Doing Background Checks in NJ During Courthouse Shutdown

[Jami Lynn]

Hi - I'm in NJ and our courthouses were shut down for a few months due to COVID. They recently re-opened, then shut again almost immediately due to a surge in cases. I'm waiting for a background check on myself to be completed so I can get my notary loan signing agent commission. The company doing the background check tells me it can't complete it until the courthouses re-open. My contention is that all this info should be online and the courthouses not being staffed shouldn't be an issue. My question is to any landlords in NJ - have you been able to complete background checks on potential tenants during the past 3 months?

Thanks for any information you can share.

[Mark F.]

Law enforcement here. Just because courthouse backroom checks arent up and running,doesn't mean landlords cant screen their tenants. Most landlords use other sources and websites who conduct their own checks via the information that is loaded online. They dont call up the NJ courthouse and ask them to run an information search on a person. 

Basically there are multiple databases of information on people and just because you use two different websites doesnt mean you'll be tapping into the same source.