This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/2FB.2ACI/1805 Message Board Post: Dear fellow researchers: First, this is not spam or advertising, honest, I will give you my home telephone number if you want to contact me. I am a genealogist just like you are. I have figured out a way to get records that you can do from home that actually will get you somewhere! In my every day professional work I use the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) to acquire records from all areas. The FOIA is a tool that is available to all Americans. The request is free. But you have to know where to send it, you have to have the right request form, a properly worded letter, you have to know what type of information they need to get you what you are looking for. While you cannot just send in a generic "find this" request, using the proper request the proper forms and properly worded legal letter you will result in the getting documentation you are seeking. You have to send some starting info for them to search for, but I received 84 pages the first time and two! weeks later received an additional 124 pages of documentation. Some of these records went back to 1838. I will send you the form, the request letter, what you need to send them in terms of specifics, if you have them, or if not, where and how to find them. I have compiled a list of each State’s statutes that you will need to format the request form for your particular State. I have included some specific searching directions and examples that may help you. Obtaining information and documentation is what the Freedom of Information Act is for! But you have to know how and where to use it. And the records have to exist. The FOIA is available for use in any state for any public record. It does not, not replace the researcher, but for those of us who have been unable to physically get to an out of town location or to contact an active researcher it's great. As a result of my request I have my gggrandfather's entire household inventory, I have his entire office ! contents down to the list of law books and furniture he owned, I have the guardianship papers for all of my ggrand uncles and aunts, I have a (long) list of people that owed him money for mortgages he held and how much, when they were due. I know how much of an allowance the Estate had my gggrandmother on for the next 5 years! Again, this is just one tool. My email is genealogyprincess2000@yahoo.com. I will be glad to help anyone with any additional information or reformatting the forms for other states, other data requests, etc. and will send a paper for that. I am requesting a $5.00 fee paper and copying costs. I had no idea this would be responded to in such huge numbers and I can’t afford that much copying. So, send me a self-addressed stamped envelope with $1.08 postage on it to Genealogy Princess, 20757 Camden Square, #210, Lathrup Village, MI 48076. I will send you the information (it’s 20 pages) the day I receive the envelope. A 6X9 enve! lope works best, or a 5 X 7. I also have just signed up for Paypal. My Paypal information is genealogyprincess2000@yahoo.com (checking account). The amount is $6.08. I will send the information to you the instant I receive your address in the notification. In the meantime, start searching for as many specifics as you can get. This is not "send me the death certificate of...." This is "I searched the probate database for (county) and found that my ggrandfather's estate is in your records. It is between the years XXXX and XXXX." Then there is more legal lingo, etc. etc.. Anyway, I am sorry this post is so long. Also, please advise anyone else you think may be interested in this information in other lists. Thanks! Kathy Lawler

By now it is clear to all of us that this is a scam. You do not have to pay a single penny to learn about using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). I have used it to great effectiveness in our struggle to protect the Burton Historical Collection. To learn about the FOIA, just point your browser to http://www.ag.state.mi.us/foia_and_open_meetings/foia.htm for specific information about the Michigan FOIA. A search of the Internet will reveal many other helpful sites with suggestions about using the FOIA. Be warned that the FOIA is not the wonder the scammer presents it as. Certainly, you could use it to ask for genealogical information. However, the agency has the right to bill a reasonable amount for searching for the document and processing it. In other words, if you ask for all the probate records for a particular person using the FOIA, then you will probably end up paying the same amount, if not much more, as if you were to just apply for these papers in the normal way. I could seeing using the FOIA in the situation where a county clerk is sitting on documents and will not share them. The FOIA has a built in schedule in which the clerk would have to reply. Nevertheless, in 99 percent of the cases, using the FOIA would be killing flies with a shotgun. Please understand that the FOIA is a very important law for citizen to use when they have to force a government agency to be open, transparent, and accountable. However, it should not be abused for simple genealogical requests. Good luck in your research. JP John P. DuLong, Ph.D. Acadian and French Canadian Genealogy 959 Oxford Road Berkley, MI 48072-2011 USA (248) 541-2894 http://habitant.org

Thank you, John, for your very helpful email. Mimi in Vermont ----- Original Message ----- From: John P. DuLong To: MIHOUGHT-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2002 8:15 PM Subject: RE: [MIHOUGHT] FOIA Records Assistance By now it is clear to all of us that this is a scam. You do not have to pay a single penny to learn about using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). I have used it to great effectiveness in our struggle to protect the Burton Historical Collection. To learn about the FOIA, just point your browser to http://www.ag.state.mi.us/foia_and_open_meetings/foia.htm for specific information about the Michigan FOIA. A search of the Internet will reveal many other helpful sites with suggestions about using the FOIA. Be warned that the FOIA is not the wonder the scammer presents it as. Certainly, you could use it to ask for genealogical information. However, the agency has the right to bill a reasonable amount for searching for the document and processing it. In other words, if you ask for all the probate records for a particular person using the FOIA, then you will probably end up paying the same amount, if not much more, as if you were to just apply for these papers in the normal way. I could seeing using the FOIA in the situation where a county clerk is sitting on documents and will not share them. The FOIA has a built in schedule in which the clerk would have to reply. Nevertheless, in 99 percent of the cases, using the FOIA would be killing flies with a shotgun. Please understand that the FOIA is a very important law for citizen to use when they have to force a government agency to be open, transparent, and accountable. However, it should not be abused for simple genealogical requests. Good luck in your research. JP John P. DuLong, Ph.D. Acadian and French Canadian Genealogy 959 Oxford Road Berkley, MI 48072-2011 USA (248) 541-2894 http://habitant.org ==== MIHOUGHT Mailing List ==== MIGenWeb Houghton Co. Webpages at: http://www.mfhn.com/houghton/ ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237