Proving What Your Debtor Owns

What if you have a judgment debtor with a non-common last name. Imagine if public records reveal that they seem your can purchase two houses? Imagine if people's ssndob records show the exact same name as the master of both houses, however the important points about them are not the exact same? Imagine if their (perhaps truncated) dates of birth (DOB) and social security numbers (SSN) are not the exact same; however they're very close, too close to think they're really separate people?

This informative article is my estimation, and not legal advice. I'm a judgment referral expert, and am not really a lawyer. In the event that you ever need any legal counsel or a technique to use, please contact a lawyer.

There's an opportunity this circumstance is a coincidence, and you will find a couple with the exact same first, middle, and last names, with remarkably similar SSNs and DOBs that are now living in the exact same area. However, it is probably the exact same person. Some judgment debtors use alternate SSNs regularly to attempt to thwart creditors.

How will you prove it is the exact same person (or perhaps not) so you can record liens or possibly take other enforcement actions? The issue with public record database search services is they're not perfect. They're great tools, however they're not the ultimate word.

Public information records are usually not admissible in court since they include several layers of hearsay, and it would be hard to acquire a witness to lay the correct foundation for admissibility. Another problem could be the typos and errors that accumulate in public areas records. However, public databases can usually give you the answer, even when that answer is not admissible in court. One great indicator would be if "both" people had the exact same address history and/or the exact same relatives.

A credit report might clear things up right away. If the judgment debtor is paying loans on both properties, that can tell you the solution for sure. However, you need permissible purpose to pull credit reports. You can only pull a credit report on someone if you should be a collection agency, an attorney representing a creditor, or own a judgment against an individual through an assignment of judgment.

Public databases assist you to determine where you should pull records at the county recorder. What might show the actual story, could be the signatures on file for the properties. When the names are the exact same, and the signatures look the exact same, which means the individual is just about the same.

Visit the county recorder, and pull copies of the deeds of trust, and whatever else you'll find; so you will get handwriting examples on this individual or persons. You would want to look at prior properties owned, check for documents with signatures, see how a properties are held in line with the assessor, and where in actuality the tax bills get mailed.

You might take note of the name(s) of the notary(s) before whom the deeds were acknowledged, then serve an open records act request on the notaries. Their log books are public records. You may not need a subpoena for a notary's log book.

You might see if "both" people had the exact same mortgage company, perhaps with the exact same escrow. That would be another hint that this is simply not a coincidence. Also, look at who financed their loans. Consider the "GF Number" (guaranty file #) on the deed. This shows where you will have to subpoena the records. The mortgage company could have a report on each transaction, which will include a software for credit with lots of private financial information. You can also want to subpoena the title companies because they've a file for each transaction.

The court file from the judgment itself might also hold clues to help you figure out if they're two different people. It's also possible to might like to do a judgment debtor exam in your debtor, to see what they say by what they own, which house they are now living in, etc. Of course, subpoenas to third parties also can allow you to get usage of other records.