Debtor Due Diligence

BAPCPA of 2005 introduced new provisions of the code that introduced liability for attorneys who failed to account for assets of their clients. Section 707(b) is short on substance and long on speculation. Principally, the new code echoes Rule 9011 - in that debtor's counsel has to conduct a reasonable inquiry into their client. Although the rule appears that it has yet to be enforced, attorneys are wise to promote their own due diligence when dealing with new clients.

Debtor Due Diligence contemplates an asset background check for debtors. The codification of Rule 9011 is an essential step that begs debtors counsel to be more diligent and thorough in their investigation of client assets.

The advantage of Debtor Due Diligence is two fold. (1) It allows you to state that you engaged a third party asset search entity to review your client's information. (2) It allows you to double check your client to see if their name is attached to real property somewhere. For instance, we've had a few cases where the debtor's parents unknowingly assign an interest in their real property to the debtor. Knowing this information before hand makes us better prepared to deal with the trustee afterward.

Find information about debtors with our asset information request form. It's easy to find out whether a debtor has a home, different addresses, licenses, and registrations.

Our search covers a vast number of databases (the specific list is below). Results include name, potential aliases, birthday, social security number issue date as personal identifiers.

Need to know if your client or employee has a criminal background? We can do a state search or nationwide search depending on your needs. . .or suspicions. In some states we can even include mugshots! Results include information on case number, jurisdiction, offense date, plea, court judgment, sentencing, plus any additional information we can pull from that jurisdiction.

Scouring both public and private sources of information, we can develop a business background report and profile to help you make decisions about whether you should do business with certain companies. We can check for tax liens, judgments, and bankruptcy filings. Identify corporate relationships and uncover assets owned or associated with the business.

The searches we conduct involve only public databases. We do not invade any credit report information aside from accessing the header information to verify SSN, addresses, and identity. As we do not acquire any credit information on the debtor, we do not fall under the FCRA. The purpose of your search must be for a legal benefit. However, there are some limitations. The below table breaks down what States have restrictions on the database information that is accessible.

National Bankruptcy Search	All 50 States
Boat Ownership	AL, AZ, AR, CO, FL, GA, IS, IA, KY, ME, MD, MI, MN MS, MO, MT, NE, NH, NC, ND, OH, OR, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WV, WI, WY
Aircraft and Pilot Registry	All 50 States
Court Records	AK, AR, CA, NY, NY, PA, TN, TX, VA
Death Filings	All 50 States
Deed Transfers	45 States Excluding AK, ME, MS, ND, SD
Radio Licenses	All 50 States
Firearms Licenses	All 50 States
AKA's and Geographic Relatives	All 50 States
Professional Licenses	47 States excluding HI, IN, WA
Real Property	47 States exclusing ME, RI, VT
UCC Search	46 States Exclusing KY, VT, HI, WV
Corporate Records	47 States Excluding Al, DE, NJ
DEA Controlled Substances	All 50 States
Relative Searchs & Associations	All 50 States

We provide an optional search on Motor Vehicles. Not all states support this search. The information returned is typically, VIN, Make, Model, Year, Body Type, License Plate Number, Registration Date, Owner Name, Address and State of Registration. Some States will only show their archived records and they are not entirely up to date. If your client purchased a car in the last six months, it may not show up on the Motor Vehicle Record Search.

States where we have acess to MVR's.

Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Mew York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

As we have become more experienced with our search criteria and more adept at ferreting our information, our information and results have become more reliable. However, it is worth noting that we attempt to cut a large swath. We scour records nationwide for information your client or search subject. The information we pull is only as good as the data that is put into the records originally. Some of the information pulled up for your subject may not be 100% accurate and it is always worth double checking with your client before you make an assumption about an asset. Remember that credit reports are typically infused with large number of errors mostly due to improper input. It would be optimistic to think that the record keepers of court houses, clerk's offices, and motor vehicle records are any better. Not that we can't gleam a large amount of information about the people are do searches on, but it is always better to be prepared than to be surprised.