Written by Background Check Repair
Background Checks | June 26, 2024
Table of Contents
Whether it’s to satisfy curiosity or check out someone who seems suspicious, nowadays, online tools allow anyone to find out who lives on my street.In fact, it’s easier than ever to search anyone, right now.
Public records are just that, public. And, they make it possible to get official documents showing residency and address lookup at little or (and sometimes) no cost.
In fact, the search process is so simple that anyone can either pay the cost of a background check, simply use a background check free trial, or do the ‘legwork’ online and find the occupants who live on their street through local jurisdiction data. Usually, this records request process is performed for a small fee, typically under $10.
The key is knowing where and how to look since many options for this sort of address search are free. Increasing online public records databases makes it easier than ever to find out who resides at a location, and if the person has any public criminal records.
When searching for ‘who lives on my street,’ public records are found using local county resources, most often. Since residency is tracked at the county level, the specific steps to do so will vary based on a number of factors, mainly how records in that particular county are kept. But, there are many aspects of the search that are uniform, whether someone is searching a city block in New York City, or a large territory in Alaska.
In general, smaller more rural counties tend to only have physical copies of residency records. These will be held at the county clerk or office of the recorders, in most cases. Whereas larger counties will likely have digitized records that can be accessed online, in order to keep up with the increased demand for public records that comes with having a larger population.
However, it is still worthwhile to check online first, even if it is a smaller county, as more and more counties are working to digitize their records into an online database. Although residency records are public, not everyone knows how to search through public records or even where to start.
In addition to residency, addresses can be found on:
Below are detailed steps to help individuals find out who lives on my street, public records searching.
As mentioned, not every county has the option to search online but for the ones that do, the process is far easier and faster than contacting the county clerk directly. However, both online and in-person methods can be used to obtain the records using the following steps.
Step 1: Navigate and Access the Official County Website.
Regardless of if the county has an online record-keeping system or not, the first step should be to access the website. The county website will have a link and information about the online database if one exists, as well as contact information for the county clerk.
For example: To access the website of Denver County, individuals can go to the official website for the state of Colorado,1 then from the homepage select the “government” link,2 and finally select the local government link.2
This will take users to a page where they can select a specific county from a drop-down menu and access the official website for their county, such as the Denver County website.3
Step 2: Locate Property Records
Each county website will have a slightly different method to access property records. Many will require users to go through the county assessor’s page on the website (sometimes the assessor will have their own website).
Other websites will have a separate section dedicated solely to property records. Location any of the following words or phrases should point individuals in the right direction:
For example, the homepage of the website for Denver county has a drop-down menu for “my property,” opening the drop-down menu and selecting “property records,” will take individuals to the property search.4
Step 3: Perform Search
If the county website has an online search function, it is generally as easy as typing in the address and sometimes just the street to view tax information for every residence that is being searched.
There are a few things to keep in mind, mainly that only the individual who is paying the property taxes will show up, not all of the residents of the house. This also means that the resident of the house will not be included in the information if someone else pays the property tax or if the residency is paid for by a trust, (i.e. if the home is a rental unit).
For example, the property search tool4 on the Denver county website can be searched using just an address, with tax information and real estate assessments of the property available immediately.
If there is no online search function the next step is to contact the agency in charge of property records. This information should be available on the county website and will often have detailed steps on how to obtain the information as well as contact information to make the process easier.
In most cases, individuals will need to contact the county assessor or the county clerk to obtain the records.
County assessors often have the information being sought for individuals trying to figure out who lives on my street public records. However, many individuals may not know what a county assessor is, largely due to the fact that they have a very specific job. A county assessor values local property for tax purposes. This ensures that individuals are not over or underpaying taxes based on the value of their property.
Since property values change all the time, the assessor must stay on top of these changes to ensure everyone is paying their fair share of property taxes.
To get public records from the county assessor the first step is to access their website. This should be available through the county website.
For example, the Sacramento County website5 has a link to the Sacramento County assessor website6 which can be found using the search bar.
The next step will be to find information about assessor records on the website. Once located the website will either link individuals to a searchable online database or provide detailed steps on how to access the records that are being looked for.
For example, the Sacramento county assessor website has a link to “assessor records,” on the website’s home page. The assessor records page6 will have information on what records are available as well as detailed steps for how to request them.
Another way to find out who lives on my street public records is through voter registration records. Voter registration is also considered public information and can be used to find out information such as the name or an address of an individual, and sometimes even their voting record.
The steps for finding voter registration vary from state to state, when in doubt contacting the county clerk or recorder will get individuals pointed in the right direction.
The first step should be to access the voter registration website for your specific county. This is often part of the county clerk or recorder’s website. Once there, individuals will likely need to make the request directly.
Opposed to other public records, most voter registration records are not in a searchable database and must be requested directly.
(Image: Maricopa County Recorder8)
For example in Maricopa county Arizona, individuals can go to the Maricopa County Elections Department website.7
On this page, individuals will find a voter public data request form,8 which can be used to request voter data in the county.
Although there is no database strictly for finding out who lives at what residence, there are lots of different public records that will help individuals find out who lives on my street. Almost all of these can be found through the county clerk or county recorder’s office. This office will have access to virtually all public records.
Searchers may also quickly find the name of someone on a specific street by using a background check service that provides reverse address lookup. Although there is usually a small fee associated with such searches, it is faster than using the official county website.
Another way to find out who lives in your neighborhood is to use the sex offender registry that is maintained in every state as well as at the federal level. Although many people think of sex offender registries as only being useful if the name of the individual is known, all sex offender registries will also have a map feature. Plus, this feature is free to use.
This will allow users to search for sex offenders based on a certain location, rather than a name.
For example, individuals in Oregon can visit the Oregon Sex Offender registry website9 and access the map feature.10
Users can limit their search to a specific geographic area. This can be useful not only to narrow down the search results to a certain neighborhood but can also be used to find out if any sex offenders live near a school or park nearby.
Keep in mind that although these databases are updated constantly they are not always 100% accurate. The data in these databases is provided to law enforcement by the sex offenders themselves.
Although it is generally required by law that they contact law enforcement when they change address or move residencies, often through their probation officer, this means that the data will be inaccurate if they failed to share this information.
After finding out the name of the individual that lives on your street, the next question is what to do with this information. One of the best things to do is to search local court records to find out if the individual has a criminal record. There are a number of ways to do this. The cheapest background check cost and quickest way is to use a background check service that offers a free trial.
However, the more reliable way is to go through county court records and perform a name-based search. The steps to do this will be almost the same as searching for property records.
First, individuals should access the county court clerk’s website. If there is an online system, simply follow the steps to search local court records using the individual’s name. Keep in mind that this will only show local records and possibly state records in some cases, however federal crimes and crimes committed out of state will not be present.
For counties that do not have an online search system the best thing to do is to contact the county court clerk. This can often be done over the phone but visiting the courthouse in person can also be helpful or even required. Just as with property records, court records are public information.
Keep in mind that for both online searches and in-person searches there will likely be a fee required to obtain copies of the search results.
Moving into a new neighborhood or getting a new neighbor can be cause for curiosity or even concern. When searching ‘who lives on my street,’ public records can go a long way to making individuals feel safe and comfortable at home.
The best way to find out who lives in a certain house is to search the address through the county assessor. This should yield property tax information that will have a name associated with it.
Name of residents can most easily be found through property records which can be obtained through the county assessor. However, only the individual who owns the house will have their name on the records, not necessarily the resident.
Finding out who lives at an address can be achieved through local property records or by using a background check service that provides reverse address lookup.
Individuals can find out who lives on their street by using public records, such as property tax records or voter registration.
Although some services can find out information about those who live at a certain address, this information can also be found using public records.
Individuals can find out who lives near them using public records or in some cases, sex offender registries.
Reverse address searches are often performed for free but will require a fee to view the results.
In general, it will depend on the records being searched and the county policy. Most counties will charge a small fee for record search tools.
The best way to lookup an address is through the local county assessor and other public record services.
Most county address search tools are very easy to use and only require a street address to perform the search.
Searching who lives in your neighborhood, using ‘who lives on my street free’ options, can be done using the national sex offender registry, for a general assessment. This tool allows you to choose a few mile radius and then search for any potential sex offenders who may live in the neighborhood.
1CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19). (2021). Colorado Official State Web Portal. <https://co.colorado.gov/>
2MV ONLINE. (2021). Colorado Official State Web Portal. <https://co.colorado.gov/government>
3Trending Links. (2022). Denver the Mile High City. <https://www.denvergov.org/Home>
4Denver Property Taxation and Assessment System. (2015). Denver The Mile High City. <https://www.denvergov.org/property>
5Learn about the Sacramento County Budget. (2022). Sacramento County. <https://www.saccounty.gov/Pages/default.aspx>
6Assessor. (2022). Sacramento County. <https://assessor.saccounty.gov/Pages/default.aspx>
7Public Requests. (2022). Maricopa County Elections Department. <https://recorder.maricopa.gov/elections/publicrecordrequestforms.aspx>
8MARICOPA COUNTY RECORDER Public Record Request for Voter Information. (2022). Voter public data record request. <https://recorder.maricopa.gov/pdf/voterpublicdatarecordrequest.pdf>
9Sex Offender Registration (SOR). (2022). Oregon.gov. <https://www.oregon.gov/osp/programs/SOR/Pages/default.aspx>
10Oregon State Police. (n.d.). – Oregon State Police; sexoffenders.oregon.gov. Retrieved May 4, 2022, from <https://sexoffenders.oregon.gov/Map>
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