Criminal Background Check
Who does HomeAdvisor background check?
The owner or principal of each business in HomeAdvisor's network (with the exception of Corporate Accounts) must pass a background check. Unfortunately, we cannot perform a background check on every employee of a business—the background checks are performed only on the owner or principal. As always, we recommend that you conduct your own research on the businesses you hire, including making inquiries directly with the businesses regarding their employee background check policies.
What does the background check cover?
We use a third-party vendor to conduct a criminal records search in the county in which the business owner or principal works. Our third-party vendor uses a national criminal database ("NCD") to screen service professionals. Business owners or principals with felony arrests that carry a pending decision or who are convicted of felonies in the past 7 years ago will not be admitted to the network. Businesses or owners convicted misdemeanors or felonies, or who have dismissed charges or arrests on their records involving rape/incest, sex offenses, or lewd and lascivious behavior at any point in time will not be admitted to our network.
Our background check does not exclude service professionals unless the crime at issue is a felony.
*The comprehensiveness of the NCD varies by state. Please be aware that the reporting in the NCD is particularly limited in the following states: AL, CO, DE, GA, ID, IL, KS, LA, ME, MA, MI, MS, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, SD, UT, VA, VT, and WY. After initial admission to the HomeAdvisor network, businesses are re-screened if a concern is reported to HomeAdvisor.