For the Real Dirt, Check the Trash

For those who have the time and energy to play Sam Spade, there’s a videotape called “Do You Know Who You’re Dating?” Distributed by International Film & Video in Costa Mesa, the 30-minute film features Chicago-area private investigator Jeff Hartman, who details tricks of the trade used by the pros. Says Hartman: “A lover’s lies can cost you your life savings--or your life.”

Here are just some of the many ways Hartman and other professional snoops say you can find out if your romantic interest is married, broke, a criminal or a cad:

* Go to courthouses to check lawsuits, trials, bankruptcies and divorce files (“divorce files are a gold mine,” Hartman says).

* Check for marriage licenses at county clerk’s office.

* Check out birth certificates, liens and judgments at the county recorder’s office.

* Obtain proof of professional licenses from local or state licensing authorities.

* Best yet, Hartman says, check your target’s garbage for things such as prescription bottles, bank statements, receipts, letters, credit card and phone bills, smut magazines, doodlings, liquor bottles and lipstick on napkins. Says Hartman: “Garbage is an investigator’s best friend.”

To order the tape, which costs $14.95, call (800) 366-5902.