Frequently Asked Questions

• With 14 years experience we have the knowledge and resources to get information you can trust in the time frame you need.
• We specialize in National Data Base and direct court searches to over 3,000 courts nationwide.
• Online service is available for your immediate response and convenience 24 hours a day.
• Live customer service agents are ready to answer questions and process requests with one hour turn around times Monday thru Friday.
• Western Reporting charges very low set up fees and has very competitive pricing.

The costs of hiring the wrong applicant have become enormous! Negligent hiring lawsuits are up 800% nationwide. Employee theft has been rising dramatically in recent years. The hidden costs of lost time and revenue in the hiring/training/turnover cycle continue to increase.

Let Western Reporting do the background screening so you don’t have to. Let us help you:

• Keep your company FCRA compliant while preventing litigation.
• Obtain a thorough background check providing you and your employees peace of mind.
• Verify education, employment and personal references- reducing resume fraud!

The liability of accepting a bad resident is huge! Eviction and legal fees can cost thousands of dollars, while property damage can be staggering. Your investment needs to be protected. Let Western Reporting help increase your profitability with the best resident screening product in the industry.

Find out if your applicants are financially responsible. Evaluate their credit report, trade line information, and public records including bankruptcies, tax liens, judgments, child support… and more.

• Know who your applicant really is by verifying previous landlord, employment and personal references.
• Provide protection and peace of mind for you and your residents.

Credit scoring is a system creditors use to help determine whether to give you credit.
Information about you and your credit experiences, such as your bill-paying history, the number and type of accounts you have, late payments, collection actions, outstanding debt, and the age of your accounts, is collected from your credit application and your credit report. Using a statistical program, creditors compare this information to the credit performance of consumers with similar profiles. A credit scoring system awards points for each factor that helps predict who is most likely to repay a debt. A total number of points - a credit score - helps predict how credit worthy you are, that is, how likely it is that you will repay a loan and make the payments when due.

Because your credit report is an important part of many credit scoring systems, it is very important to make sure it’s accurate.

Consumers are entitled to 1 free report each year from each of the 3 credit bureaus; Equifax, Trans Union and Experian. To get a free copy of your report go to www.annualcreditreport.com. Although the credit report is free, you will have to pay for your credit (FICO) score.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that regulates how consumer reporting agencies can use your information. It restricts who has access to your sensitive credit information and states how that information can be used.

Yes. You must have the written consent of the applicant to obtain a copy of their credit file. It is illegal to obtain someone’s credit history without their consent. Failure to obtain written consent could lead to legal proceedings against you by the applicant or the credit repository.

There are only a few reasons why there is no credit file on an Individual.

• Applicant is very young and has not yet established a credit history.
• Applicant is on a Disability or Income Assistance Allowance and does not have a credit file.
• Applicant has been incarcerated for a long period of time and thus has not had an opportunity to establish a credit history.
• Applicant is a new arrival to the country and has not yet established a credit history.
• Applicant has provided you with false information to ensure that you do not find his/her credit history. Some applicants misspell their name, provide a wrong date of birth, invalid Social Security Number, or illegible application.
• Accounts are being reported to only one credit bureau in which case a second bureau should be pulled.

No credit file is a red flag in most instances and your screening process should include further due diligence. Visit www.criminalfraud.com for tips.

Negligent hiring is when an employer places an individual in an employment situation that creates an unreasonable risk of harm to others.

Negligent referral occurs when a person serving as a reference for a candidate for employment and intentionally misrepresents the candidate or intentionally withholds information he/she knows to be true that causes injury to a third party.