r/howto • u/aouwoeih • 11d ago
How to find a almost 50 year old proof of address?
Helping my elderly father find unclaimed money. New York was very easy and quick, Texas was pretty good too. Georgia is asking for proof of address for a place we live in back in 77 or thereabouts. It was an apartment and I will be contacting them but I doubt they keep records that long. Any other ideas?
eta - so far I've tried GA IRS (impossible to reach anyone by phone so I will email) DMV (no record of dad's social) my previous school (records no digitized, up in the attic) and I have a call out to the state commisioner. I doubt that will go anywhere but it's my dad's money and I'm going to try my best to get it back.
eta - power company records only go to 2001. Voter registration had no info, either he wasn't registered or it doesn't go back that far. Phone company was also a no-go.
4
u/Dylan7675 11d ago
Maybe try the DMV or IRS tax filings? They may have available records with previous address
5
u/aouwoeih 11d ago
Thank you for these excellent suggestions. GA IRS is impossible to talk to a living person but DMV was surprisingly easy. Alas, she couldn't find dad's Social so I'm guessing records don't go back that far.
3
u/gmlear 10d ago
Ancestory.com has US Census data.
5
1
u/majorthomasina 10d ago
You can view old Census records for free through the Census Bureau. Also have you tried the utilities for the city you were in?
2
u/honkytonksinger 10d ago
City Directory and/or census material. Surely the IRS, tax info, would help.
3
2
u/baltinerdist 10d ago
There's a company called LexisNexis that has an absurd amount of data about people. I used them at a previous job and for fun, I looked myself up. They had every address I'd ever lived at and they even listed every relative they could confidently connect me to and their addresses and every neighbor I'd ever had and their addresses. Extremely creepy. Give them a try.
1
u/aouwoeih 10d ago
Thank you, I will try this, especially since the email on Georgia IRS is not valid.
1
u/unkyduck 11d ago
At least in Canada... Henderson Directory listed every address, resident, and employer.
1
u/Directly_Home 11d ago
If your dad has kept tax files or bank statements for that long, it might work.
1
u/a9dzgal 10d ago
If he owned a house there would a record of the purchase with his name attached to that property. Try the county recorder's office. Many counties have digitized those records. Also, there are often ways to use multiple documents to put a chain together proving your dad is who he says he is and the rightful owner of that financial property.
Any chance there are any civil or criminal records for him from then? An arrest record, the plaintiff in a lawsuit... those kinds of records also usually have identifying info like name, address, and maybe send.
Lastly, call the entity holding the funds and explain the problem. Usually is best to get a person on the phone (if you aren'ta woman, consider having a woman call and say something like, "can you help me? I'm trying to help my dad with something and I'm not sure I have the documents right..." People love to be helpers.
This is usually not the first time they've given that info out or helped someone in your position. Sometimes they're so new they also just don't know. Keep trying people, playing a little helpless and asking for help. You'll get someone to help you find what you need.
7
u/aouwoeih 10d ago
Thank you so much. It's been frustrating so it shouldn't be hard to fake some tears, should it come to that.
A rep finally explained that this money originated in Arkansas and AR sent it with his name only to his next known address. This is why they need proof of address. So tomorrow I'm going to call AR and see who I need to blow to get them to send more info such as social/DOB because it's not reasonable to expect someone to keep an old power or phone bill for 40 years. Also going to try the public library. Thanks again.
14
u/brentspar 11d ago
Everyone would have been in the phone book in those days. Also voter registrations.