So, I'm sending out Christmas cards earlier this month, and I realize that there are some people to whom I'd like to send cards, but I don't have their home addresses. So, I just hop on over to the County Appraisal District website, type in the name, and voila, I've got their home address. This gets me thinking, though. Should such records be so easily obtainable? I mean, it took me half a second to get these home addresses. And while I was looking online, I also looked up the home address for movie director Robert Rodriguez, actor Burton Gilliam, Mavs owner Mark Cuban, and so on. Most of these Appraisal District websites even have links to Yahoo! Maps to make it easier to find the place. And if the person you want information on does not own property in his or her name, you can always go through the DPS as Driver's License records are also public. The last time I heard, they cost $6 each, but that's a small fee. Same goes for License Plate info. I can go to the DPS, pay a small fee and find the owner's name, address, etc. all from your license plate number. I don't have to have any legitimate reason for wanting this information, it's just there for me to get it with little hassle and oftentimes, for free. In California, they're a little more strict with giving out the information after DL records were used by the stalker who gunned down actress Rebecca Schaeffer. One can still get property appraisal information, but one cannot search by property owner's name on the Los Angeles County appraisal district website. Just by address or account number (and I don't know if there are more restrictions beyond that). I know there was some controversy in the Cleveland area when a newspaper published details about LeBron James' new home, including the specific street on which he now resides and a picture of the home itself (though not the specific address). Some readers thought it to be an invasion of privacy that could increase the chances of such things as burglaries or worse at the home. So with all the potential for nefarious deeds that comes out of being able to so easily track someone down, should we get more strict with access to public records?
By the way, did you know that Bob McNair and Bud Adams apparently live just around the corner from one another?
This just isn't right. No one should be able to just get someone's address right off the internet. You would think a governmet website would have people's privacy to consider. This isn't right. Do you have a link to that website?
I'm not worried personally. I live in an apartment, and I haven't updated my driver's license since the last apartment I lived in, so the public records aren't even as accurate as the telephone book. And I seriously doubt anyone would ever come looking for me anyway. But if I were Robert Rodriguez, I might be nervous that some idiot like me is going to come looking for him in a vain attempt to get him to watch one of my intolerable movies.
Here's the Harris County one: http://www.hcad.org/ and here's the Travis County one: http://www.traviscad.org/
www.whitepages.com you can search for someone by name and city and get their address and phone number. I use it all the time. There was another site (the actual address escapes me right now) where you could simply type in a street name and city and it gives you everyones name and phone number on that street. I used it to send Christmas cards to my neighbors after I recently moved.
I used to use this web-site all the time for work. It is public record, if you want to protest the assessment of your home value, you need to have comparable values.
Of course you could use this but they actually give people the choice of being listed or non listed. If you've got some sicko out there that's trying to find you, you have the option of being unlisted. It seems that with these county sites, that isn't an option. After all, there are a lot of sick twisted creeps out there. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find the address of my ex-girlfriend so I'll know where to send the pig's heart and the threatening letters written with my excrement...
i had a client who called my home one night freaking out....since then, i've been unlisted. even if you freaks knew my name, you wouldn't find me on whitepages.com. freaks.
You don't need to know your neighbors' names in order to protest your home assessment, though. The Los Angeles County system lets you search by address, and it gives you the information about the property without giving the ability to search by owner's name.
It's interesting to me that I'm in there at an address and phone number I haven't lived at for two years. My correct address and phone number is there, too, as a separate entry.
Yes, but you probably do know your neighbors' names, at least some of them. Honestly, I really never had a problem with it either way. I guess you have a right to not have anyone being able to locate your home, but if someone wanted to locate you bad enough they could. And the site doesn't tell you how much you paid for the home. Chances are, if a home is either expensive or not, you can get a general idea just by driving by.
