Background people and property using the internet

1. Trial Prep - Background People and Property Using the Internet
All links are good as of July 8, 2011
1. Basic Tools
a) Search engines
i) E.g. Google http://www.google.com (by far the most popular and usually the
most useful), Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com/, http://www.ask.com/ , Windows
Live http://www.live.com/ , Lycos http://www.lycos.com/ (for more, see
http://searchenginewatch.com/),
b) Meta-search
i) E.g. Dogpile http://www.dogpile.com/ , Webcrawler
http://www.webcrawler.com/ , metacrawler http://www.metacrawler.com/ ,
surfwax http://www.surfwax.com/index.html , search.com
http://www.search.com/
ii) New and interesting: goshme.com refers searcher to specialized search engines
http://goshme.com/
iii) One of the best, (I think) is A9 http://a9.com/ , which allows a single search for
web, books, images
c) General “drill-down” databases a/k/a directories
i) E.g. About.com http://about.com/, Yahoo Directory http://dir.yahoo.com/, The
Open Directory Project http://dmoz.org/
d) Specific topical databases (many not indexed by spiderbots from the search engines)
i) E.g. New York State Corporate Listings
http://www.dos.state.ny.us/corps/bus_entity_search.html ,
ii) NYS Professional Licenses http://www.op.nysed.gov/opsearches.htm ,
iii) New York City Administrative Decisions
http://www.nyls.edu/centers/harlan_scholar_centers/center_for_new_york_city_l
aw/cityadmin_library
e) Search engine lists http://www.thesearchenginelist.com/,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_search_engines
2. Using Search Engines
a) Search strategy
i) Where do you want to end up
(1) Searching for general information about an area/topic/person
(2) searching for specific information
(3) seeking to confirm
ii) What particular search areas do you want to query
(1) General v. specific
iii) Query language(s)
(1) Go to “Help”
(2) Always use “Advanced Search” until you are familiar with the search engine

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iv) Refining or expanding your query
(1) Add or subtract terms
(2) Alternate spellings
(3) Other search engines
(4) Specialized searches
b) Maximizing internet searches,
i) Query Construction
(1) structure
(2) choice of words
(3) stemming
(4) quotes
ii) Pay attention to the supported grammar of the engines
(1) operators
(2) advanced v basic search
Due Diligence on a Property
1. Due Diligence: Navigating the Internet to Locate and Learn About Property
a) Finding investment properties
i) Using the internet to find property
(1) establish criteria
(a) geographic location
(i) neighborhood
(b) last sale price
(c) comparables
(d) zoning
ii) Online News
(1) More General
(a) NY Times Real Estate http://www.nytimes.com/pages/realestate/
(b) NY Post Real Estate http://www.nypost.com/realestate/
(c) NY Sun Real Estate http://www.nysun.com/real-estate
(2) Real Estate Oriented
(a) The Real Deal http://www.therealdeal.net/
(b) StreetEasy http://www.streeteasy.com/
(c) Costar Group NYC Commerical Real Estate News
http://www.costar.com/News/Default.aspx?market=NYC
(d) Wall Street Journal, Real Estate Journal
http://www.realestatejournal.com/
(e) NY Observer Real Estate http://www.observer.com/channel/real-estate/
(f) The Cooperator http://www.cooperator.com/index.shtml
(g) New York Magazine Real Estate
http://www.newyorkmetro.com/realestate/index.html
(3) Buildings and facilities

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(a) Today’s Facility Manager
http://www.todaysfacilitymanager.com/default.php
(b) Buildings.com http://www.buildings.com
iii) Blogs (Web logs)
(1) find at http://www.technorati.com/
(2) http://www.curbed.com/
(3) http://propertygrunt.blogspot.com/
(4) http://matrix.millersamuel.com/
iv) RE Searches
(1) every broker
(2) Citifeet:
http://www.cityfeet.com/NewYorkCommercialRealEstateLocal/NewYorkCo
mmercialRealEstate.aspx?PartnerPath=&
v) NYC Lien Sale Notices
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/property/property_bill_taxlien.shtml#notices
vi) Business Improvement Districts
(1) 125th
Street: http://125thstreetbid.com/
(2) Columbus Avenue
http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/html/neighborhood/bid_directory.shtml?bid=41
(3) Grand Central
http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/html/neighborhood/bid_directory.shtml?bid=15
(4) Times Square: http://www.timessquarenyc.org/
(5) Downtown Alliance: http://www.downtownny.com/
(6) Lower East Side: http://www.lowereastsideny.com/
(7) Full listing of BID’s:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/html/neighborhood/bid_directory.shtml
Decisional law
1. Lexis http://www.lexis.com/ (subscription),
http://www.lexisone.com/caselaw/freecaselaw?action=FCLDisplayCaseSearchF
orm (free but very limited)
2. Westlaw http://web2.westlaw.com/ (subscription)
3. Findlaw http://lawcrawler.findlaw.com/ , Hieros Gamos http://www.hg.org/ and
http://www.hg.org/redir.asp?url=http://www.lexisone.com/legalresearch/legalgui
de/states/new_york.htm
4. OCA online search (Supreme Civil and some Supreme Criminal)
http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/webcivil/FCASJcaptcha
5. More extensive “electronic case files” for New York County (SCROLL)
http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/iscroll/jcaptcha
6. New York Official Reports (Court of Appeals, Appellate Divisions, some trial
court decisions)
http://government.westlaw.com/nyofficial/search/default.asp?tempinfo=SEARC
H
7. Great general legal source http://www.llrx.com/

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8. American Law Sources online http://www.lawsource.com/also/usa.cgi?ny#Z7Q
9. Statutes and Regulations
i) NYS laws
http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAW
S
ii) NYC Building Code & Electrical Codes and updates
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/html/reference/reference.shtml
iii) NYC Index (by Topic) to Selected Department of Building Directives,
Memoranda, Policy & Procedure Notices and Interpretations
1. http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/html/reference/a-
index.shtml
iv) NYCRR (New York Codes, Rules & Regulations
http://government.westlaw.com/linkedslice/default.asp?SP=nycrr-1000
v) NYC Administrative Code http://law.justia.com/codes/new-
york/2006/new-york-city-administrative-code-new/
vi) NYC Rules, Charter and Administrative Code Search
http://24.97.137.100/nyc/
vii)Current New York City Administrative Decisions:
http://www.nyls.edu/centers/harlan_scholar_centers/center_for_new_yor
k_city_law/cityadmin_library/
10. Governmental Agencies
a) US Government portal http://www.firstgov.gov/
b) NYS portal http://www.state.ny.us/
c) NYC portal http://nyc.gov/portal/index.jsp?front_door=true and (to search)
http://search1.nyc.gov/search?access=p&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&out
put=xml_no_dtd&site=default_collection&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-
8&client=default_frontend&proxystylesheet=default_frontend&ip=68.236.1
74.4&proxycustom=%3CADVANCED/%3E
d) HUD: http://www.hud.gov/
e) NYS DHCR http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/
f) NYC Board of Standards & Appeals:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/bsa/html/home/home.shtml
g) NYC Council Land Use:
h) NYC Dept of City Planning http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/home.html
i) Zoning Maps
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/zone/zh_zmaptable.shtml
ii) Zoning Text http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/zone/zonetext.shtml
iii) Land Use Application Status
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/lu_apps/lu_app1.shtml
i) Department of Buildings
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/html/home/home.shtml
i) DOB Building Information System http://a810-
bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/bsqpm01.jsp
j) NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal
http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/index.htm

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k) NYC Rent Guidelines Board http://www.housingnyc.com/
l) NYC Environmental Control Board
http://www.nyc.gov/html/ecb/html/home/home.shtml
m) NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/home/home.shtml
n) Worker’s Compensation Board Forms
http://www.wcb.state.ny.us/content/main/Forms.jsp
o) Useful Items Not Available on the Internet as of Date of publication
(1) Housing Court Decisions (see
http://www.treimanpublication.com/lawbooks.htm - Dov Treiman is a
partner in Adam Leitman Bailey, PC)
(2) Title Reports
(3) Lis Pendens (there are some commercial services; we have not used
them and therefore cannot recommend them); can find on
PropertyShark by subscription http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/
(4) Department of Housing and Community Renewal decisions and
judgments
Purchase Information
1. General
Property Shark (free and subscription) http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/
Real Estate Board of NY (subscription) https://members.rebny.com/html/welcome.html
2. Other addresses for the premises
a) NYC Housing Preservation & Development
http://167.153.4.71/hpdonline/provide_address.aspx
3. Sales prices
a) Top Real Estate Brokers in Area
b) Comparable Sales Prices
i) Real Estate Board of NY (subscription)
https://members.rebny.com/html/welcome.html
ii) Property Shark http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/
iii) Zillow http://www.zillow.com/
iv) Real Estate ABC http://www.realestateabc.com/home-values/
v) Home Price Records http://www.homepricerecords.com/
c) Recorded Documents
ACRIS (Automated City Register Information System)
http://a836-acris.nyc.gov/Scripts/Coverpage.dll/index
Property Shark http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Accounts/logon.html
d) Number of floors Property Shark
http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Accounts/logon.html
e) Year built/Pre-War/Post War Property Shark
http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Accounts/logon.html
f) Elevator/Walkup Property Shark
http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Accounts/logon.html
g) Floor plans – brokers (also search building for old listings, retrieve cached pages)

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h) Locating a Seller
ACRIS (Automated City Register Information System)
http://a836-acris.nyc.gov/Scripts/Coverpage.dll/index
Property Shark http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Accounts/logon.html
p) Determining Information About a Property
i) Owner
(1) HPD Registration
http://167.153.4.71/hpdonline/provide_address.aspx
(2) Deed/filed leases ACRIS
http://a836-acris.nyc.gov/Scripts/Coverpage.dll/index
(3) Who is paying taxes NYC Department of Finance
http://webapps.nyc.gov:8084/CICS/fin1/find001I
ii) Managing agent HPD Registration
http://167.153.4.71/hpdonline/provide_address.aspx
iii) Taxes
(1) Amount of taxes: NYC Department of Finance
http://webapps.nyc.gov:8084/CICS/fin1/find001I
PropertyShark http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Accounts/logon.html
iv) Certificate of Occupancy
(1) NYC Department of Buildings
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/bsqpm01.jsp
v) Information on Neighborhood, city and street
(1) NYC Office of Operations “My Neighborhood Statistics”
http://gis.nyc.gov/ops/mmr/address.jsp?app=MMR
(2) Infoshare (extremely detailed census information)
http://infoshare.org/
(3) Map/Graphical info http://www.myciti.org/make_a_map_citi2.html
and/or http://www.oasisnyc.net/OASISMap.htm
vi) Ownership history and information to contact owner
vii)Documents filed with County Clerk
ACRIS http://a836-acris.nyc.gov/Scripts/Coverpage.dll/index
viii) Filed Liens
ACRIS http://a836-acris.nyc.gov/Scripts/Coverpage.dll/index
ix) Legal and administrative decisions
OATH New York City Administrative Decisions
http://www.nyc.gov/html/oath/html/benchnotes/benchnotes.shtml,
http://www.nyc.gov/html/oath/html/benchnotes/benchnotes.shtml,
http://www.nyls.edu/centers/harlan_scholar_centers/center_for_new_york_city_l
aw/cityadmin_library/
i) Legal descriptions (i.e., metes & bounds) ACRIS
http://a836-acris.nyc.gov/Scripts/Coverpage.dll/index
ii) Mortgages (filed)
ACRIS http://a836-acris.nyc.gov/Scripts/Coverpage.dll/index
iii) Past and Outstanding Violations
(1) Open Violations HPD Registration
http://167.153.4.71/hpdonline/provide_address.aspx

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(2) Department of Buildings, Building Information Services (BIS)
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/bispi00.jsp
iv) Boiler Information
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/bispi00.jsp
v) Emergency repairs
HPD Registration http://167.153.4.71/hpdonline/provide_address.aspx
vi) Landmark Status
(1) NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/home/home.shtml
(2) NYC Department of Buildings
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/bsqpm01.jsp
(3) Property Shark
http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Accounts/logon.html
vii)Job Permits
(1) Department of Buildings, Building Information Services (BIS)
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/bispi00.jsp
viii) Elevator Records (Inspection and Violation)
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/bispi00.jsp
2. Maps & photos
i) Pictures of Property
(1) Google Earth (free download at http://earth.google.com/ ) satellite,
some aerial change POV
(2) Bing (map, aerial, satellite change POV) http://www.bing.com/maps/
(3) A9 (maps, street level) http://maps.a9.com/
(4) Google Maps (map & satellite) http://maps.google.com/
(5) Yahoo Local Maps (Beta) (map & satellite)
http://maps.yahoo.com/beta/#maxp=search&q1=us
(6) Mapquest (maps) http://www.mapquest.com/
(7) Terraserver (aerial, topographic) http://www.terraserver.com/
(8) US Geological Survey Maps
http://nmviewogc.cr.usgs.gov/viewer.htm
(a) Multiple overlays

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For the Professional
Attorneys using these investigative sources, as well as the analogous LexisNexis and
Westlaw searches should be aware of the privacy parameters of state and federal statutes,
such as the Driver Privacy Protection Act,1
the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act,2
the
Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act3
and New York Fair Credit Reporting Act,4
which
provide both civil and criminal penalties for improper invasion of privacy and improper
dissemination or use of protected information.
Legal/Investigative (subscription)
1. LexisNexis http://www.lexisnexis.com/
2. Westlaw http://web2.westlaw.com/
DMV Dial-In Account http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/dialin.htm
1. Application: http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/forms/mv15d.pdf
2. Description (User Manual) http://www.nysdmv.com/forms/mv15dial.pdf
Data Brokers (subscription)
1. Accurate Credit http://accuratecredit.com/
2. Accurint http://www.accurint.com/
3. Acxiom http://www.acxiominsight.com/
4. Intelius http://www.intelius.com/
5. IRBSearch, LLC http://www.irbsearch.com/
6. KnowX http://www.knowx.com/
7. LocatePlus http://www.locateplus.com/
8. Merlin Data https://www.merlindata.com/
9. SearchSytems.net http://www.searchsystems.net/ (free + subscription)
10.USSearch.com http://www.ussearch.com/consumer/index.jsp
Credit Bureaus –
1. Equifax http://www.equifax.com/biz/index.shtml
2. Experian http://www.experian.com/business_services/index.html
3. Transunion http://www.transunion.com/corporate/business/business.page
1
18 USC 2721 et seq.
2
15 USC 1692 et seq.
3
15 USC 1681 et seq.
4
GBL 380 et seq.

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The Internet Is Not A Panacea
1. Why the internet is not enough
a) Many sites are not monitored by anyone for correctness
b) Sites/pages may not be updated
2. What else you have to do (minimally)
a) Title report
b) Engineer report
c) Inspection of premises
d) Rent roll, financials
e) Walk-around
Determining A Tenant’s Primary Residence
1. Illegal Sublet and Non-Primary Residence Cases
a) Building a Case
i) Hire a PI
ii) Tools
(1) Zaba Search (free + purchase) http://www.zabasearch.com/
(2) MerlinData (subscription) http://www.merlindata.com/
(3) PeopleFinders (free + purchase) http://www.peoplefinders.com/
(4) US Search (free + purchase) http://www.ussearch.com/consumer/index.jsp
(5) KnowX (purchase) http://www.knowx.com/
(6) Date of birth (not all and not always easy to determine by name:
http://www.birthdatabase.com/
(7) Reverse directories – if you have an address or telephone number
(a) Google http://www.google.com/
(b) Langenberg.com http://www.langenberg.com/
(c) Skiptools http://www.skiptools.com/
(d) Infospace http://www.infospace.com/home/white-pages/reverse-phone
and http://www.infospace.com/home/white-pages/reverse-address
2. Researching a Person
a) Always do one or more general searches
b) Public records directories:
i) Argali White & Yellow (Download - free and subscription)
http://www.argali.com/
ii) Search Systems http://www.searchsystems.net/
iii) BRB Publications http://www.brbpub.com/pubrecsites.asp
iv) PublicRecordFinder.com http://www.publicrecordfinder.com/
c) Department of Motor Vehicles http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/
i) Beware the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA)
(1) Text: http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/forms/mv15dppa.pdf
(2) Civil & criminal penalties for violation
ii) Need MV-15GC – Authorization for Release of Personal Information plus
http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/forms/mv15gc.pdf

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iii) MV-15 – Request for Driving and/or Vehicle Record Information
http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/forms/mv15.pdf
d) Property Address
i) Same investigation as above, however local governmental agencies
e) Social Security
i) Usually unavailable
f) Voting Records
i) NYC Board of Elections http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/offices.html
ii) Check in all jurisdictions suspected to be primary residence
g) Campaign contributions
i) Federal Electins Commission individual contributors
http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/norindsea.shtml
ii) National Institute on Money in State Politics
http://www.followthemoney.org/database/advancedsearch.phtml
iii) Opensecrets.org http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/index.php
iv) Political Moneyline
http://www.tray.com/cgi-win/indexhtml.exe?MBF=NAME
v) Campaignmoney.com http://www.campaignmoney.com/advanced.asp
vi) NYS Board of Elections
http://www.elections.state.ny.us/NYSBOE/finance/contribandexpend.htm
vii)Other State (reference articles) http://www.llrx.com/columns/roundup10.htm#ny
and http://www.llrx.com/columns/roundup25.htm
h) Banking – send her a refund check
i) Licensed professions – licensing authority, disciplinary authority