How to Find out Who Your Neighbors Are
- Who Is Your Neighbor
- When to Check Your Neighbor’s History
- How to Find Out Who Your Neighbors Are
- How To Protect Yourself
- FAQ
Who Is Your Neighbor
You can spend a good portion of your life living next to people and never get to know them, sometimes not even knowing their names. You may be living on the same street or in the same apartment block and sharing common areas like sidewalks, hallways, elevators, parking lots, laundry facilities, and playgrounds. Wouldn’t you want to know more about the people you may have to meet at any time of day or night?
Today we are going to have a look at some ways to find neighbors names and how to find out who your neighbors are. Keep reading to find who lives in your neighborhood and if they can be trusted.
The best way to create a friendly neighborhood is to be a good neighbor. Irrespective of the city or suburb you live in, the size of your house, or the level of your apartment block - a friendly wave, short conversation, and a smile can go a long way in creating a friendly community.
Neighbors who establish friendly relationships can help each other out by watching over the other’s property, sharing information about common issues, recommending local contractors, furniture shops, or places with great ice cream. They may even find and bring home your lost pet one day.
No matter what your motivation may be, there are safe, legal, and anonymous ways to check any one of your neighbors (or all in fact). We will be looking into public record information that does not violate any laws of privacy and is completely legal. If a neighbor does have a positive criminal history, we will also review your options in this article.
When to Check Your Neighbor’s History
While there are a number of good reasons why you would want to know more about people living next door, it is absolutely critical to check a neighbor’s background if any of the following applies to you:
- You may need them to come inside your house for something
- You plan to hire them to babysit or do jobs around the house
- You have children who contact this person on a regular basis
- They make you or your family feel anxious or uncomfortable
- You suspect that they keep track of when you enter or leave your home
- They avoid eye contact with you or other neighbors
- They have a lot of visitors coming and out
- They act like they may have an alcohol or drug addiction
- You see an unusual amount of firearms being brought in and out
- A family member or other neighbor tells you about their disturbing behavior
If you do not feel comfortable or safe around a person who lives next to you and their public record history is clean, doing some research will make you feel better, regardless of the results.
How to Find Out Who Your Neighbors Are
Follow these simple steps to find out more about the people living on your street:
1. Find Out Your Neighbor’s Name
As we’ve mentioned before, most people don’t even know their neighbors’ names. And that is perfectly normal - you’ve never been formally acquainted with them. A good place to start is to stop over and say “Hi” when someone new moves in next door and welcome them. If they’ve been living around for a while, you still can say something like, “Hi, how are you? I’m Susan, by the way” next time you see them in the neighborhood. Of course, that wouldn’t necessarily give you their last name but at least that would be a starting point.
Another option to find neighbors names is to ask other neighbors you already know if they know the name of the new person. Get involved in neighborhood activities or groups to get to know people that live nearby. Attend neighborly dinner parties or even host one yourself!
2. Search a Neighbor by Address Online
If social communication isn’t your thing or you simply don’t have time to ring every doorbell on the street, you can easily find out your neighbors name online by doing a reverse address search online on address directory sites like White Pages. Once you have the name of a neighbor, then you’re good to go with other options.
Be sure to check the exact house number before you run a reverse address check, as sometimes address directory sites may list incorrect nearby addresses. Also, since most services do not provide photos of the residents, be sure to combine this method with others to ensure you have the right person.
3. Connect With Your Neighborhood
There are social networking sites designed specifically for neighborhood communities to connect online. This can be very useful when you want to find who lives in your neighborhood, stay on top of the latest neighborhood news, local events, common concerns, or simply need to get a message across the area without knowing all of the residents very well.
Sites like https://nextdoor.com/ connect neighborhoods online and help you find people in your neighborhood with profiles of each individual user that reflect their hobbies, interests, personalities, and sometimes even occupation. You can assess your neighbor’s neighborliness simply by looking at their posts and things that are of value to them, like any other social media site.
4. Search Sex Offender Records
This may not be the most pleasant of topics, but there are over 1 million registered sex offenders as of 2021 in the United States, and most of them prefer not to disclose this information. It is a good idea to find out the list of all registered sex offenders living in your residential area, especially if you have children.
To do this, simply type the name of your neighborhood, city, and the word “sex offenders” into google and go through the results. Since this is public data and it is mandated that it stays open to anyone, you should see a full list of all registered sex offenders in your area. Some services like Family Watchdog and the National Sex Offender Public Website offer maps as well as lists of people. A complete list of sex offender registry websites can be found here https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/sex-offender-registry.
5. Run a Full Background Check on Your Neighbor
An online background check could provide a comprehensive overview of an individual’s past by showing you data combined from all available public sources in a single report. Background checks usually contain valuable information like:
- Where the person has moved from
- His alternative names
- Whether he has any criminal or sex offender records
- Has he ever had a DUI
- Has he had any failed marriages
- Was he experiencing financial issues
- What his assets and liabilities are
- What his current occupation is
- Does he own a business or hold any professional licenses
- Who his relatives and friends are
You will also get basic information like his current phone number, email address, age, date of birth, and social media accounts. So if you’re looking to find your neighbors address or to find your neighbors phone number, you wouldn’t need to go further past this point.
Background checks are not a silver bullet and cannot fully portray a person’s character, but they can help uncover certain patterns and give a good amount of general information as a starting point. Filling in the gaps is your right and responsibility.
6. Find Your Neighbor on Social Media
By now, you should have enough data to find your neighbor on social media - Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter. There is a great deal of information that you could retrieve by assessing the photos, interests, political views, and the way the person communicates with others. For example, you may find that he is a veteran or is a renowned dental surgeon. Social networking sites are usually the place where a person’s character really shines - his personal space on a public domain.
To look up a neighbor on social media, you just need his name, current or previous location, and an approximate age. Most sites allow you to search and filter people based on these parameters, and knowing one social profile can instantly open up other social media profiles as they are usually linked.
Check out some more ideas on how to find who your neighbors are by searching where someone lives.
How To Protect Yourself
If your neighbor does have a positive criminal history, there are multiple things you can do. First and foremost, if you see any one of your neighbors doing anything illegal - call the police. Your safety and the safety of your family are most important in this situation. You should note down any suspicious behavior in fine detail in case you would need to provide this information to the police or your neighbor’s landlord. If it’s in the rental agreement of the homeowner, then you can force the bad neighbor to move.
If your neighbor does have a criminal past but is not doing anything illegal yet still making you feel uneasy, it may be a good idea to consider moving yourself (this option is always out there). It is your full right and responsibility to do your research and arm yourself with information to make weighted decisions. Lack of information leads to false assumptions and sometimes can lower your guard when you need to stay vigilant.
FAQ
1. What will I get in a background check on a neighbor?
While there are many neighborhood background check services, Names and Facts provides an advanced background check that contains the most important information you need to know on any given neighbor, such as names, contacts, social media, jobs, full arrest and criminal history.
2. Is it possible to get someone’s full crime history by address?
Absolutely. You need to find the complete list of residents at each address of interest and then run a background check on each individual.
3. Are background check sites safe and legal?
Well, it depends on how you use them. Federal and state laws are different when it comes to the legal aspects of background check use. If they are used for employment purposes, then sometimes an employer may need to get consent from the candidate before running a background check. They would also have to check the gravity of the crime, how long ago it was committed and if it’s relevant for the job in order to reject a candidate based solely on the results of a background check.
Tenant screening, insurance, credit eligibility may also not be assessed by the use of such services (as defined by the FCRA).
However, if you are doing your due diligence as an individual - you have the full legal right to access public records, including what is compiled in a background check report.
It is also completely anonymous, and no one will ever know that you have looked them up.
4. How much does a background check cost?
Background check reports typically cost $40 and upwards. At Names and Facts, we believe that anyone has the right to access background checks at an affordable price - that is why we have developed monthly memberships that allow you to access full background reports on anyone for $19.95 flat price. That means that you can easily look up ten people per month for less than a coffee a day with absolutely no hidden fees.
We found that this plan works best for most users, and there is no need to charge more for what you may not be using. However, if you do need to lookup more people, we have a Pro subscription for up to 50 people per month for $49.95. That is 50 times cheaper than getting single reports from competing services. And if you do find a better price, then we will beat it.
5. Will my neighbor know that I checked him online?
No. All of our searches are completely anonymous. We never store or share your personal information except for billing purposes. Even then, we try to collect the bare minimum of information required for us to process your request and provide you access to your account.