Background Checks and Identity Verification, Explained

Here is an example. A home provider receives a background check on a home seeker she has met twice. The top says "clear," and she almost stops reading. Her daughter reads on and notices it searched only one state, though the home seeker lived in another until last year.

A background check is one source of information about a person. It is most useful when you know what it searched and read it carefully. It works alongside identity verification, references, meetings, and your own judgment, and it cannot predict how anyone will behave.

What a check can and cannot show

A background check is a report from a company that searches public records. Depending on the company and the package, it may include:

• Criminal court records in the counties, states, or national databases searched
• Sex offender registry results
• Past names and addresses
• Sometimes eviction filings or watchlist results

A check cannot show records from places it did not search, anything that happened after the date it was run, or how someone treats the people they live with. Records can also be wrong: a common name can pull in someone else's case.

Federal law, and in some places state law, limits what these reports may include and how far back they go¹.

Before a check is run, ask: Which counties and states will it search, and for how many years? Does it include the sex offender registry? Anyone can search every state's registry free at the U.S. Department of Justice's National Sex Offender Public Website.

Consent and fairness

• Written permission. Reputable programs and check companies ask the person being checked for written consent before they run a check.
• Agree on who pays. Some programs and platforms charge a disclosed screening or background check fee, which is a normal part of the process. If you are matching on your own, agree who pays before a check is run.
• Let the person enter their own details. Social Security numbers and dates of birth should go directly to the background check company through its secure process, not to you by email or text.
• Treat everyone the same. Ask every person you are seriously considering for the same check, at the same stage.
• It goes both ways. A home seeker can reasonably ask a home provider for a check too, and about anyone else who lives in the home or has a key.

How criminal records may be considered in a housing decision is set by state and city law, and by a program's own rules when one is involved, so it differs from place to place. Some states and cities limit which records, or how old a record, can be considered. Our guide "Choosing Who Lives With You, Fairly" explains the fair housing side.

How to read a report

1. Read every line, not only the label at the top. Labels such as "clear" or "consider" are a summary, not the whole story.
2. Confirm it is the right person. Check the full name, date of birth, and past addresses.
3. Note what was searched, including the places and the years.
4. For each record, look at the details: the date, the place, whether it was a charge or a conviction, and how it ended (dismissed, pending, or resolved).
5. Ask the person about anything flagged, and listen to the context. Our guide "When your past is not perfect" talks about how to have that conversation fairly.
6. Keep the report private, and shred it when you no longer need it.

Your rights when a report is used against you

Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, when a housing application is turned down, or another negative housing decision is made, based on information in a screening report, the applicant is entitled to:

• Notice that the decision was based on the report
• The name, address, and phone number of the company that supplied the report
• A free copy of the report from that company, if they ask for it within 60 days
• The right to dispute information in the report that is inaccurate or incomplete

The FTC explains these rights in its guide to housing background checks and your rights.

How these rules apply can depend on who ran the check, a program or an individual, and some states add rights beyond federal law, such as tighter limits on what a report may include.

Home seekers: requesting your own report before you start looking lets you correct errors early.

Identity verification and later checks

• See a current government-issued photo ID in person, and check that the name matches the background check, references, and any documents.
• A phone or video call can help establish contact if you have only talked by message, but it does not prove identity.
• Home seekers can verify the home, too. County property records are often public and show the recorded owner. That alone does not show that the person you are talking with is the owner or is authorized to offer the room, so ask how they are connected to the home and confirm it when you visit.

A check is a snapshot. Rechecks are not a standard requirement, though some households agree to one, for example when someone new joins the household. If you consider it, agree in writing on why you would recheck, who pays, fresh written consent each time, and how results would be used. Checks do not replace ongoing boundaries and outside contacts. Our guide "But they're a stranger." What the data says about who harms older adults explains why those matter for the whole match.

A background check is one source of information about a person. It is most useful when you know what it searched and read it carefully.

Last reviewed September 25, 2026