Right now, people are able to get connected in more ways than ever before. Chances are, you have far more friends than your parents did, and you might find it a struggle to juggle them all. More importantly, it might be difficult for you to assess them all. What if your new friend is a convicted felon?
If you’d prefer to know if someone in your life has done something illegal, you may want to look into an online public records check.
What’s an Online Public Records Check?
An online public records check is just a look into someone’s legal past. All you need to perform one is the legal, full name of the person you’re researching, and their address. Inside a public record check will be a variety of information, such as:
- Legal Name
- Criminal Record
- Driving Record
- Arrest Record
While this information may seem illegal to access, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The Freedom of Information Act allows anyone to access public records. However, there are several ways of accessing these public records, with some being more inconvenient than others.
- An online public records database
When performing any sort of background check, an online public records database is extraordinarily efficient. Database services, like SpyFly, allow users to access records pulled from every state and county in the nation, at incredible speed. These records are kept up to date and can be trusted to be reliable and accurate.
- Visit your local courthouse
If you’d prefer to set foot somewhere, a courthouse is an option that may be able to fulfill that need. However, there are some limitations on this. For starters, you must supply the court with sufficient reason for you to gain access to this information. In addition, you’ll have to pay a clerical fee, since you’re utilizing the services of the county clerk. Lastly, but most importantly, you may not gain access to all the records pertaining to an individual. For instance, if a courthouse has yet to digitize their records, or if their database isn’t linked, then you’ll only be able to pull records from that county. If someone were arrested in a different county, there’s a chance that it wouldn’t show up on their background check, should you utilize a courthouse to obtain their information.
- Visit your local sheriff’s office
This is another option for those of us who’re more extraverted. However, many of the drawbacks of the previous option are found here. Many departments’ data isn’t linked and will be locked only to their county. Moreover, officers on duty may not have the time to fulfill your requests in a quick fashion, as they’re often burdened with their other responsibilities.
As you can probably tell, an online database is without a doubt the most convenient, reliable, and cost-effective way of accessing public records. Most importantly, it can be done from the comfort of your own home, rather than requiring you to traipse around, looking for the county that has the information you need. If you’re looking for a service that works, consider trying SpyFly. They’re cheap, dependable, and have a database with billions of records, available for you to access.
***SpyFly provides consumers affordable, immediate access to public record information. Federal laws prohibit businesses from using SpyFly’s service to make decisions about employment, insurance, consumer credit, tenant screening, or for any other purpose subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 USC 1681 et seq.***