What are some PITFALLS
when selecting your vendor ?
 
COSTS:
While the services of most vendors cost much more than our services, some vendors
will quote low costs to grab your attention and possibly even have you try their
services. However, if the price they quote is really only for their service, and
in addition, they pass on to you a range of fees other than access fees, then your invoices will be much
bigger than you bargained for. We don't do that, and in addition, we have a great
volume discount schedule.
FCRA COMPLIANCE:
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) as amended now says that ALL reports on consumers,
not just credit reports, are consumer reports. You need to select a vendor that
will help you comply with such requirements as:
"Permissible Purpose",
"Disclosure",
"Authorization",
"Intended Use", and
"Adverse Action" -- and,
there are other employer requirements too.
LICENSING:
Many vendors will tell you that they don't have to be licensed as investigators
because they are "just" information brokers. However, if you are a personnel
professional, you know that you must ONLY buy records that will be admissable in
court if ever required. Information obtained from un-licensed sources is deemed
by the courts to have been obtained illegally, and is therefore inadmissable. In
other words, you will pay for it, but you won't be able to use it if you need it.
Our corporation is licensed, and EVERY employee we have is a licensed investigator.
UP FRONT $$$:
If the vendor you are considering wants you to sign a contract and pay up-front fees,
you should wonder why. Our state-of-the-art Internet interface is FREE, and we keep
you as a client, not with a contract, but with excellent professional service.
SECURE TRANSMISSION:
When you connect to our data center over the Internet, you are sending and receiving
personnel data in a confidential manner. Our Internet interface is on seperate e-commerce
servers with Verisign encryption, SSL, and full three-tier implementation is so that you know
that the personnel data are sent and received in a confidential manner. Supplying this
type information to you is NOT just information brokerage, there are State and Federal
laws governing people's rights and privacy, and we make sure that we are fully compliant.
ESTABLISHED VENDOR:
Of course you will ask a prospective vendor for references, but does the vendor also
really understand the laws that are specific to the personnel security field? Visit
this entire web site --- we KNOW this field
and have been a national supplier since 1984.
QUALITY QUESTIONS:
Is the vendor knowledgeable and able to help you
be FCRA compliant ?
Is the vendor insured as a background checking company ?
Is the vendor going to sell me data from CD-ROMs they
subscribe to, or databases that they have accumulated ?
That violates the FCRA.
Does the vendor have a rigorous "seeding" program
in place to insure field accuracy ?
Does the vendor encourage me to visit and inspect
my work in process without an appointment ?
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