Cease and desist letters are legal letters that are sent out when someone is acting in a harmful way towards an individual or business. These letters are usually written by lawyers and explain that the individual or business needs to stop what they're doing or else legal action will be pursued against them.
While these letters are written by lawyers and tend to be legal documents, that doesn't always mean they're available to the public. So, are cease and desist letters public record? The short answer is no, but of course, it's a lot more complicated than that. Read on to learn more.
What Is a Cease and Desist Letter?
A cease and desist letter is a formal notification that businesses and individuals can send directly to someone when they want them to stop an activity. Typically, these are sent out if someone is violating a contract, talking about them, or otherwise acting in a way that's harmful to them.
While cease and desist letters don't always result in court cases or lawsuits, it's important to note that they are legal documents. Also, if the situation escalates, cease and desist letters can become a part of a case. Once this happens, they may be filed as evidence or even used against someone in a later court hearing.
Are Cease and Desist Letters Public Record?
Typically, cease and desist letters are not public records. If an individual or company sends one of these letters it's not directly a legal action that will end up in a court’s database. This is because cease and desist letters are usually sent directly to someone as a warning about things they're saying or actions they're taking.
That said, if the situation escalates it's possible for these letters to become public records, so it may be worth searching for them if you’re interested in a particular case.
How to Find Cease and Desist Letters
There are a few ways to find cease and desist letters. However, you'll only be able to find them if they're publicly available. Otherwise, you’re out of luck unless someone shares its contents with you. Learn more about how to find a cease and desist letter below.
PublicRecord.com
The best way to find a cease and desist letter is to use PublicRecord.com. This is an online public records search tool that allows you to find information about people using their first and last name, address, or phone number.
Once you enter this information into the search tool PublicRecord.com will comb through millions of public databases to help you find the records you’re searching for. Therefore, if there's a match you can count on PublicRecord.com to help you find it.
Once you find the person you’re looking for you can open the full report to see if they have a cease and desist letter filed against them. Now, you'll only be able to see this letter if it was used as evidence in a court case, but at least you'll know if it exists instead of wasting time driving down to the courthouse.
Courthouses
If someone was sued because of a cease and desist letter, or if they were involved in criminal charges, courthouses will have records of the case. With either the individual’s name or the case number you can visit the courthouse clerk and request information about the case.
Due to most criminal cases being public record, you shouldn't have any issues finding any cease and desist letters that have been involved in these types of cases. That said, there's no guarantee that these letters are public, so it's not a bad idea to try a local court database or call before making the trip.
Are Cease and Desist Letters Public Record? Our Final Thoughts
So, are cease and desist letters public record? Typically, that answer is no but there are some exceptions.
Cease and desist letters don't tend to be public records unless they're involved in scandals or if someone is taken to court. Even then, you still might not be able to find information about cease and desist letters, so we always recommend starting with PublicRecord.com to determine if it's even worth pursuing before you waste your time.
