Who has the best online background check system for free or the $$ value

[oldcarnut]

I rent out a few houses and recently went through a bad tenant and now have a court case coming up although they probably won't show up.  Anybody ever use those on-line background checks like net detective etc. ?  I see there are a lot of various service providers for this with big price differences for the same info.  Any good recommendations for free criminal or pay for background check options  ?  This was a nice home and I sure don't want to go through another tenant like the last one after a loss of about 6K in damages and non payments.  I'd like to find out if this couple has a history of it too.

[NHCharger]

I use this site for backround checks on any potential renters. Can not believe the number of people who think 450 is a near perfect credit score

https://www.1-background-checks.com/

[Musicman]

I always had pretty good luck with these guys ... Kind'a pricy though...

[Tilar]

I bought a house last february and it's about ready to rent, I'll probably buy another one soon after the first of the year. I've had rentals for over 20 years off and on and have never done any checks other than to check employment, but after this last round I'm going to be doing them. I haven't found anyplace specific just yet, but I've been looking around www.ezlandlordforms.com and reading the forums there and there are a number of places you can get them done.

http://www.quickbackgroundchecks.com/landlords/ and http://www.e-renter.com/services/tenant-screening are two others that I've looked at.

[oldcarnut]

Thanks guys, I'll check them out.  I never had a bad tenant such as this past one.  We had checked employment and one or two other things we normally do but didn't have much to go on since supposedly they had moved down from Tennessee after having lost jobs there and had their own house on the market waiting for it to sell after which they said they would like to see about buying the rental afterwards.  He used to live in the area and still had his mother living here too and had some money in the bank from his father's inheritance. We were needing to get the place rented and broke a couple of our own rules but times were getting tight. Always late on payment and got bad enough I had to send a couple notices of eviction towards the last few months of the lease.  They moved in a house in the next neighborhood over and that home owner never asked us about a reference so I'm thinking maybe they got a history of this so I'm going to check their records in Tenn. and wherever just to have some background when we get to small claims court.  They never even responded to the suit when they got served. For starters I had to get a rake just to move the nasty mess left across the rooms to load in a trash can and have the law come over and take the crack pipe and etc. out before I could get started good.  I know they are both managers at a large restaurant steak house chain and did catering too but I wouldn't let my dog eat from them knowing what I have seen.  Bad thing is the times I was over to repair or check on issues, I never saw some or picked up on it other than wondering about the candles lit or scented discs about.   Anyways, I'll never rent out again to anyone without the backgrounds checks so I want to make sure I get a thorough service.

[oldcarnut]

I found this place beenverified.com and used it.  Its got a free 7 day trial period.  Looks like my former tenants were in court several times for owe money and bankruptcy so this ain't their first rodeo  . 

[NGC414]

Most counties have a municipal court website, if you know what countys they live in or have lived in. You can look up just about any civil or criminal activity on there for free. I have used several different municipal court websites to get info on people.