Asset Searches

Asset Search Information Explained

Types of asset searches include Bank Accounts, Asset Reports, and Brokerage / Investment Accounts. They are detailed below.

Bank Account Searches

Bank accounts are the primary way most attorneys want to collect judgments. It is the fastest and easiest way. This also should be your primary way if you hold a legal judgment against someone or against an entity.

Industry experts report that 80 percent of all judgments go uncollected. This should come as no surprise, as a civil judgment is nothing more than a piece of paper.  There is nothing that forces the defendant to pay you immediately after you win the judgment.

Why Conduct a Bank Account Search?

First of all, you will need to find assets and use the legal system to collect them.  Locating bank accounts should be your first step. 

Finding hidden assets is what will get you paid.  Most private investigators are unable to locate bank accounts. Make sure you choose a reputable company with experience in this type of investigation.

Asset searches in California can be a good start if your debtor lives in California.  However, what if you and your debtor live in another state? Say, Texas or Florida?  Intelligence West is capable of locating assets in all 50 states within the United States.

Knowing the techniques and how to uncover the clues to locate assets is crucial to being successful.  Intelligence West has developed highly guarded techniques and sources to obtain bank account information.

The owner has conducted numerous asset investigations for the F.D.I.C (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) in the early years of his career. He diligently investigated debtors who have defaulted on loans from banks and savings and loan institutions.

Asset searching is what we do all day, every day.  Finding a company that specializes in asset investigations is the key to recovering your judgment.

Bank accounts can be held in the following ways.

• Personal Name
• DBA – Doing Business As – Example: “John Doe d.b.a. John’s Tree Trimming”
• Family Trust
• Corporation
• Limited Liability Company
• General Partnership

Our sources can locate bank accounts in all 50 states within the United States.

Brokerage / Investment Account Searches

This type of search is known as a Brokerage/Investment Account search.  This type of search will locate investment accounts held within the various brokerage houses within the United States. This will provide the brokerage firm’s name and the total value of each account held.

Brokerage Accounts are the most difficult to search. Most private investigation firms are unable to offer these types of searches.  Our sources at Intelligence West have successfully located these types of accounts.  Our sources have discovered millions of dollars located in brokerage accounts. Brokerage/Investment accounts are usually where high-dollar accounts are maintained. 

Asset Report

The most comprehensive type of search is what we call an Investigative Asset Report.

This type of report will provide the following:

Identify your subject – Provide name and name variations, Social Security Number, and Date of Birth.  If your subject is a corporation or other type of legal entity, we will adequately identify the entity.

Provide the current residential location of your subject. – Will also provide previous addresses and Post Office boxes within the last ten years.

Current source of income – This will tell you how your subject earns his or her living. If a legal entity, will provide a description of business operations.

Professional Licensing – Does your subject hold a professional license?  Is it current, or has it been suspended?

Associated corporations, limited liability companies, general partnerships, and fictitious business names. Is your subject the president or director of a corporation?  Is he recorded as a managing member or member of a limited liability company?  Is he associated as a partner in a general partnership?  Has he filed a fictitious business name?

We provide current banking information on your subject – Where he or she banks and the types and balances of each account. We can locate bank accounts on a legal entity such as a corporation, limited liability company, trust, or general partnership.

Current real estate ownership – Including homes, commercial properties, vacant lots, farmland. We provide a description of the property and its current value.

We search public records for judgments, tax liens, and bankruptcies – Find out if there are other judgments filed against your subject or legal entity.  Has a tax lien been filed against them for unpaid state or federal taxes?   Have they filed for bankruptcy in the past?

Included is a search for UCC-1 filings – Showing a secured interest a lender has on the subject’s personal or business property.  We will tell you when it was filed and the secured party’s name.

We search civil records in the higher courts – Will show if the subject or legal entity has been involved in any civil litigation.

We search for motor vehicles owned by the subject. 

As indicated above, this type of report is very comprehensive. This report will give you a good picture of how financially strong or weak the subject is in the real world. Is he a deadbeat? Or does he have deep pockets?  Is your subject entity teetering on financial disaster? Do they make millions?

Skip Tracing

Trying to find a hard-to-find witness, defendant, or debtor? My unique sources allow me to locate hard-to-find people. Contact me for a quote.

Why Conduct an Asset Report? 

• To Determine if a Potential Defendant is Worth Pursuing in Court
• Locate and or Confirm Assets in Divorce Proceedings
• Judgment Collection on High Dollar Judgments
• Determining the Net Worth of a Prospective Business Partner
• Finding out the Solvency of a Potential Investor
• To Determine Assets in a Child Support Matter

Is a Bank Account Search or Other Type of Asset Search Legal?

Answer: Yes, there are laws that allow for the legal discovery of assets in the United States. Asset searches are mandated by a set of federal laws known as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). The following purposes are authorized under those laws:

• Debt Collection & Judgment Recovery
• Legal and or Litigation Purposes
• Insurance (Approval and Investigations)
• Fraud Prevention or Detection

How Long Does it Take To Conduct an Asset Search?

Answer: Our normal turnaround time is 7 – 15 business days, depending on the type of search. We do not provide RUSH investigations.  All investigations are conducted diligently and thoroughly in a timely manner but never rushed.

Do You Provide Judgment Recovery Services?

Answer: No. We simply locate assets. We can refer you to a company that offers judgment recovery services in your area.