People search and public records.

The other day I tried to find a person who does still owe me some money. The internet is a wonderful tool for searching people and finally I found him. During my search I am directed to sites which want my money if I wish some additional information other than the adress ... like their email adress or even criminal records. These sites tell me they have access to public records and can make a report for me with whatever information there is to find on this person.

I wonder.. do these sites have a special licence to retrieve this information or can anybody access these public records info without paying them first? If any of you have experiance with digging up information about a person can you tell me if it is possible to do it without these websites that want our money first? Or is there no other way...? I know it is not very much money they ask but I hate to pay for stuff if I can get it myself for free.

Thx

a reply to: zatara

If the company has attorney or other such professional that use "Lexus Nexus" then I would say maybe, otherwise they are probably just pulling information from credit reports which is not very good 9/10...especially if you're trying to find a current job information or something to file a garn on.

ahem… 'private' investigators usually have a 'line' on information, like a buddy downtown (still on the force) with access to DMV or police records.

You thought your private info was secure. Not in Corruptionville, USA.