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Here are some frequently asked questions about obtaining information from public
records. If you have any other questions, please feel free to email or
contact us 1-800-267-8456.
| How
can I start making requests and checking results
on the Internet site? |
For public records, you do not need to
sign up, just click HERE to
place your order and you will receive your report within
24 hours for most cases.
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| What
is your average turn around time in receiving criminal
information? |
90% of our county criminal record searches
are returned to our clients within 2 business days. The
remaining 10% can vary from 72 hours to several weeks
depending on the states, jurisdiction searched and the
records themselves.
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| I
ordered the criminal search on Saturday, and have
not yet received your report on Monday, why? |
Courts are closed on weekends, therefore
your search is not processed until Monday. Please understand
the turnaround time is only available on business days.
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| Why
do you charge even if no record is found? |
No record is also considered a finding
of a person's record. About 70% of the persons we have
searched have no record. As we need to access the database,
we have to pay the cost of each search. Thank you for
your understanding.
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| How
do I decide whether to run a county or statewide
criminal search? |
Both of these searches
involve criminal records, but the source of information
and the focus of each search is very different. While
it is possible for both products to yield the same
case information on a subject, your chances of finding
information will be greater if you follow these simple
guidelines:
If you know or think a subject was
tried for a criminal offense in a particular county,
choose county criminal search. This is where the
actual records filed in that county are hand-checked
by a qualified court records researcher.
If you know or think a subject was
tried for a criminal offense in a particular state,
but don't know the county, or if the subject has
moved around a state several times, try a statewide
criminal Search. This search has a much wider geographical
focus.
Not all counties are required to report
to the state, therefore statewide information may
not be available in states such as AK, CA, DE, NV,
NY, SD and WVJ.
In explanation, when a person is convicted,
their trial goes through the county. This information
can either be passed on to the state or left in the
county. Therefore, if you know the county the individual
is convicted, your chances of finding information
is greater than doing a statewide search.
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| Why
should I search for County criminal records if I
can search the State Criminal Records Repository? |
Unfortunately, the state repositories
are databases of information which vary independently.
Each repository relies upon the various agencies within
the state to report information to the repository. It
has been our experience that the information is less
complete than the actual court records.
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| The
person I'm looking for is currently in jail. Will
their record reflect that? |
That depends. If the court proceedings
are still in the process and the person has not posted
bail, then that will not show up on their record. Once
they are convicted their records will reflect this information.
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| I'm
looking for someone who committed a crime in one
county but is serving time in another county. Where
do I start looking? |
You should search in the county where
the crime was committed, NOT where they may be incarcerated.
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| I
looked up someone who I know is in prison but was
unable to obtain any information. Why? |
Depending on the county, if a person
was convicted outside of our seven year time frame, it
is possible their offense may not come up in our report
even though they are currently serving time.
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| I
know someone who has been arrested in the past.
Will this report show that? |
Arrests themselves do not show up on
our reports. We can only report criminal convictions.
If someone was arrested and then released without being
convicted, this information will not be reflected in
our reports.
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| I
know someone who was convicted of spousal abuse less
than seven years ago, but that didn't come up on
your report. |
This may be because some crimes can fall
into more than one court category. Where they fall, depends
on the state or county where the offense took place.
With a crime like spousal abuse, it may have been reported
to the family courts instead of the criminal courts,
and because family court records are not available to
us, it would not show on our report. This does not downplay
the nature of the offense. It just means the record is
stored in a different place. Another example of this
is if someone is convicted of a DUI. A DUI is sometimes
reported in traffic court, which is also not accessible
to us.
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| Does
the county court have jurisdiction over all cities
within that county? |
That depends. Only counties with large
populations or major cities will put all courts on a "network" so
the records can be accessed by one search through one
court. In this case, the entire county reports from one
court, (i.e., Cook County only has the Chicago circuit
court), making it very likely that all criminal offenses
in that county will be passed through that court.
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| Why
do you only search seven years back? How can I obtain
information further back than that? |
| We abide by the FCRA (Fair
Credit Reporting Act) limitations in the information
that we report. According to the FCRA, all outsource
criminal reporting agencies have a limit of seven years.
If you would like to go further in your search, you would
have to call the county courthouse in the county the
crime was committed to learn of their procedures for
obtaining older information.
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| Can
I receive my reports by e-mail? |
Yes! All results can be sent
via e-mail directly to you. Except for MVR's these must
be faxed.
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| Are
your services completely confidential? |
Yes. we do not sell, trade,
or otherwise transfer outside the company personally
identifiable information that visitors voluntarily provide
in any registration or order form. The information you
provide to us is only used to better understand our visitors
use of our services and to support related transactions
made on the site.
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| I'm
not happy with my results, can I get a refund? |
| We offer look up services to consumers
and businesses. The company conducts searches based on
data provided by you, then reports the results to you.
We cannot guarantee the accuracy and/or extent of the
results.
You pay for our search services, not the results.
We will not grant a refund after a search has been
conducted, except in the following instances ONLY:
- In the event you were charged more than
once for a single order. All such claims require
submission of valid proof of purchase reflecting
the charges.
- In the event you did not receive your results
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| Will
the persons I request background checks on know
I requested the information? |
| No. They do not know who has
requested background checks on them, because it is public
records. |
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| Why
the reports I received are different from sample
reports. |
| The actual reports you received
vary from person to person.
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| What is a Beacon Score? |
A beacon or credit score is designed to measure and assess an individual's overall credit risk. It tries to predict the likelihood that a new or existing account will become delinquent within the next 24 months. These scores are developed by sampling millions of credit profiles and compairing a number of credit risks such as bankruptcies, charge-offs, repossessions, loan defaults and delinquencies. Equifax’s Beacon scores fall within an 363 to 830 point range with the higher score being a lower risk level.
For more information on how to read a Equifax credit report, please click here. |
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