A Low-Cost Asset Search
Private investigators, bankruptcy trustees, judgment creditors, etc., sometimes research** the following kinds of records / databases as part of a low-cost asset search:
- Real Estate Searches: Some government databases provide for free real property searches, like New York City's Automated City Register System ("ACRIS") at "http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/jump/acris.shtml". ACRIS permits one to search for real property owners in New York City by a party's name, parcel identifiers (such as borough, block and lot numbers), etc.
- Lawsuits: A beneficial owner's assets held in the form of personal injury or other type of legal claim, (if any), can sometimes be uncovered via court databases.
- Local Courts: Although limited to New York State courts, "eCourts" is a free database at "http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/webcivil/ecourtsMain".
- Federal Courts: After signing up for an access code, "http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov/" enables one to conduct low-cost searches of federal courts nationwide.
- Corporate & U.C.C. Searches: Free government websites such as New York's "http://www.dos.state.ny.us/corps/' sometimes provide beneficial ownership or other useful information about duly licensed businesses / corporations.
- United States Patent & Trademark Office: Patents and trademarks can be researched for free at "http://www.uspto.gov/patft/".
- Comprehensive Searches: At "http://global.lexisnexis.com/", LexisNexis offers a fee-based service called "SmartLinx", which searches public records nationwide. Records regarding real property, motor vehicles, telephone numbers, can be accessed. LexisNexis offers a similar service called DEBTORDiscovery at "http://www.debtordiscovery.com/ ". Yet another comprehensive search service is available at IRB's website, "http://www.irbsearch.com/". These services may provide the names of business associates, neighbors, relatives, etc., and can therefore possibly be used to identify nominees hiding a beneficial owner's assets.
Researching real estate, lawsuits or other similar records in some cases may uncover assets concealed by a judgment debtor, bankruptcy debtor or divorcing spouse. When conducting such research, one should however, always consider the red flags or indicia mentioned at "Asset Search Indicia For Divorce, Debt Collection & Bankruptcy".
**L.L. Jones, Concealing Assets In Bankruptcy: What Are the Consequences And How Do Trustees Find The Assets?, Association of the Bar of the City of New York (Presentation: April 24, 2008).
Copyright 2008 Fred L. Abrams
