What exactly is public record? Who maintains it? Where is it housed??

[Anonymous]

First off, sorry Mods if I stuck this in the wrong spot... I really have no idea where it should go...

I honestly think that I am thinking about this so abstractly that I'm making it harder than it needs to be. I know about the legal side of it, bankruptcies, civil judgments, tax liens, foreclosures, wage garnishments and so forth but what about the verification info (name, SSN, DOB, address)?? 

For example when my husband and I first got together I had a joint bank account statement that was sent to his mother's house for two months and now every time I have to answer "questions based on public record" (probably via Lexis Nexis or something similar) for verification her address comes up. Also, one time I applied for a loan and they spelled my name wrong and now it shows on public record as a possible match for my SSN. Similarly I've had CCs with the short version of my name instead of my full name and it shows up also. The UPS accounts online verify your address based on public record and when they couldn't verify it they told me to update my address on my cards and bank accounts and try again in a month or so...

What exactly is public record? Who maintains it? Where is it housed??

[Revelate]

A public record is simply a document (record) that is viewable by the public maintained by the government: local, county, state, federal.  Usually it's maintained where the record was filed, tax office, court, etc.  

Data aggregators like LexisNexus or the bureaus typically get their information (or verify their information) from them, but the underlying document never leaves the jurisdiction of where it was filed.

[Anonymous]

---

@Revelate wrote:

A public record is simply a document (record) that is viewable by the public maintained by the government: local, county, state, federal.  Usually it's maintained where the record was filed, tax office, court, etc.  

Data aggregators like LexisNexus or the bureaus typically get their information (or verify their information) from them, but the underlying document never leaves the jurisdiction of where it was filed.

---

Okay, so that kinda makes sense but what about from a financial stand-point? My card company or bank will give the info to anyone who asks?

[Revelate]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@Revelate wrote:

A public record is simply a document (record) that is viewable by the public maintained by the government: local, county, state, federal.  Usually it's maintained where the record was filed, tax office, court, etc.  

Data aggregators like LexisNexus or the bureaus typically get their information (or verify their information) from them, but the underlying document never leaves the jurisdiction of where it was filed.

---

Okay, so that kinda makes sense but what about from a financial stand-point? My card company or bank will give the info to anyone who asks?

---

Nope.  That information isn't a public record anyway and is covered by all sorts of legal restrictions.

When you put a mistaken name or address (or the bank screws it up) it can go on your credit report, but I can't walk up to a bank and ask for points0903's address other than maybe with a specific warrant.