A new business partner, an investor who wants in, a nanny for your children, a tenant for your condo, a contractor for your yacht, a fiancé who arrived in Miami two years ago with a great story. In every case the question is the same: is this person or company who they say they are? FSO Guard’s licensed investigators provide background check services in Miami and South Florida on individuals and businesses — verified, documented, lawful, and far deeper than anything an instant online search can give you.
Background checks on people
What we verify depends on the decision you are making, but a comprehensive individual background investigation typically covers:
- Identity — full legal name, aliases, date of birth, address history, verification that records actually belong to this person (the most common failure of cheap online reports).
- Criminal records — county, state and federal courts, sex-offender registries, arrest records where lawfully available, incarceration history.
- Civil litigation — lawsuits as plaintiff or defendant, judgments, evictions, restraining orders, family court matters where public.
- Financial indicators — bankruptcies, liens, judgments, UCC filings; property ownership and transfers; vehicle and vessel registrations.
- Professional history — employment and education verification, professional licenses and disciplinary actions, corporate affiliations and directorships.
- Reputation and open sources — news, court opinions, regulatory actions, open social media, online presence and inconsistencies with the story you were told.
- References and interviews — discreet verification with former employers, landlords, colleagues or neighbors when the stakes warrant it.
Common requests: pre-marital and relationship checks, nannies, caregivers and household staff, business partners and investors, executives before a senior hire, tenants and buyers, contractors and yacht crew, litigation opponents and witnesses for attorneys, and locating and verifying people before a transaction.
Background checks on businesses
Before you invest, sign a contract, extend credit, take on a supplier or acquire a company, we establish whether the business is real, solvent and honest:
- Corporate registration, status and history in Florida and other states; registered agents; related and predecessor entities.
- Owners, officers and directors — and background checks on the people behind the company.
- Liens, judgments, UCC filings, bankruptcies, tax warrants.
- State and federal litigation, regulatory and licensing actions, consumer complaints.
- Sanctions, watchlists, politically exposed persons, adverse media.
- Physical verification of offices and operations, reference checks with past counterparties, and reputation in the industry.
For transactions, partnerships and disputes that need more than a report — undercover inquiries, asset tracing, surveillance — see corporate investigations and due diligence.
Pre-employment and tenant screening (FCRA-compliant)
When a background check is used to decide on employment, housing or credit, it becomes a consumer report under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. That changes the procedure, not the depth: the applicant receives a standalone disclosure and signs an authorization, the information is obtained only for that permissible purpose, and any adverse decision follows the pre-adverse and adverse action notice process. FSO Guard runs compliant pre-employment screening for employers, security and hospitality companies, family offices and nonprofits, and tenant screening for landlords and property managers across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach — and, for senior or sensitive roles, adds investigative due diligence that databases alone will never surface.
Why a licensed investigator, not a website
- Verified identity. We confirm the records belong to your subject before anything goes into the report.
- Real court records. Databases miss cases, misfile names and lag by months; we go to the source when it matters.
- Professional data access. Licensed investigators use restricted-access databases lawfully, with a documented permissible purpose, that consumers cannot.
- Judgment. A report tells you what was found and what it means — patterns, inconsistencies, gaps in the story, red flags — not a pile of raw hits.
- Confidentiality. The subject is not alerted unless the law requires disclosure (as in employment or tenant screening).
- Court-ready. Findings are documented so they hold up if the matter ends in litigation, and our investigators testify.
What we will not do
We do not access anyone’s phone, email, bank or social media accounts, obtain credit or medical records without a lawful permissible purpose and consent where required, pretext government agencies or carriers, or run checks whose purpose is stalking, harassment or discrimination. An investigator who offers these is offering to commit a crime with your name attached, and the results would be worthless anyway. Our full guide: what a private investigator can and cannot do.
How it works
- Confidential consultation — what you need to decide, what you already know, which track applies (investigative or FCRA-regulated).
- Scope and flat-fee quote — basic, standard or comprehensive; jurisdictions; turnaround; written before we start.
- Research and verification — records, databases, courts, interviews as scoped.
- Written report — findings with sources and exhibits, a plain-language summary of red flags, and a call to walk you through it.
- Follow-up — surveillance, asset search, locates or TSCM sweeps if the findings call for it.
Cost and turnaround
Background checks are quoted as a flat fee per subject depending on scope and the number of jurisdictions; standard individual checks are typically completed in one to three business days, comprehensive due diligence on a person or company in one to two weeks. Our guide to private investigator costs in Florida explains how investigative work is billed.
Background checks in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach
FSO Guard Security Company is a Florida-licensed private investigative agency (License A 1000095) and security agency (License B3100530) with investigators working in English, Spanish and Russian. Serving Miami, Miami Beach, Brickell, Coral Gables, Aventura, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and Palm Beach. For a confidential consultation call (786) 659-5011, message us on WhatsApp, or see our private investigation services.
