Cely wrote:
Not exactly sure where to post this. My husband and I are interested in making an investment locally, and although we've dealt with one of the principals for a few years (always positive experiences), and another investor is someone we trust, we think it's wise to do a background check on the two principals, just for peace of mind. Can't find good data on which online service is best. Anyone here have experience with this? Thank you!
I have been investigated a few times for security positions/clearances. Twice has been by the Defense Security Service and 2-3 other times by a private company. In every case, including DoD, they mainly got a credit report, checked public records everywhere I have ever lived, and talked to previous people I knew. Frankly, most of it you could do yourself. But if you don't want to do the legwork, and I don't blame you, my suggestion would be to contact a private investigator, sit down with the person to work out a list of things you want to know, then have the person find out the info for you. In my opinion this information would be worth between 1/4 and 1% of what you plan to invest. For a $10000 investment, maybe $25-$100 is all you should spend and a simple credit check is all you will pay for. If your investment is larger then...well you get the idea.
In a previous job I occasionally ran checks on people and businesses. This was no so much background checks as it was finding out business information. I used Hoovers mostly but also went to the local law library to use Lexis Nexis and other databases with the help of the librarian. I don't think what I did is as thorough as what you want to do.
