Public Records Consultations

Public Records Research is a craft in which the journeyman skill level can only be achieved through years of work in the field. There is no crash course or book that can provide adequate preparation. The availability of public records information varies tremendously from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, new laws are continually impacting the availability of information, and methods of retrieval are in flux, as more and more data becomes available online.

While there are franchises for sale at "entrepreneurial fairs," which would have you believe this is a quick and easy money-making endeavor, a public records business is, in reality, difficult to launch. However, with thorough preparation, mentoring relationships with more experienced researchers and unremitting hard work, it is possible to make a reasonably good profit and to engage in work that is extremely interesting and personally rewarding. The qualities that generally characterize successful public records researchers are good analytical skills, detail orientation, well-developed problem solving abilities, and intuition.

Lynn Peterson, of PFC Information Services, offers telephone consultations that introduce new and aspiring public records researchers to this exciting field. The consultations include practical advice for the novice regarding the tools that must be in place to learn this craft.

Because of the vast array of companies professing to offer the same products and services, the relative merits of vendors are virtually impossible to assess without hands-on experience.

Selecting the wrong vendors can not only prove to be costly, but can result in liabilities, when the information purchased may not be all that it is described to be. In addition, advice is given regarding how to best establish a niche in the industry and the profit potential in various markets.

A two-hour overview intended to give the novice a broad overview of public records research, and a thorough discussion of the resources that are required to begin working in the field will be discussed. Marketing strategies, brochures, and advertising are covered, as well as a frank discussion of the profit potential inherent in public records research. Liability issues, data holes, and due diligence are discussed. An introduction to pre-employment, asset searches, missing persons location, competitor intelligence, and public records document retrieval is also provided.

   Major Online Vendors

   Credit Bureaus

   Public Records Sourcebooks and Directories

   Manual Research and Court Runners

   Identifying Client Base

   Marketing, Brochures

   Professional & Trade Affiliations

   Liability Issues, Contracts, Insurance

   Overview: Pre-employment, Asset Searches, Missing Persons, Competitor Intelligence and Public Records Retrieval

Further in-depth discussions can also be scheduled concerning the four major categories of public records searching:

   Pre-employment

   Asset Location

   Missing Persons

   Competitive Intelligence

   Court Records Retrieval

Pre-employment background screening is often the "bread & butter" work of public records researchers. While pre-employment requires less technical skill that other kinds of research, and is often the easiest place to begin, it is an area of specialization fraught with legal land mines and liability issues.

Asset searches should, ideally, be conducted before an individual decides to pursue costly litigation. Frequently, an asset search may reveal that the subject has few assets, or that liens against assets are already in place. And, when an asset search is not performed until after a judgment is won it is often difficult to locate assets, as the defendant has already taken steps to hide assets by transferring ownership.

Locating missing persons can be one of the most intellectually challenging aspects of public records research. How long the person has been "missing," how much information is known about the person, and the commonality of the subject's surname have a direct bearing upon the level of difficulty involved in the search. More than any other area of public records research, locating missing persons requires in-depth knowledge of not only online resources, but manually maintained records.

As with locating missing persons, competitive intelligence requires a higher skill level than some other types of research. This aspect of public records research is often performed in concert with other types of information gathering, e.g., bibliographic searching. Typically, this work is performed by a public records specialist on a subcontract basis for information brokers who specialize in other fields or for companies in mergers and acquisitions situations.

No more than 35% of public records are available online. Therefore, manual retrieval of records is an integral part of public records research. Records retrieval is a good way to "break into" the field of public records research.