What to request
FOIA as a Judgment Enforcement Tool
Records requests are treated as a journalism tool. They are also an asset location tool, and almost nobody in collections uses them.
If your debtor touches government in any way — works for it, is licensed by it, sells to it, builds with its permission — there is a paper trail you can request. It is cheap, it is lawful, and it does not require permissible purpose under GLBA because you are not asking a financial institution anything.
What to ask for, by situation
If they work in the public sector
Public employee salaries are public record in most states, usually including name, position, department and annual compensation. Some states publish it online without a request at all.
That gives you an employer for garnishment and a figure to calculate against. Pension and retirement system membership is often public too, and a pension is an asset even when wages are exempt.
If they hold a licence
A licence application file is far richer than the public verification page. Applications typically carry a home address, a business address, employment history, insurance and bonding details, and any financial disclosures the board required.
Contractors, liquor licensees, childcare, transport and health professions all file substantial paperwork. Ask for the application and renewal file, not just confirmation of the licence.
If they sell to government
Vendor payment records are public. Ask the municipality, county, school district or state agency for payments made to a named vendor over a date range.
That is a receivable you may be able to reach, and it also proves the business is trading and where its money comes from.
Bid documents and contracts add the entity’s address, its officers, its insurer and frequently its bank — performance bonds name a surety.
If they own property
Building permits name the owner, the contractor, the estimated value of the work and sometimes the lender financing it. Code enforcement files record complaints and inspections.
A permit pulled last year on a property is evidence the owner is spending money on it, which is relevant to whether it is worth attaching.
If they have a boat, plane or commercial vehicle
Vessel registration, aircraft registration and commercial motor carrier records are held federally or at state level and are largely public — unlike passenger vehicle registration, which is closed under the DPPA.
Dock and mooring permits are municipal records and name the permit holder.
If they have been through a public process
Zoning applications, liquor board hearings, licensing appeals, professional discipline proceedings. These generate transcripts and exhibits, and people say a great deal about their finances in them.
What this does not reach
Bank accounts. No public records request produces an account number or a balance, because no government body holds one in a requestable form. Asset location through records requests gives you employment, receivables, property and licences — not deposits. For deposits see how to find out where someone banks.
Timing matters more here than anywhere else. A judgment is a wasting asset with a renewal deadline. Records requests take weeks. Send them early in the file, in parallel with everything else, rather than when you have run out of other ideas.
The enforcement side
Judgment Recovery: The Complete Enforcement Guide
A judgment has been won, the court signed the order, and then nothing happened. Bank levies, wage garnishments, real property liens, vehicle seizures, business asset enforcement, PACER and court record mining, FOIA as an enforcement tool, unclaimed funds, and state-by-state procedure. The money exists — this shows you where it is.
See the book