PI LICENSING: North Carolina

[Darlene Derrick -]

Can anyone give me the requirements for Licensing in the state of North Carolina. I will be moving there in August.

Thank you

[Robert Donovan]

NO LICENSE NEEDED
IF YOU WORK WITH THE FOLLOWING:

(1) Licensed insurance adjusters legally employed as such and who engage in no other investigative activities unconnected with adjustment or claims against an insurance company;

(2) An officer or employee of the United States, this State, or any political subdivision of either while such officer or employee is engaged in the performance of his official duties within the course and scope of his employment with the United States, this State, or any political subdivision of either;

(3) A person engaged exclusively in the business of obtaining and furnishing information as to the financial rating or credit worthiness of persons; and a person who provides consumer reports in connection with:
a. Credit transactions involving the consumer on whom the information is to be furnished and involving the extensions of credit to the consumer,
b. Information for employment purposes,
c. Information for the underwriting of insurance involving the consumer,
d. Information in connection with a determination of the consumer's eligibility for a license or other benefit granted by a governmental instrumentality required by law to consider an applicant's financial responsibility, or
e. A legitimate business need for the information in connection with a business transaction involving the consumer;

(4) An attorney at law licensed to practice in North Carolina while engaged in such practice and his agent, provided said agent is performing duties only in connection with his principal's practice of law;

(5) The legal owner or lien holder, and his agents and employees, of personal property which has been sold in a transaction wherein a security interest in personal property has been created to secure the sales transaction, who engage in repossession of said personal property;

(6) Repealed by Session Laws 1989, c. 759, s. 3;
(7) Repealed by Session Laws 1981, c. 807, s. 1;

(8) Employees of a licensee who are employed exclusively as undercover agents; provided that for purposes of this section, undercover agent means an individual hired by another person, firm, association, or corporation to perform a job for that person, firm, association, or corporation and, while performing such job, to act as an undercover operative, employee, or independent contractor of a licensee, but under the supervision of a licensee;

(9) A person who is engaged in an alarm systems business subject to the provisions of Chapter 74D of the General Statutes;

(10) A person who obtains or verifies information regarding applicants for employment, with the knowledge and consent of the applicant, and is (i) engaged in business as a private personnel service as defined in G.S. 95-47.1 or engaged in business as a private employer fee pay personnel service, (ii) engaged in the business of obtaining or verifying information regarding applicants for employment, or (iii) an employer with whom the applicant has applied for employment;

(11) A person who conducts efficiency studies. An efficiency study is an analysis of an employer's business, made at the request of the employer, to determine one or more of the following:
a. The most efficient procedures by which an employee of the business can perform the employee's assigned duties.
b. The adequacy of an employee's performance of the employee's assigned duties that require interaction with a client or customer of the business.
If a person making an efficiency study observes an instance of theft or another illegal act committed by an employee of the business, the person may report the instance to the employer without violating G.S. 74C-3(a)(8);

(12) Research laboratories and consultants who analyze, test, or in any way apply their expertise to interpreting, evaluating, or analyzing facts or evidence submitted by another in order to determine the cause or effect of physical or psychological occurrences, and give their opinions and findings to the requesting source or to a designee of the requestor;

(13) A person who works regularly and exclusively as an employee of an employer in connection with the business affairs of that employer. If the employee is an armed security guard and wears, carries, or possesses a firearm in the performance of his duties, the provisions of G.S. 74C-13 apply;

(14) An employee of a security department of a private business that conducts investigations exclusively on matters internal to the business affairs of the business. (1973, c. 528, s. 1; 1977, c. 481; 1979, c. 818, s. 2; 1981, c. 807, ss.
1-3; 1983, c. 259; c. 786, ss. 2, 3; c. 794, s. 1; 1987, c. 284;
c. 657, s. 1; 1989, c. 759, s. 3.)

HOWEVER, IF YOU PLAN TO SOLICIT YOURSELF TO THE PUBLIC, you need a license.

If you are not soliciting and wish to be placed under a license or with a firm that is exempt from licensing, the full statutes should be looked at.

Robert

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MAIN LICENSING SITE: Click Here

TO VERIFY A LICENSE: Click Here

Already have an out-of-state PI License?
For a PDF Reciprocity agreement with other states:
https://files.nc.gov/ncdps/div/SBI/P...Agreements.pdf

[Christine Anderson -]

I. D. Derrick, here are the requirements for a Private Investigator License in North Carolina:

Three (3) years experience within the past five (5) years in private investigative work, or three (3) years within the past five (5) years in an investigative capacity as a member of a law enforcement agency (Section .0401)

If after reviewing the above requirements, you determine that you qualify, you must then submit the following (use this as a check list):
[list=a][*]Two (2) complete application forms[*]One (1) completed fingerprint card (all data must be completed)[*]Two (2) recent head and shoulder color photographs (no Polaroid SX-70 or Kodak Pr-10), 1 x 1 inch[*]Proof of high school graduation or equivalency certificate[*]DD 214 (if veteran or discharge)[*]$150.00 application fee (non-refundable and made payable to "Private Protective Services Board")[*]Authorization of release of records form[*]Statement of a local criminal history check from the Clerk of Court's Office or the City/County Bureau of Identification from each county of residence within the past 60 months. (Must be current)[*]$5.00 check or money order payable to the SBI for each State Computerized Criminal Record Check.[/list=a]

I hope this helps you out. Best of Luck to you.

[Steven J Taylor]

Just an asside, to Cynthia's mention about LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) experiance, if you have current certification (BLET, standardized testing) you will essentially have to surrender those credentials to carry an NC PI's license.

[Joseph Szkolka -]

It appears, after looking at other states' regulations, that North Carolina is pretty much in line with many other states' regulations and laws. It makes understanding for somewhat single minded individuals like me, easier.

[Long Nguyen]

Now, is an individual eligible to apply for a PI license in North Carolina without the three years experience, but he is holding a bachelor degree in criminal justice? Or the same rule "3 years of experience" being applied to everyone? Please if anyone can respond to my dilemma. Thank you so much.

[Donna Reagan]

Now, is an individual eligible to apply for a PI license in North Carolina without the three years experience, but he is holding a bachelor degree in criminal justice? Or the same rule "3 years of experience" being applied to everyone? Please if anyone can respond to my dilemma. Thank you so much.

If you don't have the three years experience, you can easily obtain your own PI Agency License for North Carolina by joining IPIU as a Lifetime Corporate Member and requesting a licensed private investigator to sponsor you.

For more details, read the following link:

http://www.ipiu.org/forums/showthrea...aiting-3-years

[Danielle Bosley]

Now, is an individual eligible to apply for a PI license in North Carolina without the three years experience, but he is holding a bachelor degree in criminal justice? Or the same rule "3 years of experience" being applied to everyone? Please if anyone can respond to my dilemma. Thank you so much.

Hi Long! My partner and I explored that very same option for a long time and became quite proficient with NC laws. You must still have the experience. However, with a bachelors degree (of any major, not only cj), they will credit you 800 of the 3000 hours you need. That is what Joyce McClure of the Private Protective licensing office told me earlier this year. I assume it is still correct, but you should verify it. We had many problems with that office giving us incorrect information. We were actually weeks away from building a business without IPIU when the same woman (Ms. McClure) told me we could not operate the business we were wanting to, when she is the one who had told us repeatedly in the six months prior that we could and talked us through the whole process. She also lied to me during our last conversation and tried to tell me NC has no reciprocity with any states. Yet, she had already emailed me the statues and the list of the seven states they have reciprocity with a couple months prior to that conversation. Confirm Confirm Confirm with those people. Get things in writing!

IPIU was the only way we managed to still build our business. I would recommend you think about doing the same.

[Long Nguyen]

Hi Danielle,

Thank you very much for the information, I basically needed to know exactly how much credit is given to people, holding a bachelors degreee, without the experience. 800 hours is good and fair, it's totally understandable. I'm actually on training with D-T-I (Detective Training Institute) have you heard of them? Are you currently a licensce PI in North Carolina?

[Michael Newman]

I'm actually on training with D-T-I (Detective Training Institute) have you heard of them?

How long ago did you make the purchase?

Out of the 35 lessons, how many have you passed?

The reason I ask is that you may want to get a refund and choose a better school for that amount of money! But if you have already sent in a lot of their lessons, then you may want to keep going and "wishing for the best".

Michael

[Danielle Bosley]

Hi Danielle,

Thank you very much for the information, I basically needed to know exactly how much credit is given to people, holding a bachelors degreee, without the experience. 800 hours is good and fair, it's totally understandable. I'm actually on training with D-T-I (Detective Training Institute) have you heard of them? Are you currently a licensce PI in North Carolina?

Hi Long,

You are welcome. I'd not heard of D-T-I before. I looked them up though and immediately saws a page promising one could become a PI in 3-6 months. Thus, I closed the window. It's not possible. There isn't a school that can promise you anything like that. You may know how to be one (with some, not all of the schools' training programs), but to actually work as one, you either need:
1) to live in a state that doesn't regulate private investigators (colorado, alaska, wyoming, idaho, etc. there are 5-7 of them, but while some states may not regulate, some cities, like Boise- in Idaho, do)

2) obtain the working (not training at D-T-I or school) experience to get your state license

or 3) become employed by an already licensed PI and work under them until you obtain the time you need. (FYI in my experience, having a certificate from a place like D-T-I will be appealing to a small number of PI's- likely the less professional or less educated/successful ones. Those who are at the top of their game that you could really learn things from often look down on such schools and consider them a waste of time. Again, just the opinions I've gotten from PI's I networked with when first getting into this field)

Most all PI's have worked hard to get where they are and get their licenses. Thus, most expect you to do the same. If you aren't willing, you must not want to be a part of the profession bad enough is the attitude I've usually gotten.

I would second what Michael said. If you haven't yet paid in full, get your money back. Invest it in high quality resumes to start sending to PI's. You may have to work for free for awhile. Many are not willing to employ in this economy. It's easier generally to shoot for bigger companies than guys who just work for themselves. The economy has hit this profession hard. They don't need the help generally and aren't going to be able to pay you.

There is no "quick fix" for any of it. You cannot become a PI overnight.

That being said, I am not licensed in NC. I have no need to be right now with my corporation through IPIU. It allows me to take cases from anywhere I want.

Good lukc Long. I am sure you will find IPIU is a wealth of information at your disposal with plenty of people willing to give you advice!

[Donna Reagan]

Hi Danielle,

Thank you very much for the information, I basically needed to know exactly how much credit is given to people, holding a bachelors degreee, without the experience. 800 hours is good and fair, it's totally understandable. I'm actually on training with D-T-I (Detective Training Institute) have you heard of them? Are you currently a licensce PI in North Carolina?

The owner of D-T-I used to be a member here, but he violated his Oath and Code of Ethics because he has a whole section on his web site characterizing calling other well known and professional schools as s-c-a-m's. It is one thing for a mail order school to promote the values and worthiness of their training manuals, but it is, in my personal opinion, ludicrous and unethical to make misleading claims of other schools in an effort to pursuade prospective students to pay up to $1000 for their course at the expense of other school's reputation.

What is more interesting is we have many graduates from D-T-I who joined us here because they could not get any work through D-T-I. Many of them are too embarrassed to admit they should have spend as little as $200 with IPIU to get enough academic training and start with on the job cases within 5 weeks.

Both D-T-I and IPIU are accredited members of the Better Business Bureau, including one of the professional schools that D-T-I's owner seems to have a grudge against.

In my opinion it is shameful that such a course can be compromised because of the actions of its owner. You will not find other owners of other courses we recommend that vindictive or distasteful.

D-T-I has a few testimonial's on their web site. We have thousands in the following link:

http://www.ipiu.org/forums/forumdisp...IMONIALS-FORUM

And all of the above testimonials are unsolicited (where IPIU did not ask them to post their testimonial. They chose to post it on their own). And everyone one of them include their real first and last name and real location.

If you should join IPIU, you can start working spare-time cases within 5 weeks after you pass your test and receive your PI Union License. This is how I started years ago in New York City. I now have my own state PI License thanks to IPIU, and I volunteer as a web moderator to help direct newcomers, like yourself, to get the facts and not be sold on a false set of goods.

Donna

[Marcus Fletcher]

Good info on north carolina

[Melissa Taylor]

How do you get a sponsor so that you can get your 3000 hours experience that is needed? I have tried to make contact with several different PI's and got no response from them in return. It seems no one wants to take on that task.

[Donna Reagan]

How do you get a sponsor so that you can get your 3000 hours experience that is needed? I have tried to make contact with several different PI's and got no response from them in return. It seems no one wants to take on that task.

You are not alone.

See he solution in the following link:
http://www.ipiu.org/forums/showthrea...569#post531569

[Marcus Fletcher]

Thanks for the info about NC very helpful

[Marcus Fletcher]

Great info about NC Lic

[Joseph R Everson]

Great info