My Previous Addresses: Finding Your Information

Cindy Ellis - September 7, 2024

If you’ve moved around a lot or if you are simply wondering about your childhood home, you may be searching for your previous addresses. Finding this information can seem like a major chore at first, especially if you aren’t too sure where to start looking, save for a general location of your previous addresses. Our article helps you understand how to find your previous addresses so you can gather the information you need about your former homes.

Why Look For Your Previous Addresses

There can be many reasons why you might want to search for your previous addresses, and many people find themselves wondering about their old homes or where they grew up. In addition to curiosity, you may need to find a record of your previous addresses for something like a background check or when you are applying for housing or certain types of loans. Overall, it can be helpful to look for your previous addresses and make sure you have this information on hand whenever you need it.

How Can I Find My Previous Addresses?

You can use several different methods to find your previous addresses, and sometimes, it may take searching with a few different methods to find the information you need. Below, we give you some of our best recommended methods for finding your previous addresses.

Internet Search

An internet search is always a good place to start when you are looking for information. You can use your favorite internet browser to search the general location of where you used to live, and you may be able to use the map function of a browser like Google to narrow down the exact address and location.

If you are having trouble finding your exact home, an internet search of realty websites might be able to point you in the right direction. Keep in mind that you may need to be patient when using this method, as general internet searches can be more time-consuming than other methods of searching.

Tax Returns

Old tax returns will have your address included in the information section, and you can go through your records of tax returns to find all of your previous addresses. If you are having trouble finding your tax return records, you may be able to request them through an online filing service that you have used in the past, or you may be able to gather your tax return records through the IRS’s website.

Old Documents

Old documents such as property tax records, payment stubs, W-2s, and bank documents may all have your addresses listed as part of the identification section. You can gather these documents to go through your address history, but if you are missing a document from a certain point in your life, it can be hard to build a complete picture of your address history. You may need to use this method alongside other methods to find all of your previous addresses.

People Lookup Tool

A people lookup tool is an easy way to find all of the addresses, past and present, connected to a person in addition to other information such as email addresses and phone numbers. With a people lookup tool, you can input your name and your current location, and the tool will search through the public record to find your previous addresses. You can review and confirm these for accuracy, finding all of the previous address information you need.

Friend and Family

While you might not remember your exact previous addresses, friends and family members may have this information saved somewhere. You can speak to friends and family members, especially ones you have lived with previously, to gather any previous address information you are missing.

Property Records Search

A property records search can sometimes help you to narrow down the previous owners of a home. This is especially helpful if you find yourself struggling to remember if you lived in a place previously or if you are wondering who is currently living at your previous address. For a property records search, you can look at the county records office or property tax office for the county where your previous address is located. Search the records by name or address to find further details on owners and the address’s history.

Keep in mind that you may need to pay a fee to some county records offices to access this information.

How Do I Find My Property’s History?

Finding your property’s history is a natural next step once you have gathered information on your previous addresses. We recommend looking through property records via your county’s records office or using your local library’s resources to find more details on your previous address’s history. You can also use an online property search tool to find previous owners and further details of your property’s history.

Do I Need to Pay to Find My Previous Addresses?

In most cases, you will not need to pay to find your previous addresses. There are plenty of methods to find this information for free, including free internet searches and looking through your old personal records.

However, you may need to pay a minimal fee if you are requesting records from a county records office or a property records office. In general, these fees go to maintaining the records, and they aren’t much more than a few dollars.

If you have encountered a website, app, or service that promises to show you lots of previous address information for a large fee or requires you to sign up for a subscription, you may be dealing with a scam website that is more interested in taking your money or information than showing you the information you need.

Find Your Previous Addresses With Ease

Finding your previous addresses can seem like a task that takes forever, but with the plethora of searching methods available today, it can be relatively easy to find your previous addresses. We recommend using one or more of the search methods we have listed in our article to start tracking down the details about your previous addresses and gathering the information you need.