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Public records search

clock Updated: 7 days ago

Public records search

A public records search is a tool you use if you want to find information that has been recorded or filed by a public agency (e.g. a government department or a court). That information might be about a person (e.g. criminal or marriage record information), a property (e.g. property tax or zoning information) or a vehicle (e.g. accident or inspection reports). 

There are various tools around that enable you to perform a public records search, including tools that enable you to search people’s public records free.

Do a public records search now

Find People by Name

Do a public records search to look up contact info, photos & more!

Most public records search tools are web based (i.e. appear on a website) but some public records search tools have their own mobile phone apps.

You might use a public records search if you want to find out:

  • If a person is married
  • What assets a person owns
  • Who owns a particular property
  • How much property tax a house attracts
  • If a car you’re thinking of buying has been in an accident
  • If a person has a criminal record
  • If a person has committed any traffic offenses
  • If there are any registered sex offenders in a neighborhood

How does a public records search work?

A public records search tool has a field where you can type a person’s name or phone number, an address or a vehicle identification number (VIN), and a button you click to start the search. 

When you click the search button, the tool searches through billions of public records across a range of databases, then presents you with a series of matches  —  much like a normal search engine. You then click on the record you want to see the details of.

What’s the best FREE public records search tool in 2022?

The best free public records search tools we’ve found are TruePeopleSearch, WhitePages and FastPeopleSearch. All three are pretty easy to use, but they provide only very limited information for free, and the accuracy of that information may be questionable. All three make you pay to access detailed reports and, not surprisingly, the most useful information is always in the detailed reports. Of the three, TruePeopleSearch and FastPeopleSearch provide the most free detail.

We believe if you’re serious about doing a public records search, you’re far better off with a paid tool.

Here’s a comparison of the information these free tools can provide vs the information a good paid public records search tool can provide.


TruePeopleSearch
Free
WhitePages
Free
FastPeopleSearch
Free
BeenVerified
Paid
Name
Current address
Previous addresses
Email addresses
Landline telephone numbers
Cell phone numbers
Social media profiles
Person’s photo
Map showing person’s addresses
Current & previous vehicles
Names of family members
Names of associates
Names of neighbors
Person’s profile page shows details about relatives, associates & neighbors
Marriage record information
Divorce record information
Ancestry information
Criminal, traffic & other public police records
Bankruptcies
Jobs
Education
Assets
Judgements & liens
Download PDF of reports
Monitor person’s records for changes
Create lists of people searched
Add notes to reports
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What’s the best PAID public records search tool in 2022?

We’ve reviewed a lot of public records search tools, and in our opinion the best, bang for buck, is definitely BeenVerified.

Do a public records search with BeenVerified now

Find People by Name

Do a public records search to look up contact info, photos & more!

BeenVerified is a 100% anonymous public records search that can find the following information:

Information about a personInformation about a propertyInformation about a vehicle
First & last names
Aliases
Birth record information
Marriage & divorce record information
Court records
Traffic tickets
Sex offenses
Possible owners
Possible residents
Lot size
Property type
Number of bedrooms & bathrooms
Property tax liable
Deeds
Photos
A detailed history
Past and present owner details
Sale listings
Accident history
Salvage records
Theft records
Criminal record
Assets
Bankruptcies
Household demographics
Education, hobbies & interests
Phone numbers
Email addresses
Current & past addresses
Family members, neighbors, friends & co-workers
More…
Liens
Value
Nearby homes
Surrounding area (including demographics, income, occupation details, education level, marital status, natural hazards, safety e.g. known sex offenders nearby)
More…
Title records
Recalls
Market value
Ownership cost
Vehicle specs
Warranties
Vehicle safety information
More…
exclamation-blueThere’s no guarantee you’ll find the information you’re looking for with the tools discussed in this article. They all source their information from publicly available data sources, such as county, state and federal courts, government departments, and police records, and those sources may contain incorrect or incomplete data. It’s illegal to use these tools to make decisions about employment, admission, consumer credit, insurance, tenant screening, or any other purpose that would require FCRA compliance. Read the Fair Credit Reporting Act to learn more....

About this article

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Glenn Murray

Customer Experience Director

Glenn is Super Easy’s Customer Experience Director. He plans and executes training programs, designs user experiences, conducts conversion rate experiments, sets our style and tone of voice, contributes to SEO implementation & strategy, and oversees important internal & external communications. He also manages our technical support team.

Glenn lives on the Central Coast of Australia, just north of Sydney, and enjoys walking, reading, music, wine and craft beer.

Contributors

Anna Li

UX Designer

Aimee Huang

Product & UX Designer

About this article

round-success 15 Revisions

file-success Reviewed by BeenVerified

Glenn Murray

Customer Experience Director

Glenn is Super Easy’s Customer Experience Director. He plans and executes training programs, designs user experiences, conducts conversion rate experiments, sets our style and tone of voice, contributes to SEO implementation & strategy, and oversees important internal & external communications. He also manages our technical support team. Glenn lives on the Central Coast of Australia, just north of Sydney [...]

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Contributors

Anna Li

UX Designer

Aimee Huang

Product & UX Designer