US Criminal Record Check

A US Criminal Record Check (CRC) covers a search for the last seven years of the candidate's address history, as reported by:

Service	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3
Social Security Number (SSN) Trace	✓	✓	✓
Sex Offender Registry (National with Alias)	✓	✓	✓
National Criminal Database (with Alias)	✓︎	✓	✓
Global Sanctions and Terrorist Watchlist Check (with Alias)	✓︎	✓︎	✓︎
County level Criminal Record Check and Federal statewide Criminal Search for provided current address	⨯	✓	✓
County level Criminal Record Check and Federal statewide Criminal Search for the last seven years of the candidate’s address history	⨯	⨯	✓

Services scope

SSN Trace

A social security trace is an investigative tool used to identify name and address history associated with a given SSN. The alias names and addresses identified from this search tool are used to broaden the scope of a background check to include jurisdictions and names beyond what the candidate may have disclosed on an application.

Certn reviews the seven-year history and uses the additional names/addresses to perform additional criminal searches.

Note: The specific name/address list of results are used as "pointers" only and should not be used in any hiring decisions.

7-Year National Criminal Database Check (with Alias)

A national criminal database search is a multi-state powerful investigative tool used to discover potential criminal activity for an individual. Pulling from thousands of compiled sources such as the state Department of Corrections (DOC), sex offender registries, the Administrative Office of Courts (AOC), pardon and parole boards and hundreds of other state/county public record repositories, this search helps to identify potential criminal activity in areas outside of where someone might reside. Not all county and state repositories report to this database, so it is recommended that this search only be used only in addition to state and county residential criminal record searches, and not as a stand-alone search.

In compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Certn validates all potential records at the source to ensure we report only the most updated, accurate and complete information on a candidate. Unless otherwise requested, Certn further investigates conviction and pending records for a seven year timeframe and reports data in accordance with federal and state laws. This search takes primary name and alias names from social security trace into consideration.

Sex Offender Registry Check (National with Alias)

The national sex offender search is designed to identify if an individual is a registered sex offender.

Certn provides any matches to your candidate, regardless of state, to ensure a full report. Appropriate usage of results should consider federal, state, local applicable laws. This search takes primary name and alias names from social security trace into consideration.

7-Year Global Sanctions and Terrorist Watchlist Check (with Alias)

A global sanctions and terrorist watchlist check searches of hundreds of exclusion, sanction and entity lists, US and globally, to assist with compliance of the US Patriot Act. Examples of sources include Office of Inspector General (OIG), General Services Administration (GSA), Office of Foreign Assets control (OFAC), System for Award Management (SAMS), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), international sanctioning bodies, law enforcement agencies, regulatory enforcement agencies and non-regulatory agencies, including high profile person's data. A full list is available upon request.

In compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Certn validates all potential records at the source to ensure we report only the most update to date, accurate and complete information on a candidate. This search takes primary name and alias names from social security trace into consideration.

7-Year County Criminal Court Records Check

A county criminal search is a search for felony and misdemeanor records at the central courthouse within a specified county. The central courthouse can be defined as the court housing the majority of felony and misdemeanor records. Additional records can sometimes be located in separate, lower courts, which may not be searched.

Certn retrieves record data in a variety of ways including in-person visits to the courts by our extensive network of researchers or via online access portals. Results will reveal convictions and pending records for a seven-year period, subject to availability. Reported information may contain file/arrest date, case number, charge, charge level, disposition, disposition date and sentencing information.

Applicable access fees will be passed through.

7-Year Federal Statewide Criminal Check

A search of the U.S. Federal Court records system (PACER) on a per state basis. This search will identify records held in federal courts, because they were prosecuted in a federal district court, which will not be found in county court records, or criminal database searches. Examples of records that may likely be prosecuted in a federal district court are white collar crimes, international/inter-state drug trafficking, kidnapping, violations of the constitution or federal law and more.

Certn typically reports back convictions and pending records for a seven-year period based on state/federal laws. Details listed could include identifiers used to match the record, file/arrest date, charge, charge level, disposition, disposition date and sentencing information where available. Information returned depends on availability of data in the record.

Results will reveal a matched and accessible felony, misdemeanor, and pending cases for a 7-year period. Applicable access fees will be passed through.

Availability

This check is available in Canada 🇨🇦 and the US 🇺🇸

This check is available for a quickscreen ✅

Canada

Industry	Availability
Human Resources	Yes	Quickscreen ✅ Invite 📩
Property Management	Tier 1 available on demand	Quickscreen ✅ Invite 📩

US

Industry	Availability
Human Resources	Yes	Quickscreen ✅ Invite 📩
Property Management	Yes	Quickscreen ✅ Invite 📩

Parameters

Request flag

Include one of these flags in the body of your request:

Tier 1: request_us_criminal_record_check_tier_1

Tier 2: request_us_criminal_record_check_tier_2

Tier 3: request_us_criminal_record_check_tier_3

Invite parameters

To invite an applicant to complete a screen, include this parameter in the body of your request:

• email

See all available Application parameters

Quickscreen parameters

To complete a quickscreen, include these parameters in the body of your request:

• information

  • first_name

  • last_name

  • date_of_birth

  • addresses (min 1 - US)

  • sin_ssn

  • us_criminal_consent_given

• position_or_property_location

Make sure to obtain the proof of consent from your applicant before running the quickscreen.

Example request

{
    "request_us_criminal_record_check_tier_2": true,
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "information": {
        "first_name": "Andrew",
        "last_name": "McLeod",
        "date_of_birth": "1987-03-04",
        "addresses": [{
                "address": "Freedom St.",
                "city": "New York",
                "province_state": "NY",
                "country": "US",
                "county":"Kings",
                "current": true
            }
        ],
        "sin_ssn": "123456789",
        "us_criminal_consent_given": true
    },
    "position_or_property_location": {
        "address": "Tiffany & Co., 97 Greene St",
        "city": "New York City",
        "county": "New York",
        "province_state": "NY",
        "country": "US",
        "postal_code": "10012",
        "location_type": "Position Location"
    }
}

Report

Report field: us_criminal_record_check_result

Test data

Send US CRC requests with the following sets of data on our demo environment to retrieve our pre-filled reports.

Clear results

First name	Last name	Date of birth
Andrew	McLeod	1987-03-04

Records found

First name	Last name	Date of birth
Will	Nettke	2000-01-01