Eddie, a new visitor to the Search Systems website, wrote to us today with a question about Professional Licenses in New Jersey. Eddie is thinking of putting his house on the market but has a few qualms about working with realtors based on his last tumultuous property sale. He wanted to know where he could review real estate licenses to be sure his new realtor was qualified, licensed, and had no black marks on his or her record. Was that information available to the public and could it be found on the Internet?
I told Eddie he was in luck. License information is provided in New Jersey, and in most other states, through free online databases. By using our “By Type of Record” tool in the Free Public Records Locator box on our home page, we selected “Licenses” and then selected “New Jersey” from the list of states on the Professional Licenses page. We scrolled through the many pages of licenses listed there for New Jersey – a total of 113. On Page 2 Eddie found a link for Real Estate licenses and another for Real Estate – Disciplinary Actions.
Eddie was able to verify the licenses for a few potential realtors, and he also checked to be sure they did not have disciplinary actions on file. When Eddie returned to the New Jersey licenses directory page, he discovered many other types of licenses he could verify. Contractors, electricians, home inspectors… even locksmiths and alarm installation companies. He was determined to screen everyone that he might hire to fix up his property prior to the listing.