In Montana, you can get an address, owners name, property taxes, details on the dwelling, size of the lot and all sorts of good stuff on line. Easy.

If someone has your name, they can simply google it to get your address. Seriously, it's that simple.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
If someone has your name, they can simply google it to get your address. Seriously, it's that simple.

And even if someone doesn’t have a big footprint on the web, an “information service” company like TLO can find as much detail as is available if you can access it. Addresses, phone numbers, alias’s, work place, cars, email addresses, relatives, acquaintances, criminal record, etc.

Why did you open the door?

That was your mistake...

Anyone can get my address but that doesn’t mean I have to open my door to speak with them.

A knock is an invitation that I can easily not accept.

I have let family members sit on my porch knocking if they try to pop-in. I don’t do pop-ins.

quote:

Originally posted by Patriot:
Why did you open the door?

That was your mistake...

Anyone can get my address but that doesn’t mean I have to open my door to speak with them.

A knock is an invitation that I can easily not accept.

I have let family members sit on my porch knocking if they try to pop-in. I don’t do pop-ins.

This!

I get random texts and voicemails at least once a week from a realtor or house flipper asking me what I'll accept for my not-for-sale house, and they always address me by my first name. I reply "eff off" to all of them and then block the number.

Even before the inter net horrible people existed.

When we went to dad's funeral, ( 1977)
We had two people remain at our home, because it was very common for people to scan the obituaries for
Dates, times of services,
They would wait for the family to leave the home and then rob the residents.

Takes about a minute on the internet to find my address...Just from what is in this post...

I can go to the Tax Assessor's website and pull up a Google Earth image of any property in our Parish . A couple of clicks and I have the owners name .

trust no one.

quote:

Originally posted by az4783054:
trust no one.

Better yet, know who to trust.

My house is in an LLC, and my car is registered to my office.

As a former PI, I can tell you with time, money, technology and determination most people can be easily tracked.
What protects you is the fact that few people have the determination, time, money or technology.
I once located a person using something I learned about their dog.

All of our info is out there being sold, or publicly available if you know where to look. With land I bought a few years ago I had the property tax appraisal records made confidential so my address or name will not show up in a records search.

It doesn’t matter though as someone can still search the County Clerk’s Office and find the property deeds and see who owns what by address or name. Honestly it just made it more difficult for me because now if I want to fight property taxes I have to go down and prove who I am to get my information. I am considering lifting the confidential record.

This boils down to what others have said. Have a fence, gate, security system, cameras, don’t open the door unless the person is expected, etc.

What if you want to keep a second residence private, and it is in a different state? If you put it into an LLC when you purchase the property, will that suffice?

It may be the new world we live in, with technology being what it is....but it's still creepy when it happens.

I subscribe to Truthfinder. Using it I can obtain birthdate, employment, multiple addresses and phone numbers, even e-mail addresses of just about anyone alive. Suggested relatives, too.

In today's World it is almost impossible to hide.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:
What if you want to keep a second residence private, and it is in a different state? If you put it into an LLC when you purchase the property, will that suffice?

I know people hate this response, but if your intention is truly to shield your ownership interest you would really need to consult a lawyer. Real estate laws and the privacy of transactions varies widely from state to state and even in some localities.

Also, the LLC is not an automatic guarantee of anonymity. The ownership of most LLC's is public, so it has to be set up specifically with the intention of shielding your identity by having a third party listed. If you use a relative or your own name for the LLC, then you might as well just purchase and own the property in your own name.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:


In today's World it is almost impossible to hide.

Make them sorry they found you.

quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:
What if you want to keep a second residence private, and it is in a different state? If you put it into an LLC when you purchase the property, will that suffice?

Generally yes it will.

So, after checking around, pretty sure this nutter found me by my unique wifi network name I have at the house.

I'm changing my router, and my wifi network name to something generic.