How to Run a Background Check on a Company

You can run a thorough background check on a company yourself, for free, by working through seven public sources in order: state registration, license board, BBB, court records, domain age, federal databases where relevant, and a targeted news search. Done properly it takes 45 to 60 minutes per company. Here's the sequence, in the order that catches problems fastest.

1. Secretary of State Business Search (5-10 minutes)

Start here because everything else depends on getting the legal name right. Search the business's exact legal name in the Secretary of State (or equivalent) database for the state where it claims to operate. Confirm the entity status - active, dissolved, revoked, or delinquent - and note the registered agent and formation date. If the business trades under a different name than its legal entity, that's not automatically a problem, but you need the legal name to search everything downstream accurately. See our full walkthrough on reading Secretary of State results if the entity status or structure is confusing.

2. License Board Lookup (5-10 minutes)

If the business operates in a licensed trade - contracting, real estate, medical, legal, financial services - search the relevant state licensing board directly, not a license number the business hands you. Confirm the license is active, covers the specific work being performed, and is held by the same legal entity you found in step 1.

3. BBB Profile (5 minutes)

Search the legal name on bbb.org and read the actual complaints, not just the letter grade. Note accreditation status separately from the grade, and check how recently complaints were filed. A BBB profile is a complaint-pattern lens, not a substitute for the license check - see BBB rating vs. state license for how the two protections differ.

4. Court Records - PACER and State Court Search (10-15 minutes)

Federal civil litigation is searchable through PACER (pacer.uscourts.gov), which charges a small per-page fee but is comprehensive for federal cases. Search the exact legal entity name and any known officers. For state-level litigation, most state court systems offer free online case search by party name - search both the entity and, where relevant, principals by name. Look for patterns: multiple breach-of-contract suits, consumer-protection actions, or judgments the business didn't pay, rather than a single isolated case.

5. WHOIS / Domain Age (2-3 minutes)

Look up the business's domain through the ICANN registration data lookup tool and compare the registration date to any claims of operating history. A domain registered eight months ago on a site claiming "20 years in business" is worth a direct question, not an automatic disqualifier.

6. FMCSA and SAM.gov, Where Relevant (5 minutes)

If the business operates commercial vehicles (moving companies, freight, some contractors), search its DOT number on the FMCSA's SAFER system for safety rating and insurance status. If it's a government contractor or vendor, SAM.gov shows active registration status and any exclusions from federal contracting.

7. Targeted News Search (5-10 minutes)

Search the legal name in quotes alongside terms like "lawsuit," "complaint," "investigation," or "settlement." Search the entity name and any known principals separately, since news coverage sometimes names an individual rather than the company. Treat any single article as a lead to verify against a primary source - a court docket or regulatory filing - rather than a settled fact.

The Full Sequence at a Glance

Add it up and a careful manual check runs close to an hour even when you already know what you're looking for - longer the first time through a source you haven't used before.

Documenting What You Find

Take a screenshot or save a PDF of each source result as you go, with the date visible - status fields change, and you want a record of what the registry actually showed on the day you checked, not just your memory of it. If you're evaluating a vendor for a business purchase or a large contract, this record also becomes useful if a dispute arises later and you need to show you performed reasonable diligence before signing.

Red Flags That Should Stop You Before You Finish the List

Some findings are serious enough that you don't need to complete every remaining step before pausing the transaction:

• A revoked, suspended, or administratively dissolved entity status where the business claims to be actively operating.
• A required license that comes back inactive, expired, or held by a different legal entity than the one taking your payment.
• An unpaid judgment specifically related to non-payment, incomplete work, or consumer fraud.
• An active exclusion or debarment on SAM.gov for a business that's contracting with a government entity.

Any one of these is reason enough to get direct answers from the business before proceeding, regardless of how the remaining checks turn out.

The One-Report Alternative

Running all seven sources manually is worth doing for a large purchase or contract, but it doesn't scale if you're comparing several vendors or checking a company on short notice. A ProofReports search pulls state registration, licensing, BBB, domain age, and available court and federal-database signals into a single ProofScore, with the underlying source-level evidence linked so you can still verify anything that matters directly with the issuing agency.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it actually free to run a full background check on a company?

Almost entirely. Secretary of State, license board, BBB, and ICANN searches are free. PACER charges a small per-page fee (often under $3 per search) capped quarterly for light users, and FMCSA/SAM.gov lookups are free.

Which source catches the most serious problems first?

License board and court record searches tend to surface the most consequential issues - an inactive license or an unresolved judgment - while BBB and news searches are better at surfacing patterns and reputation over time.

Do I need to check all seven sources for every company?

Not always. FMCSA and SAM.gov only apply if the business operates commercial vehicles or contracts with the government. For most consumer transactions, registration, licensing, BBB, and a domain-age check cover the highest-value signals.

How current is the information from these sources?

Varies by source. Secretary of State and license board data are typically updated close to real time by the agency itself; BBB and court records can lag by days to weeks depending on filing volume. Always note the date you checked, since status can change.

Work through the sources in order and stop early if something doesn't check out - an inactive license or an unresolved judgment is usually reason enough to pause before you dig further. The FTC's guide to research before you buy covers similar ground for spotting patterns across the consumer complaints it tracks nationally.