If you don’t have an accurate Social Security Number on a client, you need to keep something in mind. In order to get the best information on this research client, one question will determine your public records strategy:
How common is their name?
John Smith
With him, you’re going to have to be creative to get the right public records. If you just submit that name in a search, you’re going to get a phone book of results. Not only will you have to input the full name, but you will have to put in a city, state and possibly a year of birth. You could search by a previous address, if you had it. If an SSN is associated with the name at that address, click it and reap the rewards.
There is one way you can ease the pain: get John’s middle name at his first appointment. Even a middle initial is huge. With common names, you need any differentiation possible.
Joey Joe Joe Jr. Shabadoo
The future’s looking bright. You could probably search the whole United States just by the last name (if allowed) and see what comes up. Anyone with that last name will likely be a relative.
Also, just put the name in Google. Any match has to be your man. I found a client from several years previous because his crazy name was mentioned in a newspaper from out-of-state.
Lesson: Note the uniqueness of their name before you get their information. If it’s John Smith, go the extra mile to get as much as you can.
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