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 is not an asset; it is a line item. Our schedules distinguish gross holdings from likely equity, flag encumbrances against each asset, and note the exemption posture where the jurisdiction makes it relevant.

Where a transfer looks like it was made to defeat a creditor — a quitclaim to a spouse two weeks after the complaint was filed, a new LLC holding the same equipment — we document the chain and the timing rather than characterizing it. The conclusion is counsel's to draw.

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 the relationships rather than reporting each state in isolation.

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 — a deed recorded three weeks ago, a lien released last month, a transfer made the day after you filed. When the answer has to be current as of today rather than as of the last data refresh, the record has to come from the county or the agency directly.

That work is available as a specified add-on, not part of the base search:

• 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, drafted, submitted, and tracked through response.
• 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 blockchain and cryptocurrency tracing capability from our affiliated cyber practice — wallet attribution, transaction-flow analysis, and exchange-account identification — to establish whether a debtor holds digital assets and where they are custodied.

As with banking, we identify holdings and custodians; compelling production remains a matter for lawful process. Crypto tracing is scoped and quoted per matter rather than sold at a flat rate.