Travels through Property Law by Tom Brodersen, Esq.
We all appreciate the large number of sunny days we enjoy here in Florida, but “Sunshine State” has several other meanings to Floridians:
One is what we call government in the sunshine, that is, open records about state and local government activities.
The other is information of a public nature, such as property records, court records, and the registration of business entities.
Property records are maintained in a database hosted by each county’s property appraiser. In Pinellas County, those records are available (and searchable) at pcpao.org/searchpage.php, or just Google the name of the county and “property appraiser.” You can find properties by the owners name, address, condo or subdivision name, or other criteria. With a little practice, you can find a great deal of useful information for dealing with homes and other parcels of real estate.
Court records are maintained by the counties also, and are found at ccmspa.pinellascounty.org/PublicAccess/default.aspx, or just Google the name of the county and “clerk of court.” That site can help you uncover background information about individuals, including their criminal, traffic and civil litigation history. You can even find judgments that may have been entered against them. That is almost as good as a credit check or a private database search you may pay big money to receive.
Finally, the Secretary of State has lots of information on business entities, including corporations, LLCs, fictitious name registrations, and other valuable stuff. That is found at arch.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/ByName, or simply sunbiz.org. It is searchable by business name, the names of officers, directors, registered agents, or business addresses. At that site you can find most any business, and determine their actual legal identity, officers, and possibly, ownership. From there you can go to other services like the Better Business Bureau, or public reviews like Trip Advisor, etc. If you do these things before you Google something, you will understand those search results that much better.
All too often we see leases, contracts and other legal or business agreements naming entities who don’t actually exist as parties, making enforcement that much harder,if it comes to that. Knowing who you are dealing with UP FRONT puts you in a position of power when you hire an employee, engage a vendor, or sit down to negotiate a deal that will be important to you.
As you go along, you will discover other valuable resources, although these three will always be fundamental, because the government isn’t going to go away. Peace of mind starts by doing your due diligence.
ANDERSON & BRODERSEN, P.A.
350 Corey Avenue, St. Pete Beach, FL 33706
(727) 363-6100
www.PropertyLawGroup.com