Illegal Information?
Curious if anyone knows if selling public info is illegal? Say I spend six or seven hours, scouring my lists of delinquent tax payers, searching court records for liens/judgements, finding comps, determining mortgage company and loan amount; then organize the info into a nice neat little package. Then advertise through a web site and/or newspaper that I have leads on pre-foreclosures, and for a nominal fee, you can purchase this info. All the info I gather is a matter of public record and is obtained through local government sites. One source is a newspaper that documents and lists every court proceding, this is a subscription based paper, and I believe a privately held company who surely have copyright laws, but since the info they provide is also public knowledge, could I use them as a source to build my package?
Thanks
Sickdog
Dear SickDog,
Ah yes you are playing in the Public Trough. No problem, it is all public record and as such can be utilized by any casual searcher.
My suggestion is if you wish to play this game you really should spend time organizing this information into a really usable format. You might go on line and dial in www.Retran.net. Check their format and duplicate it. It flows well and scans easily. Most important when banging down a country road, trying to read street addresses and not run over any of the livestock. Oops sorry that was actualy a human. Sometimes hard to tell.
Years ago when we first were able to get a copy of the recorders tape and then sit at a MicroFishy and zip thru about 4,000 documents a day, the big problem was presentation. Took the Title Company who had employed me for this purpose almost six months of screwing around until they finaly let me format it correctly.
They had a theory that if you were not at least a VP, wore a Brooks Brother Suit, white shirt and proper tie, your brain cells were unformed and unusable.
I finaly got their permission to present a format of information abstracted from the daily recordings and backed up with proper search of prior Grantee/Grantor Index. To gain permission I had to wear a Brooks Brother Suit a white shirt and a tie. Of course I did not conform totaly and wear a Yale Tie, Instead of which I got from England an old Borstal tie, thats the local reform school. I wore this tie on all occasions. Nobody ever tipped. It help't maintain my sanity during a very
conforming time. I needed the money to go to law school. Just as dull. I do not recommend it. I think all the information you require is right on this site. We all want to help. Just be aware that the game changes as does the Economy and the Social Mores. If you understand the theory of Menes this all makes sense.
Cheers Lucius
Does anyone know of a comparable service to www.retran.net that covers Northern Virginia?