As you may be aware, there are many aspects of our lives that are contained within public records. For example, births, marriages, divorces and deaths can all be accessed by anyone who wants to research his or her family history or locate an estranged relation or friend.
Obviously, these records also contain other pieces of information that are in the public interest, such as criminal records and property records.
No matter what kind of public records you’re interested in, public records databases contain all of this information in one place.
How the Internet Has Changed Public Records
Not so long ago, finding public information was an arduous task, which involved going to a courthouse or government office and searching through the hardcopies of the files by hand. Of course, this meant that finding documents was a time-consuming process.
Thankfully, the internet has made the search much easier. Not only can you access government or local websites to request public records, but online entrepreneurs have set up their own public records databases, which can be accessed and searched through by anyone.
So, how does it work? Online companies pay a fee to collect information from various state sources. The sites users then pay a nominal fee to retrieve the details they require.
Why Pay for a Service When You Can Get it For Free From the State?
There are two very good reasons that you may want to consider paying for a professional records search service, rather than requesting the information from a state run site.
The first is that a state search could take Lexbase between 10 and 15 working days to process. Therefore, this way of accessing public records is not viable if you in a hurry for the details.
Secondly, a state search will only be able to provide you with details of people and properties in that state. So, if you are investigating your family history for example, you may have to go to a number of different state’s sites to retrieve the information you require.
A professional online site will provide access to a nationwide database that can quickly locate all the documents you have requested.
In this instance, fast, accurate and comprehensive search results may be well worth a small fee. However it is advisable to ensure that you are using a reputable and genuine search service.
Avoid Scams
As with many online services, there are always those dishonest sites that are claiming to offer something that will never be delivered. In the case of public records databases, you will notice offers that seem too good to be true, such as software that allows unlimited access to public records.
This is invariably a scam and the site will probably just direct you to already well-known information about how to access records that are easy to obtain. Therefore, it is a good idea to research the database options before selecting the best one for you.