US Search.com provides access to public records information, including business licenses, operating permits, property ownership, criminal and court records. Searches range from $10 for a people search to $100 for exhaustive searches. Sex offender searches, available for 33 states, cost $35. Want to know what your record looks like? You can check it out for $60. With more than 1 million completed searches US Search is one of the most popular of the investigative tools on the Web, but it has some shortcomings. The only free search is for an Equifax credit report; and you have to pay even if your search produces no results.


BEST: Good customer service and telephone-support capability.