Before You Buy a Home

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Have Children? Check State Sex Offender Registries Before Choosing A Place to Live

When you are considering a place to live, whether it's to rent or to buy, the standard rules apply for what makes sense for you - how far is it from where you work? Do you have pets, and if so, is it pet-friendly? What is the neighborhood like? How about amenities such as a pool or yard? Proximity to mass transit?

Those are obvious questions to ask, but if you have children, a whole new list of questions comes to mind. Quality of the school system, neighborhood playgrounds and safety factors top the list.

If you have children, another major safety factor to consider when choosing a place to live is whether or not that property is located near the known residential address of a convicted sex offender. You can easily view state sex offender registries online using the list below.

Author's Note: If you are a landlord or property manager, do your part to protect your community - screen prospective tenants to review their criminal background including any sex offenses. Online background checks are quick, easy and inexpensive, especially compared to the risk of unknowingly having a convicted sex offender move into your residential rental property.

List of State Sex Offender Registries Online

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigations website: http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/cac/states.htm

ALABAMA

http://www.dps.state.al.us/public/abi/system/so

ALASKA

http://www.dps.state.ak.us/nSorcr/asp/

ARIZONA

http://www.azsexoffender.org/

ARKANSAS

http://www.acic.org/Registration/index.htm

CALIFORNIA

http://meganslaw.ca.gov/disclaimer.htm

COLORADO

http://sor.state.co.us/sxoregistration.asp

CONNECTICUT

http://www.state.ct.us/dps/Sex_Offender_Registry.htm

DELAWARE

http://www.state.de.us/dsp/sexoff/index.htm

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

http://mpdc.dc.gov/mpdc/cwp/view,a,1241,q,540704,mpdcNav-GID,1523,mpdcNav,1%20,.asp

FLORIDA

http://www3.fdle.state.fl.us/sexual_predators/

GEORGIA

http://www.ganet.org/gbi/sorsch.cgi

HAWAII

http://pahoehoe.ehawaii.gov/sexoff/

IDAHO

http://www.isp.state.id.us/identification/sex_offender/index.html

ILLINOIS

http://www.isp.state.il.us/sor

INDIANA

https://secure.in.gov/serv/cji_sor

IOWA

http://www.state.ia.us/government/dps/dci/isor/

KANSAS

http://www.accesskansas.org/kbi/ro.shtml

KENTUCKY

http://kspsor.state.ky.us

LOUISIANA

http://www.lasocpr.lsp.org/socpr/

MAINE

http://www.informe.org/sor/

MARYLAND

http://www.dpscs.state.md.us/onlineservs/sor/

MASSACHUSETTS

http://www.mass.gov/sorb/community.htm



MICHIGAN

http://www.mipsor.state.mi.us/

MINNESOTA

http://www.dps.state.mn.us/bca/Invest/Documents/

Page-07.html

MISSISSIPPI

http://www.fbi.gov/cgi-bin/outside.cgi?http://SOR.MDPS.STATE.MS.US/

MISSOURI

http://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPWeb/PatrolDivisions/CRID/SOR/SORPage.html

MONTANA

http://doj.mt.gov/svor/

NEBRASKA

http://www.nsp.state.ne.us/sor/

NEVADA

http://www.nvrepository.state.nv.us/SexOffender.htm

NEW HAMPSHIRE

http://www.oit.nh.gov/nsor/search.asp

NEW JERSEY

http://www.njsp.org/info/reg_sexoffend.html

NEW MEXICO

http://www.nmsexoffender.dps.state.nm.us/servlet/hit_serv.class

NEW YORK

http://www.criminaljustice.state.ny.us/nsor/

NORTH CAROLINA

http://sbi.jus.state.nc.us/DOJHAHT/SOR/Default.htm

NORTH DAKOTA

http://www.ndsexoffender.com

OHIO

http://www.esorn.ag.state.oh.us

OKLAHOMA

http://docapp8.doc.state.ok.us/servlet/page?_pageid=190&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30

OREGON

http://egov.oregon.gov/OSP

PENNSYLVANIA

http://www.pameganslaw.state.pa.us/

RHODE ISLAND

http://www.paroleboard.ri.gov/L3_offenders/listings.htm

SOUTH CAROLINA

http://www.sled.state.sc.us/SLED/default.asp?Category=SCSO&Service=SCSO_01

SOUTH DAKOTA

http://www.dci.sd.gov/administration/id/sexoffender/index.asp

TENNESSEE

http://www.ticic.state.tn.us/SEX_ofndr/search_short.asp

TEXAS

https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/soSearch/default.cfm

UTAH

http://www.udc.state.ut.us/asp-bin/sexoffendersearchform.asp

VERMONT

http://170.222.24.9/cjs/s_registry.htm

VIRGINIA

http://sex-offender.vsp.state.va.us/cool-ICE

WASHINGTON

http://ml.waspc.org/Accept.aspx?ReturnUrl=/index.aspx

WEST VIRGINIA

http://www.wvstatepolice.com/sexoff/

WISCONSIN

http://widocoffenders.org

WYOMING

http://attorneygeneral.state.wy.us/dci/so/so_registration.html

Child Protection Resources

For more information on protecting children where you live, visit The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children [NCMEC] website. NCMEC is a private, non-profit organization established in 1984 that operates under a Congressional mandate and works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. As the nation's resource center for child protection, the NCMEC spearheads national efforts to locate and recover missing children and to raise public awareness about ways to prevent child abduction, molestation, sexual exploitation, and the victimization of children.

NCMEC maintains a 24-hour multilingual hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST and a website at http://www.fbi.gov/cgi-bin/outside.cgi?http://www.missingkids.com to provide:



1. assistance to parents and law enforcement agencies about missing or sexually exploited chidren;

2. a central location to receive reports of missing children sightings;

3. parents with information on how to better safeguard their children; and,

4. reunification assistance to parents once their children are found.

Reporting Sexual Predators

NCMEC operates a CyberTipline at http://www.fbi.gov/cgi-bin/outside.cgi?http://www.cybertipline.com that allows parents and children to report child pornography and sexual exploitation of children by submitting an online form. This form is then reviewed by analysts and forwarded to law enforcement including the FBI, the U.S. Customs Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and state and local police agencies.

Additional Resources - Landlord2Landlord offers a list of helpful resources at http://www.landlord2landlord.com/HelpfulLinks.aspx.that may be of further use to you, including links to the American Association of Small Property Owners, a variety of home improvement contractors and service providers, and a resource for Real Estate Forms for all 50 States (http://www.legalhomeforms.com%20/).

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About Landlord2Landlord

Landlord2Landlord (http://www.landlord2landlord.com/) is a residential tenant screening company that partners with property management companies and homeowner associations to help communities reduce neighborhood crime, and to protect homeowners from renters with criminal backgrounds or a history of evictions and poor credit.

Our website is easy to use, available 24 hours per day, and delivers instant, inexpensive results that comply with FCRA and Fair Housing Act requirements. See our Success Stories at http://www.landlord2landlord.com/SuccessStories2.aspx.

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