There are many reasons why someone (called the "Target") may be sought. The most common reasons are lost family members, adoptions (siblings and parents), lost friends, past romances, ex-spouses, biological fathers or mothers, debtors, criminal skips, and other legal or business relationships.

The more identifiers you have on an individual, the easier it is to locate him. I always recommend interviewing the client in person or on the phone so that you can obtain as many identifiers as possible. Useful identifiers include first, last, middle names, maiden names, married names, dates of birth, old addresses (up to 10 years), phone numbers, social security numbers, driver license numbers, names of spouses or male siblings, or names of parents. Gender, race and a physical description can also be useful when looking at driver's licenses. Also of some use is knowledge of a college or university degree.

Facts that are not as useful include old employers, addresses older than 20 years, military service, high school attendance, and hobbies.

Free or low cost sources exist that can be searched to find someone's birth date, or knowing their approximate date of birth, can be used to find an exact date of birth, or perhaps a city and state. Although these sources are not as good as credit header records, access is not generally regulated or restricted by privacy laws.

Old phone records can be useful to verify an old address or sometimes to get a middle name or initial. Unfortunately, only the heads of households have phones listed in their names. With the prevalence of telemarketing, as many as 50% of new phones are non-published or unlisted altogether. A current phone listing is the best way to know that your target is where you think he is. Since it shows that a phone bill is being paid at that number for the address shown and since we try to get two sources showing the target at a particular address, current phone records often times provide an excellent 2nd source.

These records sometimes contain information on people not found using a credit header search. They come from NCOA (national change of address forms), magazine subscriptions, some voter registries, DMV, professional licenses, and real estate records. Often a date of birth, middle name or initial, or the name of another family member can give you another identifier on the target. In a recent comparison I made between credit headers and residential files, 9 out of 10 credit header searches reveal matches not found looking at residential files. 1 out of 10 residential lookups showed a record or identifier not found in the credit header. You will not see Social Security numbers in these records. Vendors will easily sell access to residential files since they are not constrained by FCRA rules regarding their accessibility.

Many contain a physical description of the target. Some states do allow electronic access to these records and sell access through other providers. Those that do not can be called or written to. All include the full name and date of birth, as well as the date the license was issued or when it expires. More and more states are copying California's lead and are not releasing address information on their driving and license records. (In California, a crazed stalker murdered a celebrity actress after obtaining her address from DMV.)

These include birth, death, marriage, and divorce records. Clerks in many areas will look up information for you at little or no cost if you are polite and courteous. Some states or counties publish their birth and death records.

I would also include criminal and bankruptcy records here since they often contain address and other identifiers not found elsewhere. My experience has been that, with the exception of criminal record, someone that has a professional license or appears in a voter or property record will also have the kind of activity that creates a credit header or residential record, which generally is more current than the license record. Property records are very useful because they will contain someone's full name including middle name, and often times, the name of a spouse. Keep in mind that not all jurisdictions make their property records available online.

Finding a sibling, child, or parent or even a friend of the target is often times the best way to locate a hard to find target. If you find an old residential or credit header record on your target, check the address to see if a spouse is listed there too. Often times, you can find an updated address on the spouse, even if the target's address trail is cold. An ex-spouse will often times know the target's whereabouts as well. Ask your client for the names of parents, children over 18, or siblings. The client may know as many details on these related individuals who may lead you to the target.

Contacting neighbors is the simplest way to contact someone whose phone number you cannot obtain and when you cannot wait for a letter to be answered. For urgent matters, I've even found neighbors who will deliver a note to the target.

Here are some records that you cannot simply or legally obtain without an order from the court: Employment records and medical records. Also the IRS will only release social security numbers on people who are deceased. Old military facts are not helpful in finding out where some is today. I have had success, however, writing to the military locator agencies to find active duty personnel. The only identifier you might find looking at online military files might be someone's middle name or initial and state of origin. Rank information is not useful, and you will not see a date of birth or age in the online records.