Public records hold a wealth of information, from consumer financial information to property ownership and everything in between. The benefits of open access to public records are numerous and invaluable, a system in which everyone can profit. People in the oil and gas industry and beyond can use public records to conduct legal, business, and personal affairs. Public records are a resource we often take for granted, but these four incredibly useful things will make you rethink how you use them.
Financial Decision-Making
If you were thinking about hiring a professional financial advisor to help you with your next job, think again. You can find important financial information in public records at no cost. Public records hold information on consumers’ financial status, bankruptcy reports, and debt. One can use public records to verify information entered on a loan application, expose outstanding tax liens, and determine property ownership. Land professionals can use public records to verify data given to them by property owners.
Public records have the power to reduce the risk of fraud and other losses to your company significantly. You can double-check client-supplied information with the information in their public records, looking for discrepancies or suspicious activity. This protection in turn reduces the cost of credit. Public records aid in the confidence and efficiency of financial decision-making, thanks to reliable consumer credit information.
Verifying Identity, Location, and Property Status
As a land professional, you can use public records to ensure a property owner has been truthful with the information supplied to you. Public records keep documentation on nearly every real estate transaction in existence. Public records can confirm a property exists, identify its location, and define its exact parameters.
Public records make it easy to verify who owns the property using recorded land title information. Records also have individuals’ addresses, which are useful for verifying identity and protecting against identity theft. Professionals can locate owners of lost property using their public records, as well as find heirs to estates and beneficiaries.
Targeting the Right Consumers
For anyone in business, including small business owners and retailers, public records have incredibly useful information for consumer targeting. Sellers can identify consumers most likely to show interest in a given service or product and gear advertisements toward this group. For example, a real estate agent can use public records to send information about new properties to newlyweds only. A car service technician can send advertisements to car owners. The marketing possibilities are endless.
Consumer targeting benefits the consumer as well as the seller. Since sellers have access to this incredibly useful service for free, they can reduce the amount spent in soliciting consumers – resulting in lower sales prices. It also decreases the amount of mail consumers receive that does not apply to them, increasing customer satisfaction and helping the environment by cutting waste.
Gaining an Edge Over Competition
Startups often have trouble funding solicitation and marketing efforts, and these new enterprises can’t hold a candle to well-established competitors when it comes to consumer lists. However, with the free resource of public records, business owners can secure the same abilities as industry bigwigs. Using a bit of creativity and innovation, business owners can use public records for just about any type of marketing strategy you can imagine.
For example, if you were a real estate agent, you could dig into the public records and look up who owns a property you have your eye on. You can contact the owner of the property and ask if he or she would be willing to sell it to you for a reasonable price or mail them a letter regarding the potential property. Or, you could target property owners who are going through evictions to close sales. Public records list evictions, so you can make a phone call or mail a letter propositioning the landlord to sell you the property.
Next time you think you’ve come to a dead end at work, try accessing public records. You’ll be surprised at how many ideas come to you with that much information at your fingertips.
