Every background check starts with pretty basic personal data, including one’s name, date of birth, and current address. This is the informational foundation you need to lay down in order to obtain more specific details about any person of interest.

There is a wide variety of reasons to looks for someone’s address, from people trying to get in touch with old friends to marital disputes that ended up in one person relocating to an unknown location. Ancestry DNA testing that identified genetic relatives you knew nothing about and want to get in touch with is also an excellent example.

Modern technologies and comprehensive public databases have made background checks less demanding than before, but you still need a precise plan of action backed up by a decent amount of research. This analysis will familiarize you with all the different options at your disposal while outlining some behaviors and tactics you should never employ during your search.

Legal Limits

Certain circumstances demand immediate action, which is why some people often employ illegal monitoring and background check methods in order to get results as quickly as possible. This includes a broad spectrum of reasons, like tracking down a spouse who relocated with your children without prior notice, searching for potential inheritance beneficiaries, trying to locate a person for a court appearance, and others.

The list of illegal search methods includes:

  • Accessing government-held records
  • Accessing confidential databases with personal information
  • Entering someone’s property without permission
  • Placing a wiretap on someone’s phone
  • Intercepting personal correspondence

If you are unsure about the legal frame in your state, you should never attempt any of these actions on your own. Instead, you can hire professional help, including private detectives and/or legal firms that are licensed to conduct such searches. Needless to say, this kind of research will come with a hefty fee.

Direct Search Methods

With those illegal actions out of the way, you still have a myriad of options at your disposal, which carry an added benefit of not getting you in trouble with the law. Here are some of the most common direct search methods:

Social Media Platforms

Nowadays, we are practically living on our social media profiles and you can find a decent chunk of information simply by browsing through your target’s presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media outlets. Of course, you need their name for this search method to yield any results.

Google Search

If you have never tried Googling yourself, you would be pretty surprised by the final results. Complementing your social media scan with a simple Google search will provide you with information you never thought would be available online.

Phone Directories

Phone directories and Yellow Pages actually still exist, so you might want to try your luck there and see if your person of interest has a listed address and a phone number.

Last Known Whereabouts

If you know the person’s last known address or the address of their parents, you can simply go there and see if they are present at that location. Even if they are not, you can always ask around to see if somebody knows a bit more about their current place of residence.

Last Known Place Of Employment

This is the weakest search method since companies almost never divulge any information regarding their employees. However, people have been lucky in the past, so it cannot hurt to give it a shot. Also, if a person changed their place of residence, they might still work in the same company.

Professional Services

As we already mentioned, you can always hire a private investigator or a law firm licensed to perform investigative activities. Although pretty effective, these services charge enormous fees and they usually provide you with the same results you would be able to get on your own with just a little bit of focus and proper research. Bottom line, you should view these services as a last resort if everything else fails and the circumstances absolutely demand you to track your target.

Online Background Check Companies

Companies like BeenVerified and Spokeo allow you to perform comprehensive background checks simply by entering a person’s name. Of course, if you have more data, your online search will yield much better results, but basic information can be accessed using the name alone.

These services grant you access to a plethora of public databases and streamline the entire process, which means you do not have to do any research yourself or go through tedious online records and lists. BeenVerified, for example, cross-checks millions of data points for you across dozens of reliable sources. Basically, for a small fee, you get the same information a private investigator would provide you with.

Among other things, these companies allow you to conduct people searches, check public and criminal records, perform reverse email and phone lookups, and identify the owner of any given property. You can also do a background check on yourself to find out what people can learn if they decide to investigate you.

Background check companies are the most comprehensive and budget-friendly solution for your logistical problems. Apart from saving you the tedious grunt work, they will provide you with information you would never find on your own.