Anyone interested in pursuing a criminal background investigation should know that the primary purpose for maintaining official criminal history records is to serve the needs of the criminal justice system, whether for the State (prosecution) or the Defendant (defense). Any other uses are considered secondary and when used for lawful, non-criminal purposes, including for employment purposes, those uses are circumscribed by some very specific requirements as set forth in the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rulings. Despite its name, the FCRA governs all inquiries into the personal details concerning an individual’s “character, general reputation, personal characteristics, and mode of living.” When you hire a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) to investigate an individual’s background on your behalf, that agency (Capital Service Investigations) assumes responsibility for the proper execution of all the steps in the notification process. It may seem a little onerous at first, but remember that you will already have screened, ranked and interviewed your top candidate(s) before taking the final step of verifying the information that has been presented you. At this final step you will only be looking for a reason not to hire your top applicant.