A 2025 thread in r/OSINT asks whether paid public records search services are worth the money. Commenters advise pulling records directly from county and state court sources, and one commenter says most paid sites scrape county records. The thread covers a personal background check, and the same question applies to a supplier, distributor or investor check before a contract is signed.
A compliance or procurement team needs to know whether court files are enough for that check. Court files cover one jurisdiction at a time. Sanctions, politically exposed person (PEP) and warrant data come from many authorities, so a team that relies on court files alone can clear a listed counterparty by mistake. A public records search is enough to read a known court file, and sanctions, PEP and warrant checks on a supplier and its owners need datasets that combine many sources.
What Does a Public Records Search Include?
A public records search involves looking for a name or an identifier on documents released by government agencies and courts. Examples include court filings; criminal case records; property records; and business registration information.
Some commercial people search companies collect and compile some of the data from those sources into a single report, which is sold for a fee.
How Does a Paid Screening Database Differ From a Public Records Search?
A public records search queries one source at a time and shows what that source has released. A paid screening database collects records from many sources into one dataset and refreshes that dataset every week. The data collection process draws on global watchlists and regulatory databases.
The screening datasets cover over 180 countries. The warrants and criminal entities dataset holds 6.67M+ records, the PEP dataset holds 9.44M+ records and the sanctions dataset holds 3.55M+ records. Each dataset is sold separately.
Also Read – How Sanctions Screening Works? Sanctions Data, PEP Lists, and Criminal Entity Checks Explained
How Do Sanctions Results Differ Between Public Records and a Paid Database?
The public option for sanctions is the Sanctions List Search tool of the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The tool applies fuzzy logic to the name field and checks the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List and the Non-SDN Consolidated Sanctions List. OFAC scores name similarity from 0 to 100, and a score of 100 returns exact matches only. A lower score returns a broader set of names, and each user sets the threshold. OFAC states that the tool holds no historical information, so a name removed from a list no longer appears in its results.
Other authorities publish their own lists. The UN Security Council, the European Commission and the United Kingdom each run one, and a lookup on each site returns that site’s list only. The sanctions data merges lists from countries and international organizations into one file, so one name match runs across all of them.
How Do PEP Results Differ Between Public Records and a Paid Database?
No official list of foreign PEPs exists, and no single global PEP definition exists either. Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards group PEPs into foreign, domestic and international organization officials. The same measures extend to their family members and close associates.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 applies from 10 July 2027. Each Member State lists the functions that count as prominent public functions, such as heads of regional and local authorities with at least 50,000 inhabitants. The Commission assembles one single list from the national and EU-level lists. These lists name roles and no individuals, so the team still has to identify the people who hold those roles. The PEP records supply those individuals in one dataset.
Also Read – 10 PEP Categories and Roles You Should Know
How Do Warrant Results Differ Between Public Records and a Paid Database?
Court dockets and published warrant notices are the public sources for warrants. A criminal records search at one court shows that court’s files only. A person with cases in three countries needs a separate search in each country.
The warrants data collects public national warrant and court records, plus the Red Notices INTERPOL has published, into one dataset. The dataset also lists entities involved in criminal activities.
How Does a Supplier Check Work With Paid Screening Datasets?
A supplier check starts with the legal entity and the people behind it, because the three datasets cover different subjects.
- Collect the registered company name, the country and the names of directors and owners.
- Run the company and each director or owner against the sanctions dataset and the warrants and criminal entities dataset.
- Run each director and owner against the PEP dataset.
- Review each match, then record the date, the dataset and the decision.
Step 2 uses the sanctions and warrants datasets, and step 3 uses the PEP dataset. All three belong to one range of compliance data.
Also Read – Criminal History Check vs Warrants Search: What Sets Them Apart?
Does a Company Name Search Cover Its Owners?
A final determination regarding a company name is just one part to a Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list review. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) considers an entity blocked if blocked parties collectively have at least fifty percent equity interest in that entity, regardless of whether that entity appears on the SDN List. To illustrate this point, OFAC will consider an entity blocked if there are two blocked parties who together hold twenty-five percent each.
In addition to requiring that entities be owned by a blocked party to the extent of at least fifty percent, OFAC also does not require that these same entities be controlled. However, OFAC advises caution when doing business with entities which contain a significant percentage interest held by blocked parties but do not constitute majority interests, as well as those which may not appear to be directly controlled but are indirectly influenced through other means. Each named owner then runs against the sanctioned entities list.
Can a Public Records Search Support Hiring, Tenant or Credit Decisions?
In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) states that background reports used for employment, housing or credit decisions must comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Operations that assemble such reports qualify as consumer reporting agencies.
A supplier, distributor or investor check before a contract has a different purpose. A check that names an individual, such as a sole proprietor or a director, still involves personal data. Legal counsel can confirm the permitted use in each jurisdiction before screening starts.
Also Read – The Growing Role of Beneficial Ownership Intelligence in 2026
How Long Does OFAC Require Sanctions Records to Be Kept?
OFAC extended its recordkeeping requirement from five to 10 years effective March 12, 2025. The change matches the 10-year statute of limitations for violations of most US sanctions programs. The requirement applies to persons engaging in transactions subject to OFAC sanctions programs.
A transaction with a supplier in 2026 can therefore be subject to OFAC enforcement action until 2036. Recording each screening with its date, dataset and decision gives the supplier file a dated entry next to the transaction records.
How Does Refresh Timing Differ Between the Two Options?
A public records lookup shows what a source holds on the day of the search. Each source updates on its own timetable, so no common cut-off date applies across sources.
The three datasets refresh through weekly updates that add new records, change existing ones and remove records that no longer apply. Sanctions designations and removals change list membership, so a counterparty clear in one week can be listed the next. Each weekly update brings those changes into the dataset.
Also Read – Sanctions Screening False Positives: Causes, Risks, and Solutions
When Is a Public Records Search Enough?
A public records search suits a single case lookup, such as reading a specific court file after another source has already returned a match. OFAC states that its search tool is meant for individual users and should not run continual searches from automated systems. OFAC points to downloadable list files for that purpose.
A paid dataset adds lists from other authorities, PEP records and warrant records to those files. A team that screens many suppliers then works from one dataset per check.
What Should Be Compared Before Choosing a Paid Screening Database?
Three points need comparison: the checks a dataset covers, its refresh schedule, and the countries and records it holds. Each dataset is sold separately, so a team that screens suppliers for sanctions and warrants only does not need PEP records.
Record counts and country coverage appear on each dataset page, and the refresh schedule is stated on the homepage.
Also Read – 8 Best Sanctions Screening Providers in 2026 (Verified Sanctions, PEP, and Criminal Entity Data)
Which Option Fits Supplier Screening?
A public records search answers the warrant and court file part of a supplier check one jurisdiction at a time. Sanctions and PEP checks need datasets built from many sources. Owners need screening together with the company. Each result goes into a dated log kept next to the transaction records, which OFAC requires persons subject to its rules to retain for 10 years.
The next step is to talk to the data experts about access.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a paid public records search more accurate than free court websites?
Accuracy depends on the source file, and the original court site is the authoritative source for a case file. A paid screening database adds sanctions and PEP records. It also holds warrant and court records from many jurisdictions in one file.
What is the difference between sanctions screening and PEP screening?
Sanctions screening matches a name against lists of individuals and entities that authorities have designated. PEP screening identifies people who hold or held prominent public functions, plus their family members and close associates. One person can appear in both.
Are sanctions, PEP and warrants data sold as one package?
Each dataset is sold separately. A team licenses sanctions data, PEP records or warrants and criminal entities data on its own.
How long does PEP screening continue after a person leaves office?
Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 requires enhanced measures for a former PEP for a minimum of 12 months after the person ceases to hold the function. UK rules set the same minimum. FATF leaves the period to a risk-based decision with no fixed length.
Who counts as a family member or close associate of a PEP under EU rules?
Family members are a spouse or partner, children and their spouses, and parents. Siblings count only for heads of state, heads of government, ministers and deputy or assistant ministers. Close associates include a person known to have joint beneficial ownership of a legal entity with a PEP, or other close business relations with a PEP. A person who solely owns an entity set up for the PEP’s benefit also counts.