Asset Searches

Scope of search

We search the record classes that matter to collectibility, then reconcile them into a single asset schedule. Each entry carries its jurisdiction, filing reference where available, and date, so you can pull the underlying instrument or attach it as an exhibit.

A standard asset search is built from licensed, aggregated, and electronically available record sources. It does not include live county-level record retrieval or public records requests to state agencies. Those are available, and often worth it, but they have to be specified. See live records and PRR work below.

• Real property ownership and transfer history
• Deeds of trust, mortgages, and encumbrances
• Registered vehicles, vessels, and aircraft
• Business entity interests and officer roles
• UCC-1 secured filings
• Federal and state tax liens
• Civil judgments and abstracts
• Bankruptcy filings and schedules
• Professional and occupational licenses
• Litigation history as party or claimant
• Corporate affiliations and registered agent links
• Known transfers to relatives, trusts, and entities

Reading the result the way a creditor would

An asset list is only useful if it tells you what is reachable. A house with two deeds of trust and a homestead exemption may leave nothing a creditor can get to. Our schedules separate gross holdings from likely equity and flag the encumbrances on each asset. Where the jurisdiction makes it relevant, we also note the exemption posture.

Where a transfer looks like it was made to defeat a creditor (a quitclaim to a spouse two weeks after the complaint was filed, or a new LLC holding the same equipment), we document the chain and the timing and leave the characterization to counsel.

Individuals and entities

Entity searches follow the structure: registered filings, officers and members, affiliated and successor entities, DBAs, and the assets held at each level. Where a principal has layered holdings across states, we map how the pieces connect so you aren't reading each state's results on their own.

Live county records & public records requests

Electronic record sources are current to whatever their last update cycle was, and that lag is occasionally the whole question, say, a deed recorded three weeks ago or a transfer made the day after you filed. If you need the record as it stands today, it has to come from the county or the agency directly.

We offer that work as an add-on to the base search. It has to be specified when you order:

• Live county-level retrieval. Direct pulls from the recorder, auditor, assessor, or clerk, including offices that still require someone to physically appear.
• Public records requests (PRR). Formal requests to Washington state agencies and their equivalents elsewhere. We draft and submit them and follow up until the agency responds.
• Certified copies of recorded instruments for use as exhibits.
• Recording-date verification where the timing of a transfer is the disputed fact.

Digital and cryptocurrency assets

Assets increasingly sit outside the recorder's office. Where a matter warrants it, we bring in-house blockchain and cryptocurrency tracing, led by Kyeson Utley, to establish whether a debtor holds digital assets and where they are custodied. The work includes wallet attribution and transaction-flow analysis, and where the trail allows it, identifying exchange accounts.

As with bank accounts, we identify holdings and custodians. Getting them produced takes lawful process. Crypto tracing is quoted per matter and has no flat rate.