Asset Investigations and Recovery

Most creditors who fail to collect do not fail because the debtor owns nothing. They fail because nobody established what the debtor owned, and enforcement without that information is guesswork. A writ served on the wrong bank returns nothing, costs money, and tells the debtor somebody is looking.

We run this research for judgment creditors in every state, for the attorneys representing them, and for collection agencies that need a debtor profiled before they commit resources.

What “attachable” means

Not every asset a debtor owns can be reached. An asset is worth pursuing only if it is identifiable, reachable by a legal mechanism in that jurisdiction, and not fully exempt or already encumbered.

• IdentifiableA named institution, employer, parcel or entity
• ReachableA writ, levy, lien or charging order applies
• UnencumberedEquity remains after senior liens and exemptions

What the report contains

• Debtor identity resolutionConfirmed identifiers so you pursue the right person or entity
• Financial institution relationshipsWhich institutions hold the debtor’s accounts
• Employment and income indicatorsPayroll entity and self-employment signals
• Real property and equityParcels, ownership form, mortgages and liens
• Business interests and UCC positionEntities, roles and secured creditor filings
• Titled personal propertyVehicles and vessels where records permit
• Current address and contact footprintWhere the debtor can be found and served
• A recovery assessmentOur plain reading of what is realistically collectable

Research by objective

Most matters need the full picture. When you already know what you are looking for, we run the single line of research instead:

• Judgment debtor bank account searchIdentify the institutions to aim a writ of garnishment at
• Employer search for wage garnishmentFind the payroll entity behind the debtor’s income
• Debtor property, UCC and business interest searchReal property, entities and secured filings
• Locate a judgment debtorCurrent address and contact footprint when the debtor has moved
• Hidden asset and fraudulent transfer investigationTransfers made to put assets beyond reach
• Post-judgment discovery and debtor examinationsCompel disclosure under oath through the court

• Public recordsDeeds, mortgages, liens, UCC filings, corporate registries, court dockets
• Court-ordered discoveryWritten questions and disclosure orders the debtor must answer
• SubpoenasIssued in the enforcement action to third parties holding records
• Licensed investigative dataRegulated sources used only for a permissible purpose

Pretexting is illegal. We do not do it.

Obtaining someone’s bank information by lying to the bank — posing as the customer, or using forged documents — is called pretexting, and it is prohibited by federal law under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 15 U.S.C. § 6821. That statute makes it a violation to obtain, or attempt to obtain, customer information of a financial institution by false or fraudulent statements to the institution or to its customer.

This matters commercially, not just ethically. Evidence obtained unlawfully can taint your enforcement action. If a provider offers you a debtor’s live account balance, treat that as a warning about how they intend to get it.

A garnishment aimed at the wrong institution returns nothing and puts the debtor on notice. Identifying the right institution first is the difference between a writ that recovers money and one that only spends it.

Where a consumer report is used in collecting an account, collection is a permissible purpose under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(a)(3)(A). Much asset research relies instead on public records and licensed non-consumer-report sources.

Who this is for

• Judgment creditors in any stateIndividuals and businesses holding an unsatisfied judgment
• AttorneysCollectibility before you sue, enforcement targets after you win
• Collection agencies and debt buyersProfile a debtor before committing resources
• Landlords and small businessesUnpaid judgments from tenancies and unpaid invoices

When this is worth doing

• A judgment of $5,000 or more still unsatisfied
• A debtor who has stopped responding entirely
• A prior enforcement attempt that came back empty
• A debtor who appears to be working or trading
• A business debtor still operating
• A judgment you are considering selling and want valued first

Probably not worth it

• A debtor in an open bankruptcy with no non-exempt assets
• A judgment past its enforcement period and not renewed
• A debtor who has died with no estate opened
• Amounts where the research cost approaches the recovery

Request an Asset Report

A report is useful precisely because it narrows the field. Instead of serving writs speculatively, you act on named institutions, a named employer and identified parcels — or you learn the judgment is not worth pursuing further, which is also a decision worth paying to reach.

If you would rather not run a collection process at all, we also buy judgments outright for cash, and an asset report is often what tells you whether selling or enforcing is the better route.

Florida enforcement — Florida only

Asset research is nationwide. Our own judgment enforcement service operates in Florida only. In Florida we act on the report directly: garnishment, levy, liens and proceedings supplementary, on a no-recovery-no-fee basis across all 67 counties. Before funding any of that, it is worth checking that the judgment is still enforceable — see how long a Florida judgment is good for.

Outside Florida we deliver the research and you instruct counsel in that state to enforce. We do not enforce judgments outside Florida and will tell you so before you order.

• Florida judgment collectionOur enforcement service, Florida only
• How judgment enforcement worksGarnishment, levy and liens explained