How does a recruiter order a background check for a client's candidate?

LiveRec EditorialUpdated

US federal rules as of 31 Oct 2026.

As a recruiter, order a background check from the candidate's Verification tab. The order belongs to the client company, which is the party responsible under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and your agency is recorded as having ordered it. The candidate gives consent on the screening provider's own page, and nothing runs before that.

What must happen first?

  1. Accept the certification. Before your agency's first check, an owner or admin opens Background checks and chooses Accept and certify. They tick that they are an owner or admin certifying the statements on the agency's behalf. When the text is updated you are asked to accept again. Other team members can read it and are told who can accept.
  2. Have access to the client. The client's page shows "Your agency can't order or see background checks for this client yet" until the company owner grants it under Your access to this company.
  3. Have the permission. A seat without it sees "Background checks are not part of your role on this agency."
  4. Client set-up. Where the client has to connect its own screening account, the order screen says the client needs to set up background checks in LiveRec before you can order one for them.

How do I order and follow a check?

Open the candidate, choose the Verification tab and run the check as an employer would. The screen asks you to pick the package, confirm the candidate's location and certify. Then follow it under Background checks in the left-hand menu: search, filter by client or status, open Details, or choose Export CSV. A client's page also has a Background checks card with counts.

Status filter values: Waiting for consent, In progress, Complete, Pre-adverse notice sent, Cleared to proceed, Adverse action taken, Declined by candidate, Canceled, Expired.

Good to know

  • A consent request that is not answered within 7 days expires.
  • Prices are shown in the order screen and the list's Cost (USD) column, not here. Where the client's own screening account is used, the order screen says the provider bills the client directly.
  • If you decide not to proceed because of a report, use the adverse action steps on the check. They give the candidate a chance to respond. Read Read results, timing and adverse action.

This is general information, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Rules change and your situation may differ. Consult a licensed attorney or qualified adviser.