Asset Searching for Recovery Actions - The Decision Maker’s Most Critical Tool – Part 1

Written by Thomas C. Lawson


Continued from page 1

Additional research of real property ownership comes inrepparttar form of updatingrepparttar 135998 assessor’s rolls throughrepparttar 135999 recorder’s offices to determine ifrepparttar 136000 subject’s name has come into title to additional parcels of property, subsequent torepparttar 136001 “lien date” ofrepparttar 136002 assessor’s records, which is in many jurisdictions up to sixty to ninety days old.

The searches inrepparttar 136003 recorder’s offices should also identify recent transfers of ownership of an individual’s real property, whereinrepparttar 136004 ownership may have been transferred to a family member, closely held corporation, or other entity. Based uponrepparttar 136005 guidelines established byrepparttar 136006 client,repparttar 136007 searches can be permutated to include additional research on additional names developed duringrepparttar 136008 study, whichrepparttar 136009 examiner may feel has a direct relationship torepparttar 136010 subject ofrepparttar 136011 report. It is important to note that asset searches are usually requested on specific names of individuals, and it is an industry standard of practice to conductrepparttar 136012 research onrepparttar 136013 specific subject name. Competent investigative agencies contactrepparttar 136014 client in some way to disclose additional names discovered duringrepparttar 136015 searches.

Searches should also include information developed on real property assets jointly held inrepparttar 136016 name ofrepparttar 136017 husband and wife. This information is usually indexed by virtue ofrepparttar 136018 husband’s name, orrepparttar 136019 first name that appears onrepparttar 136020 conveying deed.

It is important to understand that an asset search does not automatically search property held inrepparttar 136021 name of a wife unlessrepparttar 136022 asset search is specifically ordered onrepparttar 136023 wife’s name. If so,repparttar 136024 wife’s name would then be included as a primary search name (parameter), and assets held inrepparttar 136025 wife’s name would then be covered. Quite simply, an asset search on a husband should usually also reveal information on spousal assets held jointly, but not necessarily include assets held byrepparttar 136026 wife individually or as sole owner, or under different name styles such as aliases or maiden names.

Vehicle Searches: Searches should be conducted ofrepparttar 136027 applicable states Department of Motor Vehicles to identify all vehicles owned underrepparttar 136028 name and address given torepparttar 136029 state repository for search purposes. Several states do not provide this service, asrepparttar 136030 tax registration responsibility for vehicular ownership rests with a county or parish jurisdiction. Where states will not provide this information,repparttar 136031 applicable jurisdiction or jurisdictions should be researched to determine if vehicles are owned byrepparttar 136032 name given as primary search parameter. It is also important to understand that most assets search requests are not only based upon single name searches, but usually single jurisdiction searches as well.

Some examiners may feel justified in providing additional “over-the-county-line” information in order to bolsterrepparttar 136033 information developed without an additional asset search. However, single county or parish jurisdictions should be expected as an industry standard. Analyze credit reports to determine if current outstanding) and/or previous loans may have existed, linking this type of asset torepparttar 136034 subject. Many times vehicular, vessel, and aircraft assets are not identified through standard search parameters, but are identified ifrepparttar 136035 subject may haverepparttar 136036 asset registered in a different jurisdiction; ifrepparttar 136037 asset may be registered under different name; or ifrepparttar 136038 subject may be a guarantor onrepparttar 136039 loan.

Vessel Ownership: There are three possible forms of accessing vessel ownership information. The first is on a state-by-state basis atrepparttar 136040 Departments of Motor Vehicles. The second is atrepparttar 136041 county or parish level. The third is a search ofrepparttar 136042 U.S. Coast Guard’s Watercraft Index, a nationwide repository of registered vessels over a certain length. Depending uponrepparttar 136043 location ofrepparttar 136044 asset search to be conducted, one or all of these methods should be utilized.

Aircraft Ownership: Other than by “intelligence” information which may have been submitted torepparttar 136045 institution atrepparttar 136046 outset ofrepparttar 136047 credit qualification process,repparttar 136048 only method of developing aircraft registration information is to perform an FAA Airman’s Search to determine if an FAA Pilot’s license has been issued, and/or if an individual has an aircraft registered in his or her name withinrepparttar 136049 Federal Aviation Administration’s files. As withrepparttar 136050 vessel ownership search throughrepparttar 136051 U.S. Coast Guard Watercraft registration, there is only one national root repository that makes this service available. The service is resold through other database repositories, yet it is advised thatrepparttar 136052 “root” repository be utilized in order to minimize data transfer/loss from vendor to vendor.

Banking Information: Bank account searches may berepparttar 136053 world’s “second-oldest profession.” There is no specific way to access bank account information, other than by a multitude of artistic pursuits includingrepparttar 136054 development of information within a consumer’s credit history; director contact with a banking institution;repparttar 136055 use of sources inrepparttar 136056 U.S. Federal Reserve Clearinghouse System; or by sources and contacts developed byrepparttar 136057 fraud examiner with local, state, or national banking institutions.

This is trulyrepparttar 136058 “art and science’ of an asset search, in thatrepparttar 136059 ability to successfully identify banks rests heavily withrepparttar 136060 fraud examiner’s prowess in this arena.

The standard guidelines for bank account searches are “exact name basis only” searches, with less emphasis placed on jurisdictional lines, since most bank account searches are developed via intelligence leads. In many instances, an asset search will refer “no record found” to a banking institution under an exact subject name.

The subject’s name may appear as a signatory on an alternate account, possibly underrepparttar 136061 name of a disclosed or undisclosed entity, or as a signatory on an account held underrepparttar 136062 name of another. Bank accounts will not usually be disclosed in this fashion. Unauthorized information pertaining to a no searched consumer could compromise that person’s privacy under federal privacy laws,repparttar 136063 FCRA andrepparttar 136064 CCPA, as well as many other statutes.

It is safe to say that most agencies are quick to obtain at least some banking information. This should rest withrepparttar 136065 successful Write of Execution language, constructed by counsel as served uponrepparttar 136066 institution’s regional administrative and/or corporate offices (for examples send a request to tomlawson@apscreen.com).

In Part 2 of this article, we’ll look at other financial and business information that should be gathered during an asset search, liability-related data which impactsrepparttar 136067 subject’s net worth as well as other information.



Thomas C. Lawson, CFE, CII is President and Founder of APSCREEN International, the world’s leading full service Consumer Reporting Agency since 1980. Lawson is called “one of the real pros” as he has helped to reshape laws including those for employment screening, permissible credit reporting, asset discovery and fraud examination. Tom is a Life Member of: ACFE, ASIS, SHRM, PIHRA, PNRRA, PRRN, CII, WAD, WIN, FCAOC and OCEMA.


Factual Employment Screening – Part Two

Written by Thomas C. Lawson


Continued from page 1

Implementation

The human resources department should set uprepparttar program withrepparttar 135997 vendor’s assistance. Each organization will develop its own forms and procedures based on its own requirements and goals. This will entail a variety of personnel protocols, establishing contacts and liaisons betweenrepparttar 135998 company andrepparttar 135999 vendor, determining time requirements, and such basis mechanisms as fax numbers.

File Maintenance

Investigative Consumer Reports (screening reports) should never be maintained inrepparttar 136000 employee’s jacket, but should instead be kept under lock and key with limited access by authorized management personnel in separate file facility and in alphabetical order. The files should be maintained forrepparttar 136001 seven-year statutory period commensurate with employee file retention.

Background information forms contain confidential subject data, including date of birth and other information, and should not be maintained byrepparttar 136002 human resources department. The vendor should do this as part of their service, and inrepparttar 136003 eventrepparttar 136004 form is required for court purposes, should provide it upon request for up to seven years.

Interpretation

Parameters on how to interpret information should be established atrepparttar 136005 outset ofrepparttar 136006 program, and should be undertaken byrepparttar 136007 same personnel to ensure consistent application of theorems of qualifiers for continued candidacy or hiring. This area is open for discussion and, of course, varies with each environment.

As you can undoubtedly imagine, in order to properly implement any factual screening program one needs to start with forms which allowrepparttar 136008 candidate to provide thorough information such as name, address and so forth. These forms should berepparttar 136009 starting point for any intelligent screening program. Just about everyone has an employment application, or some form of release/disclaimer used inrepparttar 136010 initial application process.

Many screening firms are turning to some form of independent release form for their clients, after long conducting checks without them. The forms vary in substance and content, and you would be well advised to learn as much as possible aboutrepparttar 136011 philosophy ofrepparttar 136012 form before using it in order to avoid trouble from an unsophisticated form. The information requested should includerepparttar 136013 following:

Full Name Current and prior addresses Ancillary name forms Social Security number Date of birth (Yes, this absolutely legal if it is being used for criminal file identification purposes, andrepparttar 136014 applicant is made aware of this sole use. You must also not keep a copy of this form anywhere inrepparttar 136015 employee’s file in caserepparttar 136016 EEOC auditor doesn’t see things quiterepparttar 136017 way you do.) Driver’s license number Criminal history disclosure section (This varies from state to state, and must be constructed in accordance with guidelines and standards forrepparttar 136018 disclosure, acquisition and release of criminal information under applicable state law.) Agreement and consent to obtain consumer information (Some ofrepparttar 136019 more sophisticated forms now in use have some effective, built-in disclosure inducement items which arerepparttar 136020 result of investments in psychological research and testing. These are designed to get more than just a regurgitation of subject identifiers.) We have purposely not provided a sample form with this article due torepparttar 136021 proprietary nature ofrepparttar 136022 good ones in existence. Also, since each business environment is different, it is possible that a “generic” form might be used improperly.

Conclusion

At this point, you should have a basic familiarity and comfort level withrepparttar 136023 world of factual employment screening and its ramifications. The key things to remember are as follows.

Establish an intelligent and consistent policy of factual employment screening, drug testing, and/or personality evaluation.

.Perform a thorough job of screening your employment candidates.Rely only upon tried and true methods of employment screening, as trendy or new wave methods, which are untested, can land you in court very quickly.

.Use common sense and rely on your intuition. Good, solid factual employment screening is notrepparttar 136024 ultimate decision maker – you are. The final report should only serve to reinforce your evaluation ofrepparttar 136025 candidate, nothing more.

.Run your screening program with compliance in mind at all times. If you don’t, it is certain that labor attorneys, EEOC auditors, and others will confront you. In a nutshell, employment screening is like any other sensible management policy. If you are careful, smart, thoroughly qualify your vendors, and implement a viable common sense program, you will not only get better people inrepparttar 136026 organization, but also have less opportunity to exercise your workplace violence contingency plans or initiate fraud examinations.

Thomas C. Lawson, CFE, CII is President and Founder of APSCREEN International, the world’s leading full service Consumer Reporting Agency since 1980. Lawson is called “one of the real pros” as he has helped to reshape laws including those for employment screening, permissible credit reporting, asset discovery and fraud examination. Tom is a Life Member of: ACFE, ASIS, SHRM, PIHRA, PNRRA, PRRN, CII, WAD, WIN, FCAOC and OCEMA.


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