Document Focus

Overview and discussion of public documents – how they look and what you can learn from them.

WARN Act Records

Enacted in 1988, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining (WARN) Act mandates that employers meeting certain criteria give advance notice of layoffs and plant closures. Since the WARN Act was first passed, many states have passed their own, state-specific versions of the WARN Act. Recently, many newspapers have taken topline WARN Act data and used it to create searchable databases.

Obtaining Records from Public Transit Systems

Because public transit is taxpayer funded, these companies are subject to state public records laws. Relevant to companies vying for contracts or riders who want to understand why fares are increasing, these records can provide insight into how public transit is operated.

Video Blog: County Clerk-Recorder Records

Each county in the United States has a Clerk-Recorder’s office or equivalent. These offices provide marriage licensing and notary services, as well as maintain archives of public records. Here’s a short video of Mike Rice at the Alameda County Clerk-Recorder’s office discussing how to navigate your way around the office’s in-house index systems.

TransparencyData.com Released for Combined State and Federal Campaign Contribution Data

Today, the Sunlight Foundation released TransparencyData.com which compiles federal data from OpenSecrets and state data from FollowTheMoney.org into a comprehensive and user-friendly search interface for researchers and journalists. Transparency Data currently provides access to state and federal campaign contributions, and will offer lobbying data within several weeks.

When Private Records Become Public Records

While the majority of public records begin as government documents, there are instances when private records are backed into the public record via court filings.

House Expenditure Reports Now Available Online

The US House of Representatives recently uploaded the latest quarterly Statement of Disbursements to its website, marking the first time these public records have been made available online. These reports detail how Members spent their Member’s Representational Allowance over the past quarter.

Property Document Analysis, Part IV: Permits and Inspections

Building permits and building inspection records are useful public documents in various situations, including determining if a property owner has flouted local building codes, a landlord has not kept his property up to code or a company has illegally maintained waste or chemicals on their property.

Property Document Analysis, Part III: Property Assessments and Tax Payments

Property tax assessment and payment records are useful documents for understanding a property owner’s financial situation and learning details of a particular property.

Property Document Analysis, Part II: Mortgages

Mortgages are legal documents that evidence a lender’s rights to a property in exchange for a loan. Mortgages are a useful resource for learning how wealthy someone is, understanding a borrower’s future financial stability, and determining if a loan was obtained under questionable circumstances.

Property Document Analysis, Part I: Deeds

The primary instrument in all property transactions is the deed. Property deeds are recorded documents legally denoting the transfer of land from one party to another. The parties listed on a deed are either grantors (sellers) or grantees (purchasers).