Thursday, April 14, 2011




Using Public Records to Look Up People and Related Information Online

According to a recent report, more consumers are turning to public records to find comprehensive people-related data. Millions of consumers have found that information that is included in these records can often be more comprehensive, informative and targeted than doing traditional people searches through general purpose search engines, white page listings or social networking sites.

Online public record search sites offer access to an aggregated, comprehensive list of both offline and online resources making records easier to find. In the case of one free records site, it offers consumers the ability to search for records from around the world. Information found in public records can help consumers, employers and business associates assess a person's reputation, find assets, identify affiliations or relationships, uncover evidence of legal problems or conduct research on just about anything that pertains to that person.

As government entities continue to provide more and more public records online, it offers users both a tremendous opportunity and challenge. In the United States, there is no centrally available database where all of these records are integrated. Most of the critical information sought is recorded in a variety of public records that are maintained in different databases across countries, agencies, states and cities, and includes information such as:

• Bankruptcies
• Marriages and divorces
• Births
• Civil judgments
• Criminal convictions
• Previous and current addresses
• Aliases

While many users could use search engines to find sources for the billions of records that are available in federal, state and local databases, this approach could take a lot of time and effort to get results that may or may not be accurate, comprehensive or up to date. Online public record sites help simplify the search process by listing hundreds of public record sources and both are updated monthly.

Public records are government records and generally include real estate records, court records, including bankruptcies, liens and judgments, professional licenses, intellectual property filings and business records, such as business filings, public company filings and UCCs. Federal or state law determines what is a public record. Because the laws of the 50 states vary, what is public in one state may not be in another. For example, under Maine law, voter registration records may be used to locate a missing heir. But records cannot be accessed for this, or any other non-political purpose, in several other states. Similarly, records can be searched for misdemeanors or felonies, but a state's criminal repository - the agency responsible for maintaining criminal histories - may bar access to official rapsheets.

Information that is not part of a public record might become public through several legitimate means. A person might volunteer it. Those with a public telephone number choose (by accepting a public listing) to publish it. One of the more common ways private information becomes public, though, is through disclosure in a public record. Bankruptcies and divorce filings typically contain private information. Vehicle accident reports sometimes provide vehicle identification numbers (VIN), license plate numbers.

Pubic record sites typically offer customized and organized reports based on a user's request for information. Most of these search sites provide access for a fee to an instant report that may include phone, date of birth, relatives, address, average home value, marriage/divorce records and more. Also for a fee, the more detailed Background Check feature will provide a background summary that, in addition to the information contained in a search, may include:

• Statewide Criminal Check
• Sex Offender check
• Bankruptcies and Liens
• Current and Previous Addresses
• Contact Information
• Relatives and Associates
• Small Claims and Judgments
• Home Value and Property Ownership
• Neighborhood Information


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dylan_Bright

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