I’m a subscriber to the Women Day by Day blog authored by our very own SpecialtyBuzz guest, Maryan Pelland, and this week she posted an interesting interview with a woman who has started a criminal background check service for online daters called Sweetheart Checks. Being a one-track-minded workaholic, I immediately applied such a service to freelancing.

Background Check Overview

For the low, low price of $10, Sweetheart Checks allows a user to check anyone’s criminal background as long as they have that person’s full name along with either their middle initial or birthday. As long as you have that information, the subject will never know you ran a check, and you can see his or her arrests, judgments, and even sex offender status. In the case of a freelancer who has questions about a client, it would indeed be nice to know if they have a history of bouncing checks, fraud or other money related crimes. Or, if this client asks you to meet him alone in an unfamiliar place, wouldn’t it be handy to know if he has a history of assault or robbery?

Another related and probably even more relevant check of this nature is the credit check. Credit checks are slightly different. For one, you have to ask permission to perform a credit check and credit checks include asking a client for his or her social security number. But, if you decide to go this route, you can discover information about your client’s financial history, including bankruptcies, foreclosures, liens, or other financial nightmares that might indicate you are dealing with a scammer or someone who simply has trouble getting financial affairs in order (and therefore might have trouble when it comes time to sign your check.) When researching this post, I found services that perform background checks for anywhere from $20 – $50. While I’m more interested in individual clients today, check out this article for more information on researching companies.

When Should You Perform a Background Check?

If you are about to enter into a major, long term deal with an individual client, it may very well be in your best interest to subject that person to a background check. This is especially true if you get even a whiff of deceit from this person. Not sure what you’re smelling there? Signs of potential deceit can include anything from using hotmail and refusing to part with other contact information to failing to pay at agreed upon times. Of course, if you’ve already started the project, your background check may be too little too late.

If you do decide to perform a credit check, there are delicate ways to broach the subject. Include statements such as “approval subject to credit check” in your negotiations, or simply write your requirement into your contract.

Maybe I’m naïve, but until I read the Women Day by Day post, I never even thought about running any sort of background check on a client. But I have had my husband shuttle me to a client meeting taking place in a store front office in a particularly shady part of Atlanta. (I hear what you’re thinking. “A shady place in Atlanta? Surely not!”) The meeting turned into a great journalism gig with a community paper, but I was still glad I played it safe. Perhaps I could have given myself a little extra layer of self-confidence by performing a quick criminal check on the publisher I had been asked to meet.

One Caveat – Don’t Rush to Snap Judgments

Before you scamper off to start background checking all your clients, keep one thing in mind – criminal background checks and credit checks are a tool, not the whole toolbox. No matter the results of these checks, use your good judgment when deciding whether or not to work with a client. Further, if you are performing due diligence on a client, be prepared for them to do the same to you. If you are a sole-proprietor and ask a client for his or her social security number, you might end up looking just as suspicious as they do, especially if you refuse to give your own. In their mind, you could be a fraudster, too.

I once had a client who – at a Mad Men-style drinks meeting near the tail end of the project – told me she was thinking of filing bankruptcy. Of course, my blood ran cold. “Is this her way of hinting that I’m not getting paid?” I thought. At the time, I felt it was too impolite to come out and ask, but I did finesse something about my contract into the conversation.

As it turns out, I needn’t have worried. Even though she was going through some serious financial trouble, she was wise enough to budget for my services and I was paid within three days of completion of the project. I didn’t exactly feel bad for becoming concerned about payday – I have to protect my interests, after all – but I did realize that I had immediately rushed to a snap judgment.

So say you do find a lien, a bankruptcy or a foreclosure on a credit check. That doesn’t always mean that the person you are working for is a grifter with no intention of paying you. For all you know, there is a perfectly good explanation for the trouble. This is where you are going to have to go with your gut. Perhaps a foreclosure in today’s economy or a misdemeanor arrest for a minor crime 20 years ago isn’t a deal breaker for you. This is where you get to make your own decision.

Here’s my last lecture of the post. Remember, now that you are in business on your own, you are responsible for your own success and failure. You get to tap dance your way to the bank after you’ve made a great decision, and sob alone under your desk whenever you screw up. You have tools – Google, background checks, books, seminars, accountants, lawyers, the advice of other freelancers – that will help you make decisions about your business, but ultimately, the responsibility for you actions as a business owner are on you.

If you want to be the hardass who refuses to work with a client who once missed a credit card payment, that is your right. If you choose to give questionable clients the benefit of the doubt and go with your gut feeling, that’s your right, too. That’s why you’re in business for yourself, my friend.

That’s the fun part.