How to search license plate numbers for free

To put your mind at ease for something as simple as knowing more about the vehicle used in the car pool to help you with making an important purchase, a free license plate search provides crucial details to help you make decisions you and your family can rely on. Don't have a Plate Number? Currently scanning: County Database. Report include when available. Accident History.

Running a license plate search to check on another person is illegal in most circumstances, but many services will collect public information linked to a plate. You will not be able to access the same personal data that a law enforcement officer can view, but everyone has access to public records. The data gathered in these searches is similar to a VIN check.

Numerous laws, especially the Freedom of Information Act, permits citizens to access data collected by the government. Any data created by the Department of Motor Vehicle and other government agencies is available for public access. Besides that, these agencies allow easy access to this information in order to cut down on car fraud and automobile theft. While it is possible to search a license plate on your own, it would consume a lot of your time and resources.

You would essentially need to contact every DMV, police department, federal agency and insurance company to gather all of their public data. Instead, you can gather a fair amount of data in a matter of minutes by using a free license plate search service.

California Privacy R. Follow this simple procedure:. Note that some -- but not many -- of these websites are free. Some websites say they are free, but will actually charge you a fee and may provide you with outdated information -- or no information at all.

Before using a third-part website, obtain a Google safe-browsing report. For example, if you're checking a plate owner through the numberplateseek. After you press 'Enter,' a report will open in the same window telling you if the website has been reported as suspicious.

Understand the Legal Issues The topic of whether it is permissible to search a plate number is complex. To give a few examples: Accessing private information of a person by searching his plate number records is illegal, according to some motor vehicle agencies -- regardless of the circumstances. Such information includes the plate holder's name, address, phone number and Social Security number.

That said, it is completely illegal for civilians to run plates in some parts of the world, and doing so is an act that can get one prosecuted.

As a result, you should familiarise yourself with local laws before attempting to carry out a licence plate lookup. Due to safety reasons, the potential amount of information that can be gotten from a plate check is usually limited and regulated by the government. Nevertheless, typical information that can be gotten from a license plate check include the make, model and the year such vehicle was released. Additional info may include minor details about the owner, vehicle ownership history and safety information.

Retrieving user info for a vehicle is easy and can be done either by running a search on the VIN or by a simple plate check. However, the info you could get from a license plate lookup as an interested third-party is limited and includes:. VinPit processes information for its users from its huge, rich database obtained from the DMV and other sources. Some of these sources include service stations and insurance companies. VinPit uses the information from these databases to intimate its users with the vehicle condition, accident history, specifications, car registration details and ownership history of the vehicle.