Are criminal background checks legit?

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Businesses that do criminal background checks have been booming since the recession began. But there's no oversight on how they get their information or even if it's accurate. The National Consumer Law Center said that needs to change, now.

If you want to work for Glass America in Castleton - or in any of the chain's stores anywhere - you have to pass a criminal background check first.

"We find it to be very important to background check everyone. We wouldn't want someone going to someone's house, like I wouldn't want someone coming to my house, that I couldn't trust," said
Chuck Bibbiano, a regional manager for Glass America.

Bibbiano said he trusts the company that handles the background checks for Glass America.

"We feel the company we use, we did our research on them, and we feel they do a very good job for us," Bibbiano said.

And they may. But the National Consumer Law Center found there's been a big increase in the number of bogus background check companies. The NCLC points out that there are no licensing requirements for those companies, ou can't order a copy of your own background check and they often get names mixed up and omit crucial information.

"It's not common for an employer to say, ‘Well, we were going to offer you that job, but you know your background check showed A, B and C, so we're not going to hire you because we don't want you on our staff," said Terry Tolliver, deputy director of the Consumer Protection Division of the Indiana attorney general's office.

Applicants need to check their own background, before applying for a job, he said.

"Indiana's really good about putting a lot of this information online. You can get your driving record online. You can look at arrest records, criminal records online in a lot of cases," he said.

The NCLC wants the government to require registration for background check companies, and to allow you to view your file and to have states audit companies to which they give criminal data.

Bibbiano said he understands.

"You could jeopardize somebody's life, somebody's job,” he said. “Don't want to do that."

Another important source of information is your credit report, which experts advise checking at least once a year.

If you believe you are the victim of an unfair background check, contact the Consumer Protection division of the attorney general's office . Only four complaints have been lodged with them in the past two years.