State Department of Motor Vehicles by Going to Google and typing exactly that.

Washington State has a nice search function on their site and I then typed in “Driving Records”.
The first result was the one I needed. Each state’s website may be different so you may have to navigate around a little to determine what you need.

Washington State has a good setup that explains how, when and why you can obtain these records.

From The Site: How to get another person’s driving record
The process depends on the type of record you want. The steps for requesting a copy of a driving record are listed with each type of record below. For more information about driving records, please see Frequently asked questions

You will need to download the request form and fill it out and send in the appropriate fees.

In most cases in most states you will need to have a signed release from the subject that you are conducting the check on. As stated previously you will need a permissible purpose to conduct the check.

Now granted because of the fees these checks aren’t exactly free but it could save you some money.

Thanks for putting up with my rambling and stay tuned for our next installment on how to verify someones previous employment.

Ok, many people on the Internet search for "free background checks". Most places that offer free background checks make you pay at some point. I am going to explain how you can do a check for free (for the most part) on yourself or someone else.

Let’s clear the air here, if you are going to be running a background check then please follow all state and federal laws pertaining to them. For example if you are conducting the check for employment purposes then please follow the guidelines of the FCRA. Do not take this lightly as you can get into a whole heap of trouble.

Let’s start with the criminal record check. The best way to do this, as I have said before, is to go through the county courts where the person has lived. If you have the persons last address then check that county and the surrounding counties in that area I will give an example. Let’s say I want to conduct a criminal record check on my daughters new boyfriend and I know that he is from Cleveland, Ohio. I went to http://www.ask.com/ and typed in Ohio County Maps. I happen to know that Cleveland, Ohio is located in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Ask.com gave me a good county map of Ohio and from there I can determine the closest counties around Cuyahoga. Check out a copy of the map here http://www.dot.state.oh.us/map1/cntymap.asp .

The reason I want the closest counties to Cuyahoga is because I am going to be checking them for criminal records on our subject as well. Why, you ask? Well because most people that commit crimes tend to do so within their comfort zone, meaning within a certain distance of their house.

So from our example we can see that Lake, Geauga, Summit, Medina and Lorain Counties all surround our target county.

Next we need to figure out what court house we are either going to call or check online. Most courthouses are online these days and you can find a good list of them here http://www.crimcheck.com/freerecords.htm .

Ok, I now have My subjects name, the county he lives in and the surrounding counties of the county he lives in and a list to find the court houses in those counties. Now we need to find out if he has a criminal record. In this instance I used the name Michael Smith. Click the image at the top of this post for the example. As you can see the results all have addresses by them, that is one way to determine that you have the right subject.

Now you can go to all of the other counties on your list and do the same thing. Warning: As you can see from our example there is more than one Michael Smith. Make sure that you have the right subject before you start making accusations or using the results as evidence.

You can even go one step further and check for misdemeanors within the city courts of the counties that your are checking. I would normally just check the city where the subject lives and the county seats of the surrounding counties. If you have comments or questions please feel free to post them here.

I will be covering motor vehicle records and driving records in my next article so stay tuned!

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