CORPORATIONS

CONTENTS:

• Search Systems
• Annual Credit Report.com
• Corporate Tsunami Aid

SEARCH SYSTEMS

Search Systems bills itself as the largest directory leading to free public record databases on the Internet -- 23,064 databases by mid-January 2005 -- maybe too many? It will take a while to work through the categories to find and bookmark the ones that will be useful to you. The quality of the sites varies greatly, but you'll probably find some that will make you glad you looked.

Find business information, corporate filings, property records, unclaimed property, professional licenses, inmates, criminal and civil court filings and more. The few "pay" sites are clearly marked up front, although some of the "free" ones still charge for certain kinds of information. Sites are grouped geographically by U.S. state or Canadian province, and by nations worldwide.

The most useful sites for me were grouped by state, county and city. In my state there are records of professional and business licenses of all kinds, corporations, minority- and women-owned businesses, public notice ads, trade names, farm subsidies, limited partnerships, court records and many more. A few categories are puzzling and produce less than expected: "Cowboy Book" just leads to RootsWeb.com, not to anything about cowboys in particular.

http://www.searchsystems.net

ANNUAL CREDIT REPORT.COM

This central site allows you to request one free credit report every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

You can also purchase a credit score when you request your free annual credit report from the Web site below. A credit score is a complex mathematical model that evaluates many types of information in a credit file. It is used by a lender to help determine whether a person qualifies for a particular credit card, loan or service.

The free credit reports become available on different dates throughout the U.S. For the Western states, reports became available on December 1, 2004. In Midwest states, it's March 1, 2005. For Southern states, it's June 1, 2005. In Eastern states & all U.S. territories, the date is September 1, 2005. The Web site names the states in each category and provides answers to FAQs.

To assure that your credit file is disclosed only to you, your identity will be authenticated with the personal identification information you provide on the site, including, but not limited to, your Social Security number.

http://www.annualcreditreport.com

CORPORATE TSUNAMI AID

The news has been full of stories of the generosity of governments, citizens and businesses worldwide. Aid figures increase daily. Read about some of the corporations sending cash and relief supplies already valued in the multimillions. The Chronicle of Philanthropy article below includes links to each corporate or foundation Web site. If the other news articles expire, Google for updates.

http://philanthropy.com/free/update/2005/01/2005011902.htm

http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/30/news/fortune500/firms_tsunami/index.htm

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/09/tsunami.corporate.giving.ap/index.html

http://www.examiner.com/article/index.cfm/i/011805bu_corporateaid

Beverly Goodwin

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