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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.
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 assets 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 order sheriff's deputies or constables to grab assets for you.
Q: Can you get bank accounts? (Note: This is the #1 question asked of information providers by a generally well-informed public - from lawyers and 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. Locating Assets Your objective in an assets 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. - Assets 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 An assets search can aid in collecting child support owed you. Send information discovered to the child support enforcement agency, which will attach assets. 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 assets through public records.
Jurisdictions Forty-three-hundred U.S. public jurisdictions store records of interest to people attempting to locate assets. 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.
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