Researching Public Records using the at LexisNexis Services

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1 Researching Public Records using the at LexisNexis Services With LexisNexis Public Records, you can achieve the seemingly impossible. Connect entities people, businesses, locations across many diverse source types, exposing otherwise imperceptible data trails within billions of documents. Find the facts or associations that could have remained hidden. Just consider the difference it can make as you handle your case or transaction. You get: More public records over 36 billion More public records source types 18 public records sources our top competitor doesn t provide More search, linking, and report capabilities quickly connect diverse records to a single entity even if you have incomplete, old, or misspelled information. In a single search, quickly generate a comprehensive, rolled up, easyto-read report on a person, business, or location This guide shows you how thorough your research results can be when you use the LexisNexis services either at lexis.com or via Lexis Advance. Get tips for finding and connecting people, businesses, and assets. And for achieving better results when researching corporate filings, real estate records, phone records, bankruptcy filings, and judgments and liens. Researching public records at lexis.com Once you ve signed in, select the Search tab and then select the Public Records subtab. You ll see sources listed under categories such as SmartLinx Searches, Find a Person, Find a Business, etc. Researching public records via Lexis Advance Once you ve signed in, click on the tab to the right of Lexis Advance Suite:. Options are Research, Verdict & Settlement Analyzer, and Public Records. Select Public Records. You ll see sources listed under categories such as People, Businesses, Assets, etc. How current are LexisNexis public records sources? It s easy to find out, any time you like. Click the blue Coverage link that appears in the upper right corner of most search forms to review update frequency and coverage dates by source type and by state.

2 Do I use search forms or search with terms and connectors? When you re using lexis.com, each public records source offers a fill-in-the-blanks search form. Many frequently used forms real estate, bankruptcy filings, corporate filings, judgments & liens, etc. also include a Terms & Connectors option. When you re searching via Lexis Advance, you ll use search forms. Tips for using search forms Search forms are best suited for finding/identifying specific entities. Examples: A specific person or business John Doe at 1234 Elm Street or Behemoth Enterprises at 105 West First Street, for example A specific location 987 Main Street, for example A specific bankruptcy filing Fly by Night Industries or case number , for example Enter all the information you know, such as name, city, age range, etc., to increase the precision of your search. Take advantage of these name searching options: Find similar sounding last names when you re not sure of the spelling O Neal or O Neill, for example Find nicknames of the first name Michael, Mike, etc. Use strict search to more closely match the name or address you have entered if you choose this option and search for Edward R. Smith, you ll find only that and not Edward Smith or Ed Smith, for example Radius searching is especially helpful for searching across state lines or in metro areas that cross state lines. Use the Address Radius pull-down list to select a radius from 5 to 100 miles (30 miles is the default). Even if you entered the wrong city, ZIP code, or state, the record you re looking for may still be retrieved. Tips for using terms and connectors Terms and connectors searches are best suited for connecting facts within documents. Examples: Connecting multiple people/businesses in a single records Determining who owns a specific property Finding terms in specific parts of records Finding judgments for specific creditors during a specific time period Finding collateral types on UCC filings After you ve selected Terms & Connectors, enter words and connectors in the Additional Terms box. You can use wildcard characters (! and *) in conjunction with your search words and use the following connectors: OR /n, where n is the number you specify /s /p AND PRE/n, where n is the number you specify /SEG NOT/n, where n is the number you specify BUT NOT AND NOT If you ve selected terms and connectors searching, the other fields in the form operate as segment searches. For example, if you enter 123 elm in the address field, it would add AND address (123 elm) to your search. Use a four-digit year when entering a date of birth either mm/dd/yyyy, mm/yyyy, or yyyy. Use a four-digit year when entering a date of birth either mm/ dd/yyyy, mm/yyyy, or yyyy. Important note about search forms: When you use search forms, LexisNexis SmartLinx Technology matches many records to a single entity. This helps you connect associated entities that don t have a public record in common and surface records that don t contain your search terms.

3 Performing person searches Important note about terms and connectors: When you use terms and connectors, your search words must appear in the document for that record to be retrieved The three primary ways to locate a person are: Comprehensive Person Report Use this resource when you need to know everything about a person. It includes nationwide locator information plus other resources such as bankruptcy, liens, licenses, associates, relatives, driver s license information, etc. In your results list, addresses are rolled up under a single person and document linking may produce additional telephone numbers. Results lists also show high-risk flags. When you select a name, records will display individually, so you may find multiple documents of the same type. Locate a Person (Nationwide) This resource includes all states locator sources, so it s a great way to find someone to get their location and contact information. In your results list, addresses are rolled up under a single person and document linking may produce additional telephone numbers. Results lists also show high-risk flags. When you select a name, records will display individually, so you may find multiple documents of the same type. Statewide Person Search Use this resource to search public records within a single state. You can search all available record types UCC filings, bankruptcies, etc., for a specific state. The documents you retrieve will display individually there s no roll-up by entity and no report compilation. Your results listing indicates the record type for each document. Regardless of which type of person search you performed, you may be able to do the following: If an address appears in the form of a link, you can click on it to see additional suggested searches, such as Run Location Report, Find Neighbors, etc. If a phone number appears in the form of a link, you can click on it to perform a phone number search. If it appears in the form of a link, click to search on the SSN or the LexIDsm number. Comprehensive Person Report and Locate a Person (Nationwide) search form tips: Locate current addresses and telephone numbers of individuals plus neighbors and associates. Have the SSN or LexID? Search with one of these numbers for best results. You can enter the SSN with or without dashes. For more information on LexID, please see page 5. Working with a common name? Add an age range, alias name, relative name, previous state, etc., for more precise results. Search an address range, or an entire block for example, you can enter 3** elm in the Street Address field along with appropriate city, state, and /or ZIP code information. Working with a foreign name? For multiple last names and first names, try different variations. Statewide Person Search search form tips: Have the SSN? Search with this number alone. You can enter it with or without dashes. Search an address range, or an entire block for example, you can enter 3** elm in the Street Address field along with appropriate city, state, and /or ZIP code information. Working with a foreign name? For multiple last names and first names, try different variations. To search only a particular type of document such as corporate filings, UCC filings, criminal records, judgments and liens use the Source Type pull-down list. Limit your search to documents filed in a particular state (which will remove records based on mailing address only), use the Filing Jurisdiction pull-down list. Find filings in a particular state and filings where that state appears in the mailing address by using the State pull-down list.

4 Performing business searches The three primary ways to locate a business are: Comprehensive Business Report The resource compiles an easy-to-browse report linking all content found nationwide on a business. Source types are rolled up and de-duplicated, then compiled into an easy-to-read report. The navigation bar on the left side of the screen lets you see the number of documents per content type. Click to move to data on company property, bankruptcies, executive, judgments and liens, UCC filings, Internet domains, industry and company codes, business associates, etc. Locate a Business (Nationwide) This resource includes all states locator sources, so it s a great way to find a business to get addresses, phone numbers, and company executives names for businesses large and small. In your results list, addresses are rolled up under a single entity and document linking may produce additional telephone numbers. Results lists also show high-risk flags. When you select an entity result, records will display individually, so you may find multiple documents of the same type. Statewide Business Search Use this resource to search public records within a single state. You can search all available record types UCC filings, bankruptcies, etc., for a specific state. The documents you retrieve will display individually there s no roll-up by entity and no report compilation. Your results listing indicates the record type for each document. Regardless of which type of business search you performed, you may be able to do the following: If an address appears in the form of a link, you can click on it to see additional suggested searches, such as Run Location Report, Find Neighbors, etc. If a phone number appears in the form of a link, you can click on it to perform a phone number search. Comprehensive Business Report and Locate a Business (Nationwide) search form tips: Find addresses, telephone numbers, and executives/ owners for businesses from very large to very small Enter all the information you know business name, city, etc. to increase the likelihood that the most relevant documents will display first. Need to find registered agents? Choose to search Corporate Filings instead. Statewide Person Search search form tips: Enter all the information you know business name, city, etc. to increase the likelihood that the most relevant documents will display first. To search only a particular type of document such as corporate filings, UCC filings, criminal records, judgments and liens use the Source Type pull-down list. Limit your search to documents filed in a particular state (which will remove records based on mailing address only), use the Filing Jurisdiction pull-down list. Find filings in a particular state and filings where that state appears in the mailing address by using the State pull-down list.

5 SSN or LexID sm Searching with Social Security numbers is accurate, but the security/privacy issues can be formidable. So we offer the option of using another secure, unique identifier without those issues. LexID is a proprietary 12-digit number assigned by LexisNexis Risk Solutions to each individual who had a public records document in the LexisNexis Public Records collection. An individual s LexID appears in the results of your Comprehensive Person Report and Locate a Person (Nationwide) searches. You can click on the LexID link on any results screen and go directly to the results of a Comprehensive Person Report search on that person. Once you know a person s LexID, you can enter it in any search form with a LexID field forms such as Cellular & Alternate Phone Numbers, Employment Locator, Death Records, Marriage & Divorce Records, and Drivers Licenses (permissible use required to search). Searching corporation filings Corporation Filings search form tips: Check the Strict Search box to locate filings that closely match the name and/or address entered Check the Find Registered Agent box to also search the registered agent section of the document for the name you enter Company Name, First Name, and Last Name fields: if you enter a company name in the Company Name field and also a person s name in the Last Name and First Name fields, the OR connector is placed between the terms (for example, if you enter ABC Maintenance in the Company Name field, John in the First Name field, and Smith in the Last Name field, you ll search for ABC Maintenance or John Smith ) If you search by person name, the results CITE list shows you how that name appears in the document Locate specific officers, directors, or registered agents Locate businesses with filing dates before, after, or between certain dates Narrow your company-name search if it retrieves too many results (for example, if you know the company has Nicollet in its name but is not located on any Minneapolis streets with Nicollet in their names, you could enter COMPANY-NAME (nicollet) AND NOT ADDRESS (nicollet) Searching real estate records Real Property search form tips: To find archive records as well as current ones, un-check the Current Records Only box Find a particular parcel number by entering the number, with or without dashes, in the Parcel Number box. Limit your search to tax-assessor records only, or to deed transfer and mortgage records only, by using the Source drop-down field. Find owners of a particular property (use the PROPERTY-ADDRESS segment) Find properties located on a particular block (for example, enter PROPERTY-ADDRESS (13** PRE/3 ELM and DAYTON and OHIO) in the Additional Terms box) Find properties that have sold for a particular amount or range of amounts look for Restrict by Date/Value, choose Sale Price (numeric) from the drop-down list, and enter the amounts (you can restrict by land value or loan amount, too) Narrow any public records search results As you review your search results, you can narrow your search from the CITE screen. Your option(s) will depend on the source you ve searched. The FOCUS feature is available in sources that allow Terms & Connectors searching. It looks for additional terms within the text of the documents retrieved by your search. You can use wildcard characters (* and!) as well as limited connectors (AND or AND NOT). The FIND feature searches terms that appear in blue in the CITE list only, not within the entire documents retrieved by your original search.

6 Searching bankruptcy filings Bankruptcy Filings search form tips: Locate documents filed in a particular state plus records where the state is mentioned, such as in the mailing address use the Filing Jurisdiction drop-down list Locate filings for a particular person by entering their SSN in the SSN field, with or without dashes Check the Strict Search box to locate filings that closely match the name and/or address entered Search for a particular type of bankruptcy Search for filings before, after, or between certain dates Search for a particular petitioner or attorney Searching judgments and liens Judgments & Liens search form tips: Locate documents filed in a particular state plus records where the state is mentioned, such as in the mailing address use the Filing Jurisdiction drop-down list Check the Strict Search box to locate filings that closely match the name and/or address entered Search for a particular debtor Search for a particular creditor Search for filings before, after, or between certain dates Searching phone numbers Tips for searching the phone number search forms: Phone Lookup (based on electronic directory assistance) your search will look for similar-sounding names or nicknames automatically, or you can un-check these options if you choose Cellular & Alternate Phone Numbers Plus (offers access to more than 269 million cell and other phone numbers) you can search by using an individual s LexID or search by phone number and find the phone carrier, even when no person listing is available Canadian Phone Numbers (more than 15 million Canadian records from all ten provinces and three territories) your search will look for similar-sounding names or nicknames automatically, or you can un-check these options if you choose Get automatic report updates It s easy to get updates on all or only specific parts of a Comprehensive Person Report or a Comprehensive Business Report. Click the Save as Alert link as you view the report. Select the sections you want to save for automatic update. Select update frequency (daily, weekly, or monthly) and select your delivery options (online or ). For additional research assistance, call COURT ( ). LexisNexis, lexis.com, the Knowledge Burst logo are registered trademarks, and Lexis Advance and FOCUS are trademarks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc. used under license. SmarkLinx is a registered trademark of LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier, Inc. Other products or services may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies LexisNexis. All rights reserved. LP