Please Note: The material on this website is provided for informational purposes only. It is not a consumer reporting agency as defined by The Fair Credit Reporting Act and should not be used to determine an individual's eligibility for personal credit or employment, or to assess risk associated with any business transactions such as tenant screening.

While in the past you had to go the place where the public records were kept in order to access them, now you can do this directly online. The easy accessibility of the information has led to a huge increase in the number of searches performed by members of the public. What is the data used for? Surprisingly or not, it has a great variety of uses.
Finding People
Both professional and amateur genealogists use the public records to obtain ancestry information. If you want to learn more about your family’s past and create a family tree, you need to use the birth, death, marriage and divorce records. They contain plenty of information about couples and their children. You can go a great number of generations back.
When you conduct people search, the public documents kept by authorities can be of immense help. You can readily find the address of the person that you are looking for. You can also find a good amount of information about her family as well. The business and professional licenses can help you to find out where the person works.
If a family member that you live with or a friend that you have recently met is nowhere to be found, you can search the arrest records to find out whether he has got into trouble. In most places, the database compiled by the local law enforcement authority is available directly online and gets updated daily.
Background Checks
The public criminal history records, in particular, are among the most important sources for background checks. This is because they contain accurate and detailed information on any offenses committed by a person plus arrests, charges and convictions. Criminal background information is required by employers and landlords and sometimes by credit providers as well. It is worth pointing out that the people and organizations that fall into these categories can perform checks only via specialized agencies. These agencies are responsible for ensuring that the provided information will not become basis for discrimination.
You can perform a background check on any individual for private reasons. If you have a new partner, for example, you can use the public records to find out whether he has been married and arrested and whether he has ever got divorced. In this case, you do not have to adhere to any specific legal requirements. Similarly, you may want to check if the new neighbor has criminal past. Checking the sex offender registries can be of great use in such situations.
The most important thing is to utilize all of the information which you obtain from the public records effectively.