CA Licenses PI 23203 & PPO 17533
Copyright 2026 – All Rights Reserved
Investigation Services Overview
Owens & Associates Investigations (OAI) provides due diligence and corporate executive background investigations, including both on-site searches and computer searches. All investigations comply with applicable local, state, and federal laws.
Due diligence investigations and background investigations overlap, but they differ in purpose, scope, and context. Here is a comparison:
| Due Diligence Investigation | Background Investigation | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Conducted to assess risks, verify information, and support an informed decision, typically in a business or financial transaction (for example, a merger, acquisition, investment, or partnership). | Focused on verifying an individual’s history, credentials, and character, typically for an executive or professional hire, household or estate staff, or other personal vetting. |
| Scope | Broad and tailored to the transaction. It examines financial records, legal compliance, operational risks, market position, and, where relevant, the backgrounds of key individuals such as executives or partners. | Narrower. It targets personal records such as criminal convictions, civil litigation, bankruptcies, judgments, liens, professional licenses, driving history, and open-source information. |
| Focus | The entity (company or organization) and its assets, liabilities, contracts, intellectual property, and potential red flags such as fraud or litigation. Personal background checks may be included but are secondary. | The individual’s trustworthiness, reliability, and suitability for a specific role or for access to a household, estate, or sensitive business information. |
| Context | Corporate transactions, real estate deals, and investments, to identify hidden risks or liabilities before a decision is made. | Executive and professional hiring, household or estate staff, and related fiduciary or access decisions. |
| Example | Before acquiring a company, a due diligence investigation might review financial statements, tax records, legal disputes, UCC filings, and the reputation of leadership. | Before hiring a CFO, a company might confirm identity and address history, education claims through available records, past employment, licenses, and any criminal or financial issues. |
Certain records used in due diligence and background investigations can be obtained on-site at the court or agency, from a computer database, or both. The method depends on the record type and on the accuracy and currency required.
| On-Site Searches | Computer Searches |
|---|---|
|
To meet the accuracy and currency standards of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), OAI uses on-site searches or their equivalent for court and agency records rather than relying on computer databases that can be weeks or months behind. OAI has associates in every county in the United States who can go to a court or agency and search the records in the retrieval system that court or agency uses. On-site searches are how we obtain the most current records available. |
Computer-search vendors buy public records in bulk from courts or agencies and reformat them for resale in an “online” database. Those databases are usually several weeks to several months old, so the date range of the data matters. Computer searches also allow less room than on-site searches to catch spelling errors or hyphenated names. |
The first step in a background investigation is to develop personal identifiers, including the names and addresses the subject has used. Until that information is developed, it is not possible to know under which names and in which counties the investigation should be conducted. That work starts with the Person Search.
No two people or companies share the same history, so the appropriate combination of searches varies from file to file. Pre-packaged investigations sold for a flat fee cannot provide that flexibility.
Person Search is listed first because it is the starting point. The remaining searches follow in alphabetical order.
| Person Search | A nationwide computer search by name. Date of birth and Social Security number, when provided, produce more accurate results. This is a restricted professional database, not a public lookup. It can identify names, personal identifiers, and addresses used by the subject, which determines under what names and in which counties the investigation should be conducted. |
|---|---|
| Advanced Search for US Businesses | A nationwide computer search by business name or by a person’s name. It can include trade-style names, family tree, D-U-N-S Number, contact information, principals and employees, affiliations and associations, and assets. For the most detail, request a Comprehensive Business Report. |
| Advanced Search for US Corporations | A nationwide computer search by business name or by a person’s name drawn from Secretary of State records. It can show the entity’s name and address, FEIN, corporate officers and directors, and other details of the state filing. |
| Advanced Search for Worldwide Businesses | A worldwide computer search by business name or by a person’s name. It can provide information about businesses, affiliations, associations, principals, employees, and assets. |
| Bankruptcies | A nationwide computer search by name and Social Security number (SSN). |
| Civil Litigation History | OAI uses on-site searches to meet FCRA accuracy and currency standards. Most states have multiple courts in which a civil suit can be filed. Courts are commonly referred to as lower, upper, family (or domestic), and federal. The types of cases lower and upper courts handle vary by state. Family (or domestic) courts generally handle divorce, child custody, and domestic violence. Federal courts generally handle matters such as bankruptcy, patent infringement, and interstate civil disputes. A complete investigation searches all relevant courts. On-site searches of court indices commonly identify the parties, the type of case, and the filing date. Index coverage is typically seven years. If additional information is needed, cases can be ordered and reviewed at additional cost. Court-imposed fees, file reviews, and copy costs are extra. |
| Credit Report (Business) | A business credit report obtained from Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, or Equifax. |
| Criminal Conviction History | OAI uses on-site searches to meet FCRA accuracy and currency standards. In most states, arrest records are not public; convictions are. As with civil searches, criminal cases can be filed in multiple courts. In general, lower courts handle misdemeanors, upper courts handle felonies, and federal courts handle violations of U.S. law rather than state law. All three levels should be searched for a complete investigation. Court-imposed fees, file reviews, and copy costs are extra. |
| Driving Record (CA) | A computer search of a California driving record. Unlike most criminal searches, a CA driving record typically includes arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, so it can show alcohol- or drug-related driving offenses. |
| Judgments | A nationwide computer search by name and SSN. |
| Liens | A nationwide computer search by name and SSN. |
| Open-Source Analysis Report | The Open-Source Analysis Report (OSAR) compiles publicly available information on a subject using open-source intelligence (OSINT) methods. Sources can include news articles, public records and court dockets already online, business filings and registrations, social media profiles and activity, professional networks, online affiliations, financial indicators, and published litigation. An OSAR is a profile drawn from overt sources. It does not replace on-site court or agency searches. |
| Professional Licenses | A nationwide computer search of licensed and regulated professions. |
| Uniform Commercial Code Filings (UCC) | A nationwide computer search by name and SSN. It can reveal financial relationships that do not appear on credit reports and can also identify tax identification numbers. |
Due diligence and background investigations are scoped to the person or entity under review and to the decision in front of the client. After we develop names, identifiers, and address history, we recommend a search plan—on-site court and agency work where currency and accuracy require it, computer searches where they are sufficient—and confirm the scope before work begins. No two files use the same combination of searches.
To discuss a transaction, an executive or professional hire, or a related inquiry, connect with us below.
CA Licenses PI 23203 & PPO 17533
Copyright 2026 – All Rights Reserved