Is there an affordable site to do a background check on someone

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m mostly looking into criminal things, but would also be interested in civil ones (lawsuits, etc).

I only need it for one person, I don’t need a monthly subscription. However the sites I look at seem to want to sell me a monthly subscription.

Can I get a single report on an individual for somewhere in the $5-30 range?

2

I’ve used CT Credit to do credit checks and eviction reports for prospective tenants. It can also can do criminal background checks and similar. Some of the reports, like the eviction check, are by state, so if you don’t know what you’re looking for, they might not be too useful.

I make people sign a form authorizing me to do a credit check, and gathering the information I need to give to CT. I’m not sure if you can do checks easily, legally, or without violating their terms of service without such signed permission. To setup an account they do want some ID and other things from you, and the system is geared toward landlords.

Once everything is setup, results are instantaneous.

3

I’m not looking for eviction records, I’m more looking for arrest and conviction records.

4

One person? Do you have their consent? If so, just have them go do a fingerprint - based check through the applicable LEA in your state, which will check their record nationwide. Costs about 60 bucks, but it’s the most comprehensive one you can get. Name-based checks are junk.

5

Honestly, when I need one - it’s happened a few times - I pay a local PI to do it. He charges me $100.

6

Many states have all of that listed on line as a matter of public record. In Wisconsin, for example, I can pull someone up and see traffic tickets, anything they’ve been charged with, civil issues (ie, getting sued) etc.
It’s technically just access to court system, but if get a speeding ticket, even if you just mail in a payment, it’ll still be on there.

I’ve looked for similar things in other states and they seem needlessly complicated. In at least one states (MA maybe), you had to pick the correct country, court and type of case. Kind of a PITA when you have all you have is a name (and not where they’ve lived or a specific thing you’re looking for). In Wisconsin, just put their name in and it’ll give you everything it has. I do know, however, that not every city can be accessed by it, so it’s not all inclusive, but pretty close to it.

ETA, try googling “[State] court access” and see if you come up with anything.