SterlingNOW, the self-service background screening solution
you can trust.

Click Get Started above or here to create an account. You will need your business information ready in order to create your account.

To create an account, you will need to provide your business information including type of organization, size of organization, years in business, business name, address, phone number, website and email. If you have business verification documentation, such as a current business license or articles of incorporation, uploading it when you are creating an account will expedite the process.

For sole proprietors, we ask for proof of identity, which is a government-issued identification card.

For nonprofit organizations you can provide an IRS Tax Exempt 501(c)3 as a proof of business.

For household employers, we ask for proof of identity, which is a government-issued identification card and a proof of intent to employ, which is a signed consent form.

To comply with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and privacy laws, SterlingNOW must verify that a background screen order is being placed on behalf of a valid business for employment purposes only. This is called “credentialing,” and once your business is credentialed, you can order additional checks without going through the verification step again.

No, you can submit your first background check order after you have set up your account. The order will process as soon as your business has been verified.

90% of criminal checks are complete within a day (following credentialing).

For education and employment verification, the average turnaround time is 3-5 business days depending on the responsiveness of the organization.

At this time SterlingNOW is only available for companies and candidates based in the United States.

At this time SterlingNOW is not set up for individuals to run a background check on themselves. There are industry regulations and separate legal documents required to run self-screens that SterlingNOW does not currently support.

Yes, you may order a background check for household employees such as contractors or babysitters. In order to be verified, household employers will be asked to provide proof of identity, which is a government-issued identification card, and a proof of intent to employ, which is a signed consent form.

If the results of a background screening cause you to pause the hiring process, the law requires that you send the candidate a notice of Pre-Adverse Action.