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House Sitter or House Predator? Who is Really Looking After Your Home?

Background Checks for House Sitters
There is a stranger in your home sitting on your couch. He is eating your left over lasagna and watching your television. A few moments go by and he goes outside to play with your dogs. Eventually he packs up his things and leaves, as if he was never there.

Sounds disturbing, right? You have nothing to worry about, it’s just Bill, the house sitter you hired to watch your home while you are on vacation. Bill is harmless and lives down the street from you. In fact, Bill has watched your house several times before. I guess it doesn’t matter to you that Bill is a registered sex offender and that you have children living with you.

You probably also knew that he has done time for breaking and entering in Wyoming. Wait, you are unaware of Bill’s criminal past? This situation doesn’t seem so safe now, does it?

Strangely, the criminal background of a house sitter is rarely checked by homeowners when they select someone to watch their home while they are away. More often than not, house sitters are neighbors or come recommended by friends. Besides, what type of damage could a house sitter really do? Surprisingly, more than you think

By giving an individual access to your home while you are away, you are entrusting him or her with your possessions and more importantly, the safety of your family. House sitters know the locations of your spare keys, your schedule and where you keep your valuables. Even worse, a house sitter knows which bedrooms belong to your children.

So what can be done to ensure you are getting a responsible and safe house sitter? People Search News recommends the following three steps:

Steps One: Always check references. Inquire about the sitter’s personality, work ethic, etc

Step Two: Go with your gut. If a person seems dangerous, he or she probably is.

Step Three: Make sure to screen your potential house sitter through an online background check.

It has been said many times that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Therefore, there is no excuse for not being informed on a house sitter’s potential shady background. Once you have received the results from the background check, you then can make an informed decision on whether this individual is the right choice to look after your home.

Avoid Putting a Child at Risk by Performing Parental Background Checks

We all have slept over at a friend's house before. The "sleep over" was likely the most fun you had as a child or teenager. However, not all sleepovers end up with fond memories – to the contrary, innocent child’s' lives and safety are endangered. Consider the following example:

It seemed so innocent . . . Billy wanted to sleep over at his new friend Tommy's house. Before you allowed him to spend the night with Tommy’s family, you decided that you wanted to call Tommy's parents and see if they sound like good people. After a few minutes speaking with Tommy's dad, you gave Billy the go-ahead to spend the night at Tommy's house.

The next day, you ask Billy how things went and he tells you that everyone had a great time and he got to shoot his first gun. Turns out, Tommy's dad has been busted on weapons charges several times, a fact which you were unaware of because you didn’t run a background check on Tommy's dad.

If you think that the above tale seems unlikely, you are probably right. However, would you risk taking a chance of letting what happened to Billy happen to your child? Probably not.

With the help of PeopleFinders.com, parents do not hesitate to look up a new teacher or even run a background check on the school bus driver; however, parents never seem to inquire into the backgrounds of the parents’ of their child's friends.

Surprisingly, even with the increasing ease of use and lowered costs of these sites, most parents don't even consider looking into the possibly that another parent might be dangerous or could harm their children.

"How could a parent be dangerous to children when he or she knows what it is like to love and care for them?" is the reasoning many parents use to justify automatically trusting other parents. However, just because someone is a parent does not necessarily mean that a person can't:

*Have a criminal record
*Be a registered sex offender or pedophile
*Have desire or predisposition to commit crime.

The famous expression that "those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it" perfectly illustrates the process of performing a background check on the parents of your child's friends. A parent just as likely could have been convicted of rape, domestic violence, theft or virtually any other crime as anyone else.

Therefore, being a parent doesn’t omit someone from the type of scrutiny that anyone who is around children typically receives. Most teachers, counselors and now even youth coaches, have to undergo background checks before they can spend time with children.

Strangely, the people who often spend the most time with children, parents, are rarely the subject of a background check report.

So as a parent, how can you ensure your child's safety if he or she is sleeping over at a friend's house? Performing a background check on the parents of your child's friend can give you a window into their past behavior and allow you to consider the entire picture when deciding if your child can spend the night at a particular friend's house.

Though you can’t control the actions of others or predict the future, you can benefit from the past and avoid putting your child in a dangerous situation. Once an individual’s criminal past is discovered, it is then up to you to decide if he or she should be allowed around your child.

In light of the above, before you give the go-ahead to allow your child to be in the company of strangers overnight, wouldn't you like to know that you have done all that you can to protect your child from harm?

PeopleFinders.com urges parents to perform background checks on fellow parents who will be in contact with their children. Though you can’t predict the future, you also can't ignore the past.

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