How To Find Previous Addresses

If you ever wondered “How can I find my past addresses from X years ago?” then you’re not alone. The good news is that you have several options available.

The first steps involve checking your own personal documents, any old bills in your records, and any online records that might provide a former address.

Assuming you can’t find the information from this, or can’t get these records easily from old roommates, relatives, or landlords, there are still plenty of options available.

From public records searches to credit reports to a nifty little “secret” within your Amazon.com account, I’m going to share the seven best methods I’ve used to find my previous addresses – and you can use them to do the same to track down all of your previous residences!

How Do I Find Previous Addresses For The Last 10 Years: 7 Ways

Check Your Social Media

Social media can be a very effective tool for tracking down older addresses. You may have signed up with an old address and then never changed it when you moved.

This is more common than many people will admit. These might provide a past address, or you can use social media to hit up old roommates and ask them if they remember the old address information.

For platforms like Facebook, you’ll also want to check the messaging history to see if you gave the address to family members for birthday cards.

Check back to the first year you lived there, and your birthday month, and those conversations might reveal the elusive address information there.

Check Your Credit History

If you have moved around a lot in the last decade, there is a good chance your credit card companies have a record of your previous addresses. You can request this information from them by calling customer service or sending a formal letter. 

Beyond credit cards, you can get a copy of your credit report as this will often include previous addresses.

The three main bureaus providing credit reports are:

• Equifax
• Experian
• Transunion

These reports will have any address where you had any financial activity that gets recorded on a credit report.

This will be most former residences for many people, but if you were crashing on a couch for 6 months or paying cash, that particular location won’t be included on any report.

A free credit report is available to consumers once a year, making this a viable method for finding most past address information.

Check Your Tax Records

Your tax history can give you some insight into your previous addresses. The first place to start is the IRS website. They have a “Get Transcript” tool that allows you to request a copy of your tax return.

This will list your filing address from the previous year’s taxes. If you haven’t filed taxes in a while or moved around a lot, this might not be too helpful. 

In that case, you can try looking at your old W- forms from past employers. These will also list your previous address (or addresses).

Search Through Your Personal Records

This includes any documents you may have from your time living at each address. This could be old leases, utility bills, or even correspondence from friends or family.

Once you have gathered all of these documents, you can piece together your previous addresses. 

Many of these documents will have your address listed, so this should be a relatively easy task if you have saved copies of your past bills.

If you are having trouble finding some of these documents, you can always reach out to family and friends who may still have them in their records.

Look at Your Amazon Shipping History

This is an often overlooked tool, but if you have had an Amazon.com account for a long time, chances are good they have every single address you’ve ever had an item shipped to!

If you’ve ever had a package from Amazon shipped to an address, unless you went back into your account and deleted old addresses, they’re just sitting there. I saw addresses from 20 years ago I had forgotten about when I stumbled on this section!

To find all your past addresses where you ever received a package from Amazon.com, just log into your account and follow these steps:

• Go to the upper right-hand corner where it says “Hello, Name: Accounts & Lists” and put your cursor over the dropdown arrow
• Under “Your Account” click on Account
• Among the many boxes of account information is one that says “Your Addresses”
• Click on it and be amazed at how extensive the list probably is

This gives a full address history of where Amazon deliveries came in and this is one of the best ways to obtain your previous address when you have no other records.

Run a Background Check

If you’re looking for someone else’s previous addresses, one of the best ways to find them is to run a background check. You can use a service like BeenVerified, Intelius, or PeopleFinders to conduct a background check and get access to your or someone else’s known address history. 

However, keep in mind that you’ll need to provide personal information about the person you’re searching for, such as their full name and date of birth. 

You may also need to provide a credit card to pay for the background check, especially if you want one that contains the full details.

However, this is often a great way to find your past addresses because they scour public records and can often get information from credit bureaus, vital records, and more.

Contact Your Family and Relatives

If you want to find someone else’s previous address, one of the best ways is to contact their family and relatives. 

Ask if they have any idea where the person you are looking for might be living. They may not always have current information, but it’s worth trying. 

You can also ask them for any old mail or postmarks that they might have. They may have saved letters from you that would have your address from the time.

If you are looking for a specific address, you can also ask if they know the area or neighborhood where the person used to live.

Why Do You Need Previous Address History?

Job Applications

One reason for requesting your address history is for a job application. Many employers perform background checks as part of the hiring process.

They will look into your previous addresses as part of this process. They want to make sure that you haven’t been involved in any criminal activity and have a secure living situation before they hire you. 

Depending on how in-depth the interview process is, they may even look at connecting places you lived at with the places you claimed to work to make sure they make sense.

Jobs in areas with extreme temperatures or climates may want to see some evidence that you have experience living in a similar climate. That’s a bit unusual but it is not unheard of.

Better safe than sorry!

Credit and Lending Decisions

When you apply for a loan or credit, the lender will certainly look into your previous addresses before approving your application. 

These checks are performed to determine how long you have lived at your present home and to ensure that you do indeed reside where you claim to. 

Your loan application may be turned down if your credit report contains inaccurate or out-of-date information. Likewise, your loan application may be turned down if there are any discrepancies.

Can You Find Old Addresses Online?

When a package arrives at your current address when intended for your previous address, it can be highly inconvenient, as anyone who has dealt with this situation can attest. 

In some cases, depending on how long ago you relocated and where you were living at the time of your relocation, you may still be able to locate some of your previous addresses through the Internet. 

As an example, if you were a resident of an apartment complex, it is possible the management company had records of previous tenants on file. 

You should check with your old utility companies to see if they still have records of where you lived in the past if you want to be certain.

Is It Legal To Try and Find This Information For Other People?

Yes, it is legal to find past addresses of other people as long as:

• It is not done under false pretenses
• No privacy or regulatory laws are broken in acquiring this information

Background checks are allowed, and private investigations are allowed, but if it ends up sliding into harassment or stalking then that’s a different matter entirely. Those actions are illegal.

Collecting the actual information itself is perfectly legal.

Keep in mind that while public records are available to anyone who wants them, that doesn’t mean everyone will be willing to share their personal information. 

So even if you do find someone’s previous addresses, they may not be happy about it. So use your best judgment when trying to obtain this type of information.

What If My Address History Is Incorrect? 

If you look at your history and find a lot of incorrect information, you can often correct that information by contacting the source of the report.

The other thing to look at if you know the area is to contact anyone who lives close by and have them get the exact address for you.

If all else fails, you can always contact the Post Office for assistance in finding your previous address history. The accuracy of information from them tends to be pretty good.

Doing the legwork to make sure your address history is correct is important, and absolutely essential if you’re going to make sure your records are accurate. 

Bottom Line

The quickest way to do an address lookup is by using a people search engine. These engines allow you to input a name and location, and they will return a list of addresses associated with that person. Unfortunately, while this method is quick, it is not always accurate. 

People move around frequently, so the address listed on the people search engine may not be current. Additionally, some people do not have their addresses listed online. 

If you need a more reliable way to find someone’s address history, your best bet is to use public records. 

County courthouses keep records of everyone who has ever owned property in their jurisdiction. You can access these records by visiting the courthouse or searching for them online.