How would I find out more about my public records?

I have two old debts that have been placed in collections from 4 years ago when I suffered unemployment, and these agencies have a bad habit of putting stuff on my cred. report before even contacting me.

I just read that some people have actually had judgements against them without any notification. I figure something that serious would be made known to the individual, but apparently I am wrong. Is there a place somewhere where I can inquire if there is anyone "looking" for me?

Seems scary - between fulltime work, fulltime school and a household, seems that it never ends.

You can contact the three big credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and Transunion) and in most cases get a copy of your record for free. You can read the good and the bad. If there is incorrect information, they are legally obligated to tell you how to request its correction. Almost always you must do it multiple times and in writing. They will "lose" your first letters.

Be warned that these same credit agencies also will try to sell you services. Generally these are monthly copies of your credit report or services to help you clean up your credit. If your credit truly needs to be cleaned up, there are county agencies that have volunteers to help you.
http://www.equifax.com/cs/Satellite?page...
http://www.experian.com/
http://www.transunion.com/

More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_refe...

The company that had the bill, sold the account to an outside agency after it remained deliquent for X amount of time. The agency that purchased the account is who placed it on your credit report. You can contact each credit reporting agency and request a copy of your report. You can do this by going to www.annualcreditreport.com It is a free service and by law you are entitled to one free report per year. Review your report and if anything doesn't sit well with you file a dispute. The reports will show if there has been any judgments against you also. Good luck to you.