How Far Back Does a Background Check Go: Our Experts Explain

Cindy Ellis - April 9, 2024

Curious about the reach of a background check? Whether you’re applying for a job, renting an apartment, or seeking certain licenses, it’s common to wonder just how far back these checks go. Understanding what sort of information will surface might put your mind at ease.

It mostly depends on what type of background check is being conducted, but generally speaking, it can span 7 to 10 years.

In this article, we’ll explain how far back a background check goes, what information it typically includes, how you can conduct a free background check yourself, and more.

Types of Background Checks and How Far Back They Go

Background checks come in various types, each serving specific purposes and delving into different aspects of your background. If you’re currently undergoing a background check, then you may be worried about how far back they go. Nobody likes someone snooping around in their past.

Here are 5 different types of background checks, along with information on how far back they can go:

Criminal Background Checks

One of the most common types of background checks, criminal background checks, typically focus on a person’s criminal history. The timeframe for these checks can vary depending on the jurisdiction and the nature of the check.

In most cases, criminal background checks cover the past seven to ten years, as this period aligns with the typical reporting duration for most criminal offenses. However, certain states and organizations may have regulations that allow for a more extensive look back, especially for positions involving high trust or responsibility.

Employment Background Checks

Employment background checks verify your work history, including past employers, positions held, and dates of employment. These checks may also review your criminal records, especially if your job will involve dealing with confidential or financial matters.

In addition, employment background checks may look at professional licenses, offering employers a thorough understanding of your background and qualifications for the job.

Employment background checks don’t have a specific timeframe but generally focus on recent employment history, typically spanning the past 5 to 10 years.

Educational Background Checks

Educational background checks are done to verify your academic credentials, including degrees you hold, colleges/universities you’ve been to, and dates of attendance.

Similar to employment history checks, education verification typically focuses on recent educational achievements, covering the past 5 to 10 years. However, some employers or academic institutions may request verification of all education credentials, regardless of the timeframe.

Credit History Checks

Credit background checks examine your credit history, including payment history, outstanding debts, and credit inquiries. These checks are commonly conducted by lenders, landlords, and employers in financial or sensitive positions.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) limits the reporting of adverse credit information to seven years. Although, certain exceptions apply for bankruptcy filings and tax liens, which may remain on record for longer periods.

Driving Record Checks

Employers, insurance companies, and government agencies often conduct driving record checks to assess a person’s driving history and behavior. The timeframe for these checks typically covers the past 3 to ten years, depending on the state and the severity of any violations.

Internet Background Check

In today’s world, anyone can easily use the internet to run a background check on someone.

This type of check will combine various sources of information to create a comprehensive report about the person. These sources may include social media pages as well as public records.

An internet background check is often conducted with the help of online people search engines or reverse people lookup tools. We’ll get more into that below.

What Is an Online People Search Engine?

When you use an online people search engine, you can easily find lots of information about a person in a matter of seconds. Unlike traditional background checks, which often require formal requests and waiting periods, these online tools provide instant access to a wide range of data, but there are certain limitations to what you can do with the information you find.

For example, employers and landlords can’t make hiring or renting decisions solely based on these background checks.

These checks are completely legal since all they do is gather information from public records and online sources that are accessible to anyone, such as government databases.

In the next section, we’re going to take a look at what information is covered in these checks.

What Information Is Covered in a Background Check?

Here are some of the things that are included in an online background check:

• Personal Information: This includes things like the person’s full name, address, phone number, and email address.
• Criminal History: This involves searching for any criminal records associated with the person. It may include misdemeanor and felony convictions, arrests, pending charges, and, in some cases, even infractions like traffic violations.
• Employment History: This usually includes the person’s work history, including past employers, positions held, dates of employment, and reasons for leaving previous jobs. This helps employers confirm the accuracy of the information provided by the candidate and assess their qualifications and experience.
• Certifications and Licenses: This will include your professional certifications and licenses. More specifically, it covers certifications obtained through training programs, professional organizations, or regulatory bodies, as well as licenses required to practice certain professions legally.
• Marriage and Divorce Records: A background check may also include your marriage and divorce records. These records provide information about your marital history.
• Birth Records: Birth records will provide information about your date and place of birth. It helps verify your identity and age, ensuring accuracy in background verification processes.
• Financial History: Your financial history will include information about bankruptcies and liens. It’ll provide insights into your financial responsibility and any past legal obligations related to debt.
• Social Media and Online Presence: Finally, a background check may also include information about your social media platforms, such as Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. If your social media profiles aren’t set to private, then the person conducting the background check may also be able to see comments left on your posts by other people.

This type of background check will only include things that are publicly available. If your information isn’t listed in a public database, it’s unlikely to be included in the check.

How Can You Conduct a Background Check?

If you want to confirm how far back a background check goes, you could easily do one on yourself. By performing a self-background check, you can gain insights into what information might be available to others about your past.

There are many different ways you can do that, but we recommend using a people search engine. You may need to make a one-time payment, but after that, you’ll be allowed to generate multiple reports.

Look for a people search engine on Google and then just type your name in the search bar. Hit the enter button and then wait for the tool to collect information about you. It may ask some additional questions, such as your current address or age, to refine the search results.

Once it’s done collecting information, it’ll generate a detailed report. This report will include the things we have mentioned above.

It’s possible to run a background check without a people search engine as well, but doing so manually can be time-consuming. You’d have to search for information through various online sources, such as social media profiles, public records databases, and news articles.

This approach often requires considerable time and effort, and there’s no guarantee of finding all the relevant information efficiently. In contrast, using a people search engine streamlines the process by aggregating data from multiple sources into one convenient report.

Breathe Easy by Knowing How Far Your Background Check Goes

Undergoing a background check can be a stressful ordeal for many people, as it involves the scrutiny of various aspects of your personal and professional life. The process can trigger anxiety about what information might be uncovered and how it could potentially impact your current or future opportunities.

Fortunately, you now know how far back different types of background checks go and what type of information they cover. There are many online tools available now that let you find information about people in mere seconds. These tools include information like your phone number, email address, financial history, criminal records, marriage records, social media profiles, and more.

With access to public records, online databases, and other sources of information, details about your personal and professional history can often be easily uncovered. However, there are steps you can take to maintain some level of privacy. For instance, you can make your social media accounts private to limit the visibility of your personal life to the public.

Always be mindful about how much and what sort of information about yourself you share online to protect yourself from potential risks.