[Strangler Lewis]

The California Megan's law database lets me see what some of my clients look like. One of our old high school classmates is on there as well. I also use it to check out the parents of my kids' friends. Why not?

Lexis has a public records database. Sadly, it's now by subscription only, but it used to be pay as you go with a credit card. Searches were free, and you could use it to find people if they owned homes. If you sprang for the buck, you could read up on how much they paid for their house, square footage, how much they borrowed, refinanced, etc. I used it for work from time to time, but mostly it was a slimy time waster.