“BLJ” stands for “Bankruptcies, Liens, and Judgments.” They are civil court records that include information such as: amount owed, date filed, filing number, court name, chapter (for bankruptcies), and case status. Lien and Judgment records are filed on a per-county basis and are therefore hard to get complete coverage for. Bankruptcies are all filed through the federal government and, as a result, tend to be more comprehensive and complete.
How do I best find the person I’m looking for?
February 5, 2019 – 10:31 am
And other frequently asked questions – an interview with our CTO
AJ Holloway (Linkedin) has been working with USInfoSearch.com for nearly 10 years and has been heading up the IT department with his team of developers the entire time. Nobody knows our web product better than he does, so we decided to borrow some of his time to quiz him on some of our more frequently asked questions. Here’s what he had to say!
Why can’t I search for celebrities?
December 20, 2018 – 5:44 pm
And when can I?
Believe it or not, this is actually a more common question than you’d think. Often times people are testing our data and want to see “how good it actually is.” They’ve already tried searching themselves and now they’d like to see what comes back for someone else. But who… Unfortunately, celebrities often pop into people’s heads for this task – after all, they are popular and do immediately come to mind. So what’s wrong with searching for a celebrity?
What could the CCPA mean for us?
November 29, 2018 – 8:22 am
The consumer blowback after the major privacy scandals in the last few years bore fruit in 2018 with the passing of GDPR 2016 (General Data Protection Regulation) in the EU (implemented this year). Now the US sees new major controls on data privacy with the passing of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown for those in the Golden State. So what will change?
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Who is the head of household?
November 12, 2018 – 5:22 pm
And why?
Once the household is defined, it makes sense to select one member as a ‘head of household.’ Ideally, the person selected will be the primary decision-maker in the home, so, how does a data provider decide who is the most likely household member to be the primary decision-maker? Read More
What is a ‘household’?
October 25, 2018 – 4:26 pm
Beginning in 1980, the US Census Bureau discontinued the use of the term ‘head of family/household’ and replaced these with ‘householder’ and ‘family householder’, as well as no longer by default classifying the husband in a married couple as the ‘reference person’ in its survey. These logical legal implementations make sense in our society which continues to slowly abolish problematic gender norms bit by bit – but how does this work when it comes to data sets?
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Security! How do potential clients get credentialed?
September 16, 2018 – 2:44 pm
With the ever-present threat of data insecurity in our modern world, it is incumbent upon those with the access to sensitive records to only share it with those that can be trusted with it.
USInfoSearch has a number of strict requirements to ensure the suitability of a potential client. Here’s what we check for before we cross the T’s and dot the I’s on any contract. Read More
Skiptracing defined
August 23, 2018 – 4:55 pm
You’ve probably heard the term ‘skip tracing’, but what does it mean? The phrase “skip tracing” is derived from the old idiom ‘to skip town’, and is used to describe the process of searching for an individual who has, usually, absconded from the law in some way: think debtors who have defaulted or someone who has skipped bail. Alternately, the missing person could also be a missing heir to an estate who has been lost in the mists of clerical obscurity. Read More
What is PII?
August 9, 2018 – 7:22 am
What constitutes Personally Identifiable Information?
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is any information used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity. Examples of PII include your full name, address, date of birth, Social Security Number, bank account number, biometric records, medical records, vehicle registration plate – a lot of which is also considered sensitive, and will need to be encrypted when stored in a database.
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Understanding ‘Instant Criminal Background Checks’
July 22, 2018 – 2:31 pm
Why you might not be getting the full picture.
When doing online research you might be tempted to use one of the many “Instant Criminal Background Search” products seen advertised on TV or in your google search results. Before you shell out your hard earned money for these sorts of reports, it’s important to understand how these services work and why you are not getting the full picture. Read More
