1.US Bankruptcy Court - PACER

2.Criminal Records

Criminal Records

3.Airplane tail numbers

4.Bank Account Info

Banking information is very limited on Credit Reports, and is only a suggestion of possibilities. ChexSystems may get you closer, using E-Funds or the like (see Atlasscore.com, Datafaxinc.com and (maybe) Cal Coast Credit in San Francisco.) Price is $1.45 to $3.00 each.

ChexSystems/E-funds also have their limitations. They will tell you where a person applied for an account (not if he got it, not if he voluntarily closed it, and not the balance as of today.) It may provide account numbers, but only if there are bad checks written. I know two brokers who use ChexSystems and resell the incomplete information for $100’s of dollars. One even says, “It’s illegal to give balances,” mainly because he can’t get them. Be careful.

If you are going to use Chex/E-Funds, something to keep in mind is that they are name and address sensitive, not so much SSN sensitive. So, if the person has moved recently, you want to check by name and the former address, not always the new address, unless you think the person may have opened a new account. Also, it may take several searches by address until you get the right name-address combination. Again, SSN’s are not that helpful, but when there is a hit, it will provide SSN’s if you don’t have them. And the records are only good for about 4-5 years, as I understand it. So if the person opened the account 6 or more years ago, it will likely be a no hit everywhere.

5.Obtaining Military Records (important details)

First - there is NO database that will provide ANY true, accurate information on any veteran. While there is a database that will verify if a person is currently on active duty or not, that is all this database will do. Basically, it gives you a yes or no whether someone is on active duty or not. You'll get nothing more than that because DoD will not give out any information on active duty personnel. Also, these databases will not tell you if a person is retired or not. Once out of the service their info is removed from that database. But if they claim to be retired, Remember, in order to receive retirement pay and benefits a person MUST have been honorably discharged. Anything less and you lose all benefits.

There are NO databases for military veterans. All those so-called vet's websites you see are totally useless and I haven't used one for about 6 years because of it. Actually, I have used a couple from time to time, but only to bust frauds and wannabes - and there are plenty of those on those websites because EVERYTHING on those sites is strictly voluntary and is put there by the individual's themselves and this info is rarely, if ever checked. I've used various acquaintences as an example before in this case, and nobody but one person turned up. Can't be done unless the person has voluntarily put the info out there.

Also, on the National Archives website you can also submit a request for a copy of your own record and/or DD-214/215. But ONLY if you are the veteran or surviving NOK. No third party will be provided with any information through this method. And even if you are the vet or surviving NOK requesting this info, you still have to follow-up the online request with a written request, over your original signature, within a 30 day period (I believe it's 30 days) or your online request is deep-sixed and you have to begin the process all over again. The DoD will NOT provide any information without written requests/authorizations. They simply do not respond to electronic requests. Again, this is because all military vet's information are paper files and must be manually searched and then you will receive a FOIA extract of releasable information - unless you have the subject's written release/authorization, or their signature on a SF-180.

Most vet's records are held in St. Louis, MO. However, if the person separated from active duty with the Navy in 1995 or later - their records will not be in St. Louis, but in Millington, TN. If they separated from the Marines in 1997 or later - their records will not be in St. Louis, but in Quantico, VA. If they are in the Reserve component of one of the services, there are five additional locations where their records will be held. If they are National or Air Guard, there are two additional locations for those records. If they are still in the Guard there are 52 other locations (including Guam and Puerto Rico) because the Guard comes under state authority unless federalized and records would be held by the individual states' Adjutant Generals. That is, unless a unit has been federalized - in which case they will now be part of the regular army and no information will be provided. Unless it's the Navy Reserve. These records (what's left of them) are in Millington, TN temporarily because the USNR HQ was located in New Orleans and was almost totally destroyed during Hurricane Katrina.

Just as an example of the Guard; not long ago someone was asked to find a Guardsman by a DA in a CA county. Their investigator had been looking for 2 or 3 weeks for this person and couldn't find her. They came to one investigator and he had her unit and location in less than 24 hours - as it turned out, her unit was going through training not 35 miles from the DA's office.

If you're looking for someone who claims to be retired from any branch with 20 years' service, but less than 30, you won't find their records in St. Louis, Millington or Quantico. That's because 'lifers' have a 30-year obligation. So if they served 20, but less than 30, they are, in fact, transferred to the Inactive Reserve of their service until they've met the 30-year obligation. In these cases their records will be transferred to the Reserve component HQ of their branch of service. There are five of them spread across the country. Once the 30-year obligation has been met, that person is then transferred to the official retired list and their records sent to either St. Louis, Millington or Quantico.

6.finding non-published phone numbers

Send mail that requires attention, like, an undeliverable package, or a claims adjuster trying to make contact re: a hit and run or someother nifty pretext to get a call.

I think that most people that live in rental situations have cell phones and not home phones. These people also are not likely to have internet at home, probably have internet access at work or family, or a neighbor.

On the other hand, if they were separated or retired from a Reserve component there is no 30-year obligation for Reservists so those records will be sent to either St. Louis, Millington, or Quantico upon separation from the Reserves.

As I also mentioned, the DoD will no longer provide the character of discharge for anyone separated after 1979, regardless of service. This is why I always pull records because I can read a record and I can tell from the person's history of assignments from their service record whether they received an honorable or less than honorable discharge. Can't tell more than that, but it's usually enough for me to then request a copy of courts-martial transcripts to see if there was a court-martial involved. It is possible to receive a less than honorable without having a court-martial conviction, but the history of assignments will tell me if there was incarceration prior to discharge. This always indicates court-martial conviction - especially if the person had been separated at one or more grades lower than when they arrived at that last duty station.