Post Office

When someone moves, they quite often will provide their local post office with their new address by filing the proper change of address card. This ensures that they continue to receive all of their mail at the new address even when it is addressed to their old address. Fortunately, this change of address information which is usually kept for two years by the post office is available to anyone who asks for it. You can request this information in person or by mail.

When requesting forwarding information by mail, simply address an envelope to the invalid address and mark the envelope with ‘DO NOT FORWARD - FORWARDING ADDRESS REQUESTED’ and then mail it. The post office will write the forwarding address on the envelope and them send it back to you using the return address.

If someone is using a PO Box to receive their mail, the post office will not provide you with their physical address information. However, if an individual or company runs a business using a PO Box number, the post office must provide the business owner’s address information to those that request it.

Department of Motor Vehicles

The department of motor vehicles is probably the best known, most used source for obtaining information when faced with the task of locating someone. Depending on the state, it may be the only information source that you will require to locate your target.

The first type of record that you may want to request would be your target’s driving record. Although it will vary from state to state, the record that you request can contain any of the following pieces of information about your subject:

Personal Information - Address, Social Security Number, Date of Birth

Physical Characteristics - Eye color, Hair Color, Height, Weight

Driving Information - Accidents, Tickets, License Restriction

Even if you do receive all of the information as listed above, you may find that the address that is listed is no longer a valid address. If this is the case and the driver’s record indicates that the subject has had traffic tickets or accidents, you should request information about these traffic violations. These records may contain a current address or other identifying information such as a license plate number.

With a license plate number one can usually obtain an up-to-date address for their target by requesting the vehicles registration records. Since a vehicle’s registration must be renewed on a yearly basis, information within these records is more likely to be current as opposed to driver’s records which are renewed on a much less frequent basis. Sometimes the vehicle that your target is using (ascertained by traffic ticket records etc.) may be registered to someone else. Although this may not be ideal, it still does provide you with another lead and often to someone who does know where your target is located.

Vital Records

Vital records consist of birth and death certificates, marriage licenses and divorce records. Depending on the state that you wish to query, they may or may not be available to the public. A complete listing of where you can obtain this information and what is required is available within the ‘Offline Resources’ sections of the program.

Although the address information contained within these records is often no longer valid, they may contain contact addresses or other information that can prove useful when requesting records from other sources (such as date of birth from a birth certificate or parent’s address). If your subject is a female and you are uncertain as to whether or not she has since married (or divorced) a name search at the proper agency may prove useful in obtaining her current surname.

Voter Registration

In most states, voter registration information is of public record and can be obtained using simply a person’s name. Depending on the state, this information may be obtained from a centralized source or may require that you go to county or township level. Contact addresses and other information can be found within the ‘Offline Resources’ and ‘State Government’ sections of the toolkit.

This record check will usually provide an address but, also quite often provides a date of birth and sometimes even a social security number.

Secretary of State

The Secretary of State is a useful resource for those that want to obtain information on a business or corporation (covered elsewhere). However, it can also be extremely useful for finding a person’s address should they actually have any type of license that has been issued from the state. Each state has different occupations which require that an individual be licensed in order to work within the field. Some of these occupations may be as follows:

Secretary of State

Accounting
Security
Trucking
Investigation
Services
Builders
Contractors
Pilots
Bankers
Mechanics
Pawnbrokers
Salesman
Real Estate
Professional Services

To determine if your subject has a state license, request a name search from the appropriate Secretary of State agency as listed within the ‘Offline Resources’ section of the program. Some of these agencies are also available on the Internet and if so will be found within the ‘State Government’ section of the toolkit. For some states online databases can also be found within this section and they will allow you to search for professional license information within your browser.

Hunting & Fishing Licenses

If you believe that your subject may enjoy the sport of fishing or hunting, it may be worthwhile to request a name search from the appropriate state agency that maintains these records. If found, most states will return an address and date of birth.

Vessel/Boat Registration Records

In most states boat or vessel owners are required to register their craft. There are currently online searchable databases that you can access and perform a check for such registrations. For access links, refer to the appropriate sections of the program.

Aircraft Registrations

In the United States, small aircraft owners are required to register their planes. This information is open to the public and among the information that you will find is the owner’s address. Databases that you can query within your browser can be found on the Internet and are listed within the ‘Misc ’ section under 'Search'.

Bankruptcy Records

Many Americans file for bankruptcy everyday. These records are available to the public and quite often provide a wealth of information which may include your subject’s assets, SSN, address, date of birth and employment history. To determine if there are any records for your subject, request a name search from the appropriate state bankruptcy court.

Corporation, Fictitious Name & UCC Filing Records

Various corporations and businesses records are available within each state. Most of these records are open to the public and they provide an excellent source of information should your subject own or be involved in any business or corporation.

Uniform commercial code (UCC) transactions are also available as public record in most states. Therefore if your target has ever borrowed from or lent money or other tangibles to a business they would be listed within the state’s UCC filing records. These records usually contain all the details of the transaction including the participant’s name and business addresses.

Many of these databases can be found online and you can access their location within the ‘State Government’ section of the program. As well, contact information can be found within the ‘Offline Resources’ of the program.

Social Security Death Index

You can verify as to whether or not your subject has died using the SSN Death database which can currently be accessed for free on the Internet. A current link to the database can be found within the ‘Social Security’ section of the program under Search.

County Courthouse Records

There are numerous records available at the County Courthouse, many of which may lead you to your subject and they are also a great source of background information (covered elsewhere). Most of these records can be searched for using just the name of your subject.

Just a few of the records that are available at most courthouses are:

• Assumption Agreements
• Abstracts
• Affidavits
• Agreements (for deed, not to encumber)
• Amended Judgments
• Assignments ( Lien, judgment, lease, mortgage)
• Breaches ( Lease, contract, agreement)
• Business records
• Certificates ( Tax, approval, merger, organization, title)
• Change of name
• Corporation records
• Court records
• Deeds
• Discharge or Dismissal records
• Easement
• Foreclosures
• Judgments
• Lease
• Lien records
• Power of Attorney
• Resolution
• Separation
• Support Agreements
• Tax Warrants
• Titles
• Various Tax records

GOVERNMENT - LETTER FORWARDING SERVICES

The government may be able to assist you in locating a missing person. Although they cannot provide you with an address directly, many government departments will forward a letter to the person for you without charge.

Internal Revenue Service

If you have the person's social security number, the IRS will forward a letter for you to the address that they have on file. Current IRS regulations state that the purpose of the letter must fall under an humane situation, or that it consist of beneficial information.

To request that the IRS forward a letter, you must provide the following information:

The person's SSN.

Reason(s) why you are requesting that the letter be forwarded.

The "unsealed" letter you wish forwarded.

Send the required information and letter to be forwarded to:

Office of Disclosure
RM 1603, 1111 Constitution Ave. N/W
Washington, DC 20224

Social Security Administration

The Social Security Administration is another government agency that will forward a letter for you to a person's place of employment (or home address if they are receiving a pension and/or other benefit).

Not unlike the IRS regulations, the purpose of the letter that you wish to send must fall under a humane situation, or be of benefit. In order to request this service you must have either a Social Security number and/or the person's date of birth. If you are only providing the birth date, you must also provide either the target's parents' names or the person's last known place of employment.

To request that the Social Security Administration forward a letter, you must provide the following information:

The person's Name, SSN and/or date of birth. (If you only have the DOB, you must provide additional information as described above)

Reason(s) why you are requesting that the letter be forwarded

Approximate date of last contact with person.

What other methods you have used in an attempt to contact the individual.

The "unsealed" letter you wish forwarded.

Send the required information and letter to be forwarded to:

Social Security Administration
Letter Forwarding Service
3-a-6 Operations building
6401 Security Blvd.
Baltimore, MD 21235