No way do I consider it overkill, especially if it's free. Would I consider someone with any sort of theft or sexual record? Absolutly not. Would I consider someone with a DUI or a pot charge? Sure.

I also regularly check this and would not want somebody with a criminal record or judgements against them.

I'm curious how you find that information.

Does a spotty record just come with the territory in the trades?

I once had a roofer recommended by a friend check up on some leaking flashing. I went up with him to get a close-up view and hear his suggestions on fixing the leak.

He was working without gloves and I noted the many cuts on his hands. "Easy way to spot a sheet metal worker," I said.

"Uh, no. I beat the sh*t out of a guy last night and the coppers are looking for me," he said with a hearty laugh.

I paid him what he asked without a quibble!

Later in the day, radio news said Metro Police were seeking an assailant in a serious attack in exactly that area of TO.

Not overkill at all!!

****

OTOH, a carpentry contractor who did many homes for us, was an observant Christian who would not work on Sundays nor abide any swearing on-site.

DUI's and fights are par for the course with construction trades. Anything above that, no way.

So yeah the drywall delivery guy took out one of our trees - high as a kite. Nice. Company response - yeah we know sometimes he has trouble - it's hard to find people. Wow.

When we decided to renovate our condo six years ago, we didn't know many people in our area of FL. One of the condo's in our building had been on HGTV's House Hunter's as a before/after and had been renovated beautifully. There had been an article about the show in our local paper and the designer and GC were mentioned in the news article. We figured let's get in touch with that GC and see if he'd be willing to work on our condo. (I did my own design.)

I called him up, had a nice talk with him and we decided that once we were back in FL we'd get in touch with him so he could see the condo, etc. In the meantime, my DH did a search on him and discovered that he didn't have a license but that the license was in his wife's name. That didn't seem to bother DH but made me a bit uneasy. Dear trusting DH felt that it was probably common for the wife to hold the business license. I didn't think so.

One day when I was not too busy I started researching a bit more and sure enough on page 11 of Google, I found out why he didn't have a license. He had been listed in FL as a sex offender.

So again dear trusting DH suggested that it was probably when this guy was 17 or 18 and probably got caught with a 16 year old since that also seemed to be common. As he said, a lot of times it's young love and they get a permanent record for it.

NOPE! This guy had first been arrested in his late 20's for assaulting a minor and a second time at age 35 or 36, again for assaulting a minor. Needless to say, we never called him when we came back to FL.

We had a roofer give us a bid on our house. I checked his background (free in Missouri). He was a registered sex offender with a forcible rape/sodomy on his file (among other things). We sent him packing and told him not to come on our property again.

You really can't assume the least offense (CP your dh sounds like me - 'they would never do that' - oh yes they would! Also note that what you see documented was probably plead down. It's not what they were charged with but the sentence that they got. Sad really. Plenty of scary people around and thankfully plenty of good ones too.

The best carpenter I know has been arrested and jailed 35 times for DUI. At night he sings and plays guitar at bars outside of small towns in Texas. He happens to be a mean drunk, so by the end of the night he will have antagonized the bartender to the point where as soon as my friend leaves, the bartender calls the local police to stop him. I know, 35 times sounds crazy. It sounds crazy to every judge, too. Only in Texas. But if I could get him to do all my cabinetry and other carpentry, I would.

I assume pretty much everyone is a criminal with bad intent till proven otherwise. (Even then, I'm probably often wrong.)

I only search in Wisconsin, https://wcca.wicourts.gov 

Ok, so it looks like I am being reasonable here, at least others do the same. I thank you all for the comments.

Never hurts. I personally know of multiple guys who are huge frauds that are still in business here. Guys that take everyones money then never finish work and magically "need to declare bankruptcy"... Guys that bankrupt their company over and over and keep starting LLC's in slightly different names... Fraudulently registering their companies in their wife's name "we are a woman owned minority company!" to procure automatic state contracts... one guy got sued by the state for continually firing workers like a revolving door and never paying them... I could go on

I buy Dave's Killer Bread.

http://www.daveskillerbread.com/secondchances/#secondchances-slideshow

DUI does not bother me, assault charges [other than filed by his spouse] do. Anything like murder / rape / burglary /attempted / check fraud / theft - NO WAY. I once unknowingly retained someone on the run with countless fraud and felonies - never going to do this again. She was friendly and all but... Most crimes - crimes of opportunity. Someone who is familiar with your house. Do not be a victim.

I do NOT buy Dave's Killer Bread, ever since the episode in 2013 where he was going crazy and ramming cop cars. I believe in second chances, but I don't believe in 8 or 9 or 10 chances, I guess.

I am sure some of our contractors have records. I would check if it was free. I don't want ppl who make bad choices entrusted with my personal space/home.

No No No. that said, if I did, I wouldn't put a lot of cash up front and would require lien waivers and a whole lot of other controls. Good luck. I also would not contract with anyone going through a divorce. burned once...never again. You can do name searches in yours and your local counties and in any areas you know the potential contractor has lived. You can also purchase information for a nationwide search. Spend a little now, save a lot later.

Yes, I would.

Firstly, every person on the planet has demons with which they struggle.

Secondly, it is very difficult for former inmates -- of low to moderate financial means and intellectual ability -- to find good, honest, meaningful work. Such work is good for every man's body, mind, and spirit. If an ex-con has good, honest, meaningful work, he is less likely to re-offend and more likely to rebuild his life. He did the crime, he did the time that society has asked of him.

Thirdly, wrongful convictions happen. See the Innocence Project.

Fourthly, lots of dishonest folks just haven't been caught yet, and therefore have no criminal record. No sense in driving myself nuts assuming the worst about everyone, lol.

I know I'm weird, and many people would consider me young, naive, and foolish.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I once had a male friend in high school who was arrested for DV (after graduation). I knew both individuals well, who were involved in the dispute. The story was that the wife attacked the husband, and the only thing he did was put his arms up to shield his face. She called the authorities, claiming she was hit, despite all of the physical evidence (scratch marks, redness, swelling) on *him*. In that particular state, an arrest was mandatory for DV, and he took it because he didn't want his weeks-old newborn son to be motherless. (His wife eventually decided she didn't want to be a mother anymore, and left anyway, but by then the boy was a few months old.) The police agreed with his innocence, and wanted to take her, but he insisted on being the one arrested.

And, of course, the ending disclaimer, lol: I hold absolutely nothing against those who would choose differently than me. If someone isn't comfortable with something, then they absolutely shouldn't do it. :-)

I don't care how careful you might be, you will encounter some bad behavior. I had a GC who was a drunk. I've had a number of trades that had lost their drivers license. There are the dirtbags that drove delivery trucks and tankers. It got to the point that when I heard something coming up the hill, I went outside to guide them in. If I wasn't there with the stink eye, they would destroy something. It was amazing how they could manage to mangle something on both sides of the road. One guy drove across my newly installed sod on one side and took out sprinklers on the other. Just missed the mailbox, but managed to jump the curb of my neighbors across the street. He was a real winner who had an attitude about dealing with women. Another driver took out shrubs. Yet, another tried to run down my dogs after opening the fence and driving onto my property. When I stopped him, he was pissed that I wanted him to stop long enough for me to round up the dogs and get them inside. Then there are the concrete guys. How any of these people get a commercial license is a mystery. Rant over. Watch the drivers. They are out to get you and that truck is a lethal weapon.

WOW! Not too many folks believe in second chances, I guess. IMO, it would depend on the offense. No sex offenders because I believe it is very difficult - if not impossible - to be successfully rehabilitated from that sort of behavior. For other offenses, I'd likely give the benefit of the doubt after I checked all appropriate licensing and bonding requirements (if they are that bad, they cannot be bonded) and verified previous work with former clients. That would really be my deciding factor - if they do the job properly and efficiently and on time and within budget. That's what I am hiring them for - not what mistakes or poor judgment they may have displayed in their past personal life.

I have children - sex offenders or violence - no way. I also was on site quite a bit with the kiddos and without DH and I did not want to be uncomfortable in my own house. Nor did I want them knowing the layout of my house etc. Nope. Too personal...says the lady on a build blog with a bunch of strangers. LOL!

ODD - that is a kind and accepting way to go through life. Kudos to you for being able to keep your sense of good in people. I suspect that there are MANY folks with records working FOR contractors, and you'd never know, so...

So many times I have said "there but for the grace of God, go I" - errors in my misspent youth COULD have been life altering - but I was lucky. I'd be less willing to overlook repeat offenders...

Might I add one of the dry wall delivery guys who was back to pick up any extra material also kicked at my dog who was just standing there not aggressive, not even caring about his existence in her house. No his hands weren't full and no she wasn't in the way. Oh no, I know you didn't. They walk through your home like bulls in a china shop and clearly do not care. Do not miss that whole part of the experience.

My main contractor for one project had a manslaughter conviction (bar fight went really bad).

As did one of my best HVAC students - I'd have hired that guy in a second.

DUIs are iffy - I refused to admit a company's workmen when they arrived late smelling like a gin mill.

Red flags are drugs, theft, fraud, and multiple bankruptcies.

Anything related to theft or sex offense (excluding where the one kid is barely a minor and the other kid is just a year or two up away from being a minor when it happened, and it was consensual) - NO.

Anything else is probably up for review.

Years ago, I was managing a gas station for the owner who hired a fellow on a work release program. The guy got paroled if he had a job and the state arranged his room and board. Pumping gas---I did say years ago :-)---was his job. He lasted four weeks before he apologized to me for wasting our time, walked half a block to the police station, apologized to the officer, and slapped the officer. He could not handle being free and felt that was the only way he could safely go back to prison, where he felt safe.

I've worked locally with inmate work release programs where county jail inmates perform work release jobs as a part of their sentence. They have a police escort during the job performance(who sometimes works right along side the inmates(who are wearing regular clothing---not jail uniforms). Most of those folks are petty criminals. They made stupid choices and were trying to improve their actions.

I have rather strict ideas on criminal justice. Pedophiles are impossible to rehabilitate(brain chemistry forces them to act as they do and they see nothing wrong with their perversions). Repeat criminals are also brain driven---most have read about the bank robber who spends 30 years, gets paroled, and within a month robs another bank.

DUI's are one thing, multiple DUI's indicate a person who will not change.

I have worked with people who have criminal records, the trustworthy ones made a one time mistake. Most with two or more convictions are not as trustworthy.

Oh, I dunno. Would you go to a doctor with a criminal record? How about an attorney or tax accountant with prison time? Kinda shakes one's confidence a little, don't you think...?

Absolutely not; fortunately I got to know my GC close to a year before signing the final contract.

On a side note, as an independent consultant, prior to every consulting contract I accept, state/federal or private, I have to pass complete background and drug checks/tests and depending on the role, FBI and fingerprint checks too; have absolutely no problem with that, often dealing with and having access to highly classified or financially critical information. Cannot afford to mess up one bit.

An additional remark. Employers today are having trouble finding new employees who can pass a drug test or who do not have some kind of criminal record(usually DUI/drugs). Often a business owner is clean, but employees are not.