I just knew it wouldn’t be too long after the creation of the Do Not Call list before some commercial entities created a database of otherwise unavailable phone numbers. The Missouri Attorney General has added a mortgage company to its list of violators, from which the AG has collected $1.2 million.

Find all the corresponding counties and states for a city name. This site also has a searchable database by county name that returns a linkable list of the associated states. A search on the county name “Jefferson” lists 28 states that include this word in their county name (two for Louisiana).

State and government repositories of public records can be located through the comprehensive Public Records Research System at an annual fee of $119 for two users. This online database can be searched within each state by city or county, and further limited by state office, license or Federal Records Center. It provides location and hours of operation of the government office, fees for searching or for documents, indexing method and inclusive dates, and various ways to access the offices’ services.

The inaccuracy of court index information has taken a new shape with the redacting of personal data and the posting of these indexes on the court websites. I previously reported on the apparent unintentional alteration of Sacramento County, California criminal index listings. We’re familiar with the various identifiable limitations of the government sites: inclusive dates aren’t listed and the information returned may be more limited than that at a commercial source. The current issue of Public Records Update, from BRB Publications reveals another troubling situation: the removal of cases from indexes without any notification. Here’s the summary from BRB:

Many online researchers are aware of the Connecticut Judicial Department’s website as an excellent free online source of CT Superior Court civil records (http://www.jud2.state.ct.us/Civil_Inquiry). However, many researchers may not be aware of periodic purges of the data that may jeopardize true due diligence searching. Although the webpage states that records can be posted as long as 10 years, many cases are only posted for one year. For example, cases closed by settlement, dismissal, withdrawal, and even stipulated judgments may be removed from the website within a year after disposition. Also, in March 2005, over half of the records were purged from the system (from 309,000 to 145,000 civil cases).
While the CT Judicial Branch website can be a useful tool for anyone interested in searching for judgments or pending cases, it can be a trap for the unwary who are looking for a full litigation history or background information. A special thanks to John Lach of Court PC of Connecticut Inc. for bringing this to our attention!

court records

Browse Chicago crimes. Plot all or specific crimes on a street or satellite map.

California PI’s and those that rely on our work need to send letters to the California Assembly Judiciary Committee immediately, to stop the forward momentum of SB550, which will effectively put databrokers out of business. Email me if you don’t have a sample letter. Include your PI license number, or work affiliation if you’re not a PI.

Europe has greater restrictions on access to personal data, which may guide the U.S. Congress in its endeavor to remove avenues of fraud for identity thieves. Read the article [subscription bypass: bugmenot.com; me_at_spamguard.com/junk]

Find more than enough search fields for the social security death index at Steve Morse’s site.

A smattering of bad court decisions.

Private university’s crime log will remain secret
A private university in Georgia can continue to hide its police activities from the public after the state’s highest court declined to review an intermediate appellate court decision that the open records law does not cover the school’s campus
police.

State Supreme Court limits public access to court records
The Minnesota Supreme Court has approved new rules that will restrict the public’s ability to access court records online, and reduce the information now available in paper records.

You may be using craigslist to find low cost products or identify specific individuals who are posting to this site. Another tool, Oodle, tracks activities and products across thousands of online sources and also aggregates craigslist into its search results, then sends you an email alert whenever there are changes to your keyword. The results list is further narrowed by locale, company, topic and many other categories, depending on your search area.

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