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| The Basics | Don't hire a criminal to work in your home
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In-home workers have been implicated in a good chunk of identity theft, so it pays to vet the people you let through the door. Here's how to do background checks.
By Liz Pulliam Weston
Let's make it clear, right upfront, that I think most nannies, housekeepers, health aides and other home workers are honest and hard-working. They honor the positions of trust that they hold.
But there are enough predators, criminals and just plain messed-up people out there that anyone thinking about hiring household help should be cautious. It's not just your family's physical and emotional well-being that's at stake; household workers are also in the position to steal from you financially, either directly or through identity theft (see "8 signs you may know an identity thief").
Here's a sample of recent cases that should give you pause:- Jimena Barreto was employed as a nanny for several Bay Area families despite four drunk-driving convictions and numerous license suspensions. She's currently on trial for second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving with a suspended license in the 2003 deaths of two Danville, Calif., children who were walking down a city sidewalk with their mother.
- Mariana Monticalvo, another Bay Area resident, was charged with burglary, grand theft and check fraud after police said she posed as a nanny to bilk several families out of thousands of dollars. Police said Monticalvo collected resumes and references of legitimate nannies by posing as an expectant mother on the online bulletin board Craigslist, then used the information to assume the nannies' identities.
- Roxanne Horstman of Chippewa Falls, Wisc., was charged with three counts of felony theft for stealing $87,000 from a disabled woman for whom she worked as a home care aide. Police said some of the victim's Social Security and pension checks had been deposited in Horstman's account, along with proceeds from the sale of the victim's mutual funds. The victim's checking account was also used to pay Horstman's bills, police said.
You may also remember the case of the 10-month-old baby killed by a New York nanny who lied about her criminal past; the parents successfully lobbied for legislation, named "Kiernan's Law" after their child, to make background checks easier in that state.
"You're trusting these people with your father, your mother, your child," said Cliff Woodward, an employment assessment specialist in Annapolis, Md. A lot of times, he said, "you don't know what you're getting."
Fortunately, a little diligence and the growing availability of online databases can help you reduce the odds of hiring a bad person. Here's what you need to know.
Ask the right questions
A good place to start your search is with referrals from friends and family -- but don't assume your work is done once you've got some names. Your friends and family may not have fully vetted the applicant, or problems could have arisen after they did.
Likewise, you shouldn't assume a thorough background check has been done even if you hire through an agency. Not all agencies conduct extensive research, and many don't update their files after an initial check. Ask the agency exactly how it checks its employees' history and try to get a copy of the results.
As an employer, you'll probably need to make sure the applicant is able to work legally in the United States. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services site has information about which employees are covered; you can find the I-9 form, which needs to be filled out for most employees, here.
Ask to see the documents that show the applicants are who they say they are, investigators recommend. While almost any document can be counterfeited, many casual identity thieves won't have gone to the trouble.
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"You want to actually see their Social Security card and their driver's license," said Shawn Bovy of Insight Investigations in Temecula, Calif. "You'll want to see the exact name that would be used if they got convicted of anything."
Other questions you might want to ask applicants include:
Their past three employers; get contact names and phone numbers.
Their addresses for the last 10 years.
Any other names they've used (such as maiden names or even aliases).
What about their past jobs has most frustrated them, and how they dealt with that frustration.
Any run-ins they've had with the law.
Their history of alcohol and drug use.
Woodward likes to ask these questions face-to-face so he can judge the response.
"You can judge a person's character by how they answer your questions," Woodward said. "If they avoid answering a question, that can say a lot."
When you call references, try to get beyond the usual "he was a good worker" clichs. You might ask if the employer ever had an argument with the employee, what it was about and how it was resolved, for example. Asking open-ended questions, rather than those that can be answered "yes" or "no," can encourage the reference to talk and perhaps reveal more about the worker's character.
Conduct background searches
Trying to do a reasonably thorough background check is beyond the expertise -- and patience -- of most people. Fortunately, you can hire an online firm to do a basic search for $40 to $100, or a private investigator for $150 and up. The cost mounts the more databases and details you want checked.
You shouldn't try to do these checks on the sly. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires employers to get a signed release form from potential applicants before commissioning a background search; reputable firms will ask for one.
Make sure you find a firm that's been in business for several years and has a clean history with the Better Business Bureau. If you want to hire a private eye, you might ask the best nanny agency in your town about who they use.
Also understand that there's no guarantee a background search will turn up every suspicious item in your applicant's past. Not all court and criminal records are available online, and some people are very good at masquerading as others.
But the following searches should help you uncover most of the bad guys:- Social Security number trace. This will turn up names associated with the number and where those associated with it have lived.
- Criminal records. Some search firms promise "national" checks, but there is no publicly available database that includes all criminal records. Most records will show up on the county level, so you'll need to know the counties where your applicant has lived in the past 10 years or so and ask the search firm to check each one. (You can cut down on the cost by visiting one or more of the county courthouses yourself, but that's exactly the kind of time-consuming research most people who hire search firms are trying to avoid.)
- Sex-offender databases. This is something you may be able to do yourself, since most states post this information online. (You can find links to your state's site here.) You also might check if any sex offenders are registered at your applicant's address; your nanny might be fine, but her husband could be a predator.
- Department of Motor Vehicles records. If the applicant will be driving members of your family, you'll want to know about any offenses that indicate dangerous driving habits.
- Credit check. Employers typically run these when a worker would be in a position of trust, said employment attorney Karol Pollock, on the notion that someone with troubled finances may be more tempted to steal.
You shouldn't accept credit reports at face value, since many contain errors and others reflect financial setbacks that have since been cleared up. That's why you'll want to ask the applicant questions about any black marks you find. I know one nanny whose credit history was besmirched by a friend who convinced her to co-sign a loan then failed to make the payments. It was financially nave of the nanny to agree to co-sign, but hardly reason not to hire her.
Properly weigh the details
Other considerations you should take into account:- Federal law prohibits employers from firing, failing to hire or failing to promote someone solely because of a bankruptcy filing.
- Legitimate consumer disputes can turn into collections. Some phone companies, hospitals and fitness clubs are notorious for swiftly turning unpaid bills over to collection actions, even when the consumer is in the right.
- Unpaid medical bills, by themselves, may not be a sign the applicant is a deadbeat. Remember that 45 million Americans are uninsured, and many are underinsured. One accident or illness can result in huge, unpayable medical bills.
What may be more telling are high balances, late payments and defaults on a number of credit cards and other accounts, showing the applicant may be deeply in debt. Serious signs of financial trouble, such as foreclosures, repossessions and tax liens, need an explanation as well.
The result of your investigations should help put your mind at ease, but you may still want to take certain precautions after you've hired your household worker. Locking up checkbooks and private financial files is a good idea; so is dropping in unannounced if you aren't usually at home to supervise. Some household employers even repeat background checks occasionally, to make sure new problems haven't arisen.
As former President Ronald Reagan said, in an entirely different context: Trust, but verify.
Liz Pulliam Weston's column appears every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions in the Your Money message board.
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