Hiring a private investigator is the place to start because they have the sources and experience needed to get an accurate financial profile. These investigations are just not cursory searches of real property records and other public databases. They involve determining such illusive information as the actual equity in personal properties; finding bank accounts, brokerage accounts and other hidden assets, sometimes including offshore accounts.

An additional advantage to the pre-litigation asset search is creating a timeline data point in the possession of assets. Many times when people or corporations get sued, they immediately begin moving assets to protect and hide them. By getting an accurate financial profile before the lawsuit is filed, the lawyer has the information needed to expose the shady transfer of assets.

Next you need to be sure the proper paperwork has been covered such as making sure the judgment is recorded. There are tactical decisions in collecting a judgment, including when to demand a Debtor’s Examination. One school of thought is that one should do your asset investigation and collect what you can prior to a Debtor’s Examination because the notice of the exam may cause the debtor to move or hide assets.

Hiring a private detective to track down the assets of a debtor is the surest way to make sure all avenues of collection are covered. An in house search may be good for low hanging fruit, but at the end of the day you will want to rely on a professional who knows the ins and outs of how debtors try to avoid satisfying judgments.

There are a number of reasons for getting the asset information, not the least of which is finding out what the potential is for actually collecting the judgment. In addition in some cases you can use the asset investigation search to inform the court as to what the punitive damages should be in relation to the company’s net worth.

Hiring a private detective is the most reliable way to find out the assets and net worth of an individual, business or corporation. Private investigators have the experience it takes to trace assets and determine net worth. They also have access to sources and data that may be illusive to those not experienced in asset investigations. And finally they know the tricks shady businesses use to try to hide or otherwise protect their assets.

Next you need to be sure the proper paperwork has been covered such as making sure the judgment is recorded. There are tactical decisions in collecting a judgment, including when to demand a Debtor’s Examination. One school of thought is that one should do your asset investigation and collect what you can prior to a Debtor’s Examination because the notice of the exam may cause the debtor to move or hide assets.

Hiring a private detective to track down the assets of a debtor is the surest way to make sure all avenues of collection are covered. An in house search may be good for low hanging fruit, but at the end of the day you will want to rely on a professional who knows the ins and outs of how debtors try to avoid satisfying judgments.

A private investigator is the best source to find bank accounts. Be prepared to invest real money to obtain this illusive information, it does not come cheap. Before you hire a private detective to find bank accounts, find out what the costs are and what geographical area it covers. Some bank account searches cover only the local area; other options include regional, statewide or nationwide searches.

To maximize your chances of success in finding bank accounts, accurate information on the subject is important. Do you know the exact spelling of their name; do you have important identifying information including home address, date of birth and Social Security number? If you do not, the private eye can usually help obtain this data.

In addition your investigator can conduct research to see if the subject or debtor has used any aliases or alternate Social Security numbers and conduct research to see if there are hidden bank accounts under the alternate identities. So before hiring an investigator, do your homework on getting the most accurate data on the debtor.

If you cannot determine the correct ownership by going online, there are a couple of options.
You can either go in person to the tax assessor’s office to research the parcel maps or you can hire a private detective to research this. Private investigators have access to proprietary databases not available to the public and experience in determining real property ownership. For instance, there are times where the publicized address is not the actual address and this is the type of situation in which an investigator can help.

Once the correct ownership has been identified, the next step is to determine if there are any liens against the property. This information is usually maintained at the local county recorder’s office. In some cases this is available online at the county government website. In the event it is not, a private investigator has access to the databases that are necessary to research if the property has liens.