Even if you fill out a change of address form at the Post Office, that doesn't mean the address you have listed on public records at city/town hall and the county courthouse will automatically change over, according to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Getting rid of the old address on public records may take several phone calls and visits to various offices as well as a letter to the major companies that offer online public records searches.
Ask local phone companies and provide the new address if you keep your old phone number.The change can be made quickly in the online or automated directories. Ask that the change be included in the next printed directory as well.
Visit the local town or city hall. Ask the clerk what documents contain your address, and request to make the change. Public records there include property tax bills, property assessments and code enforcement records and local police documents. Provide proof of your new address, if possible, by showing a copy of the change of address forms that were provided to the post office.
Read More: How to Access County Public Records for Free
Stop at the county records office. Ask someone in the recorder's office what records there might contain your old address. The list of probabilities includes voter registration and "doing business as" records. If you sold your home and moved to another home, those transactions will be noted in the clerk's office and automatically passed onto the tax mapping/real property office.
Contact companies that sell public records information online. Municipalities, counties and post offices are not required to update addresses for the companies that buy the information from them, so their information might be outdated. The more well-known online public record brokers include US Search, Intelius and Acxiom, 555-1212.com and Whitepages.com. They may require you to put the request in writing.
Tips
- Obtaining a PO Box is one way to avoid having the location of your residence appear on public records.
References
Tips
- Obtaining a PO Box is one way to avoid having the location of your residence appear on public records.
Writer Bio
Aaron Gifford is based in New York. He has been on staff at the "Syracuse Post-Standard," the "Watertown Daily Times" and the "Oneida Daily Dispatch." He's also written for "Long Island Newsday," "Empire State Report" magazine and "In Good Health." He has been writing professionally since 1995. Gifford holds a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from the University at Buffalo.