Through the DMV

• 1). Locate and contact your state's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Each state has its own DMV. To find your state's DMV, see the link in Resources below.
  
  
• 2). Ask the concerned authorities at the DMV office about the laws and regulations regarding checking a license plate number.
  
  
• 3). Provide the license plate number to the DMV and ask if they can provide information about the vehicle in question. The DMV in some states may charge for this information, while in others it is offered free. If you are unable to obtain this information from the DMV, see the section below.
  
  

Through a Specialized Company

• 1). Go to an online website that allows you to look up license plate numbers. Some of these websites include Abika, License-Plate-Search and Lookup-License-Plate (see Resources).
  
  
• 2). Register with the website through which you decide to look up the plate number. To register, you must provide credit card information. Checking license plate numbers typically costs between $25 and $100, as of August 2010. Many of these websites provide subscriptions for six months or longer, during which period you can check as many plate numbers as you wish.
  
  
• 3). Provide the website with the license plate number you want to check. The website will provide information including the driver's name, city, state and ZIP code of the place where the plates were issued. In some cases, you might be fortunate enough to find other details, such as owner's last known address, eye color, height and weight.