Q: Why do an assets search before seeking a
judgment?
A: To determine if there's anything worth going after. Conduct an assets
search before suing. Make sure assets will be available, should you win a
judgment. If the person doesn't have anything, why waste your time and money in
court. Find out what you can attach and make stick - uncontested, lien-free -
once you've obtained the judgment.
Order an Assets Search $150.
You can choose to "Add a Bank Search'" on the form
for $100
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Some other reasons to conduct an asset search:
- To learn about a person's wages & income: these "assets" can be "attached"
or "garnished"
- Before filing for divorce, learn exactly what property and possessions are
owned and by whom
- If considering investing in a start-up or joint venture, a merger; taking
on an investor
Judgments
You win a judgment in court, and naturally, you want to collect. If
you run into difficulty collecting the court-ordered sum, consider
conducting an assets search to gather intelligence.
First: Ascertain what possessions and income the individual has. Make
sure the person has property. Check the County Registrar of Deeds and the
County Appraiser's office.
Know this: The court will not seek to
ascertain what properties and possessions are owned by the defendant in
order to collect on a judgment. Once determined though, the court will issue
an order to the defendant to relinquish the property or possessions and/or
order sheriff's deputies or constables to grab stuff for you.
Q:
Can you get bank accounts? (Note: This is the #1 question asked of
information providers by a generally well-informed public and from lawyers
to corporate executives to regular people.)
A: Two ways to get bank & financial account information:
- Prosecuting attorney gets a subpoena ordering defendant to appear at a
hearing and provide three months of statements from all bank and financial
accounts.
- UCC filings often reveal the name of the bank that financed business loan.
(Note: The collateral put up by borrowers is often subject to judgment debt
collection.
Order an Assets Search $150.

Experienced database search specialists will
immediately go to work for you, to quickly return real, meaningful results.
See our Sample
ReportLocating Assets
Your objective in this
search is to find bank accounts or something to attach, like a vehicle, or
real property. If defendant has homestead exemption on the house, you
will not be able to touch it.
- An individual's personal property includes everything he or she owns.
- Assets are either personal property or real property.
- They are classed as either "tangible" or "intangible."
Tangible Personal Property
These are things
like vehicles, equipment, inventory, phone systems, computers, bank
accounts, stocks, bonds, paid-up insurance policies - items of value a
person buys or comes into possession of by one means or another.
"Ownership" of an item is usually determined by "possession".
Intangible Personal Property
These are patents,
royalty agreements, promissory notes, contracts, accounts receivable, wages,
or other income.
Note: Many
Americans have more than one bank account, insurance policy, brokerage
account, and safety deposit box. An individual's tax return can be a
good source of information about bank accounts, limited partnerships &
investments paying dividends or interest. You may have to go after the
information you need with a subpoena. Your attorney should demand all
pertinent financial records.Collecting Child Support
A search can aid in collecting child support owed you. Send
information discovered to the child support enforcement agency, which will
attach things. Wages can be garnished. The mother with children should
know where the father works. In the past, fathers (and some mothers),
have been able to hide from the courts for a long time. That's
changed.Public Records
Before you set out on your search, you need to know how to go about locating
belongings through public records. Learn all about
public records - See all
states public
records
or all courts.
Jurisdictions
Forty-three-hundred U.S. public jurisdictions store records of interest to
people attempting to locate possessions. Each jurisdiction has its own set
of rules.
Each year:
- More than eight million Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filings are
completed
- Four million parcels of real property change hands or are put up for
collateral
- Millions of pieces of commercial real estate are swapped or sold
- More than a half million new corporations start up
Records of these millions of filings, real property transactions, and new
business ventures are available for your inspection at city and county
courthouses and at repositories in state capitals! This is public
information; the records are open to everyone.
Order an Assets Search $150.

See our Sample
ReportLocal Level Search
It's almost always best
to start your search at the local level: the city or county where the filing
took place. These records, listed in descending order of importance, will
most often provide valuable search data.
- Real property records
- Corporation records
- UCC filings
- Court records & motor vehicle information
- Divorce proceedings records
- Probate records
Check Employment
Salaries and wages are
vulnerable. If you've won a judgment in court, a writ of garnishment
can be issued so that the debt can be collected. Turn the information
you obtain over to the county where you got your judgment and they'll take
it from there.Locating the Bank
The easiest to attach are bank accounts. If bank accounts are located, the
court will enforce the provisions of your judgment.
Legal Tools
There are many important legal
tools that can be utilized to retrieve valuable things once they have been
identified. This section details the more important lawful procedures
available.
Writ of Execution
This is a common judicial order that
directs the enforcement of a judgment. The writ instructs the sheriff or
constable to seize the debtor's non-exempt property for sale at auction.
The proceeds are directed to the creditor.
Turnover Order
This
remedy is generally applied when there is no other means that can satisfy
the judgment. This orders a debtor to turn all non-exempt property over to
the judgment holder. This remedy permits the holder of a judgment to cast a
wide net to draw in all available assets when the debtor's property cannot
easily be attached or seized by the ordinary legal process. It is not
necessary for the holder of a judgment to first exercise all other remedies
before seeking such an order.
Bank Levy
This order enables judgment holder to attach debtor's bank
account.UCC Records
The law requires filing a
financing statement whenever a financial transaction takes place that
involves personal property used for collateral for a loan or lease. Banks
that backed the enterprise are listed.
Real Property Search - Registrar of Deeds
Q: Should a check with the county Registrar of
Deeds be accomplished? A: Yes. If a recent deed transfer has taken
place, and it appears the transfer was done to escape judgment, the court
may find this premeditated.
Q: What's worth going after? A: Not the
defendant's main residence, main vehicle, computer system. Those items
are exempt from debt collection in most states.
Real property is the
most valuable and documented of all. Real property recordings are indexed by
owner's) name and usually crossed-indexed by property location. lender and
title company. Value of the property may be determined by doc stamps
or mortgage value.Assessor's Office
Call the county assessor's office to learn the assessed value of a property.
(Note: The assessed value of a property is most often not the actual value
of the property.)Aircraft & Water Vessel
Registrations
Boats & airplanes can be attached by the court, providing you can establish
ownership.
Corporations
If a business incorporates, a
record of that corporation's birth is on file with a state agency, usually
the Secretary of State's Corporate Division.
Certain states will
furnish information about directors, officers, and the principles of a
corporation, but most limit the information they are willing to release
Hidden Assets
These are bank accounts, property, and expensive
toys are hidden away or the title transferred to another person in an
attempt (very often successfully), to retain possession in the face of a
lawsuit and judgment. If the defendant is good at hiding assets, he or she
will put everything in their sister's name or their mother's name, or in the
name of somebody they think they can trust - making ownership difficult to
prove.
If a person owns real estate - a lot of real estate - check
county records to see if they've filed quick claim deeds; maybe changed
property ownership over to somebody else. Most valuables are moved over to
relatives or in-laws. Find out the wife's maiden name if you don't already
know it.
More Background Checks Articles
For more information regarding the various types of background checks
available, please read the in-depth articles from the following links:
Employee Background Checks,
Tenant Screening,
Business Background Checks,
Asset Searches and
Criminal History.
Article provided by: Investigative Professionals LLC, '©2012 Information
Providers.
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