Property tax assessment and payment records are useful documents for understanding a property owner’s financial situation and learning details of a particular property.
Read MoreProperty Document Analysis, Part II: Mortgages
Mortgages are legal documents that evidence a lender’s rights to a property in exchange for a loan. Mortgages are a useful resource for learning how wealthy someone is, understanding a borrower’s future financial stability, and determining if a loan was obtained under questionable circumstances.
Read MoreProperty Document Analysis, Part I: Deeds
The primary instrument in all property transactions is the deed. Property deeds are recorded documents legally denoting the transfer of land from one party to another. The parties listed on a deed are either grantors (sellers) or grantees (purchasers).
Read MoreProperty Document Analysis Overview
Property records, one of the most commonly utilized public records, can be used to learn a wealth of information about a property and its owner. Over the following weeks, we will be posting a series of articles here describing how to conduct an analysis of the several principal types of property documents.
Read MoreMechanics' Liens
Last week we discussed several types of tax liens often filed against individuals and businesses. Another form of a lien commonly filed is the Mechanic's Lien. A Mechanic's Lien is not necessarily an adverse filing, but under certain circumstances can suggest that a property owner has refused to pay a contractor for services rendered.
Read MoreTax Liens
Tax liens are a useful resource for conducting public records research on a potential business partner, company or a political figure. For the potential investor, a tax lien can serve as a warning sign of deeper underlying financial problems. Additionally, many forms of tax liens qualify as secured creditors in bankruptcy proceedings, meaning paying the lien will take precedence over an investor's claim if the company were to seek Bankruptcy Court protection. For political figures, the existence of a tax lien can make them vulnerable to arguments that they are not meeting their civic obligations and are hurting the institutions funded by the unpaid taxes; such as schools, police or fire departments.
Read MoreDistinguishing Membership in a Professional Organization from a Professional Credential
Ron Lieber's recent "Your Money" column made a good point about the difference between a "credential" and a membership in a professional organization. Lieber's point concerned members of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors but it could relate to any of the thousands of professional organizations that exist.
Read MoreBritish Parliament Expense Reports Released Online, but Redacted
This week, the British Parliament published expense reports for its members online in response to an extensive court and legislative battle originating from a five-year-old Freedom of Information request. The records made available by Parliament are redacted versions of expense reports that had been leaked last month to the Daily Telegraph, resulting in the recent scandal that has shaken up British government.
Read MoreThe Carpetbagger’s Dilemma: Verifying Residency with Public Records
When an elected official, candidate or other public figure claims to reside in one place but actually resides elsewhere, they become vulnerable to allegations of carpetbagging, potentially resulting in disqualification to hold an elected office or other legal consequences. Two recent instances of suspected carbetbagging illustrate the ways in which public records can be used to demonstrate how a person does not actually reside at their claimed residence.
Read MoreFictitious Business Registrations
In our previous post we described some of the information that can be gained from Articles of Incorporation. Some companies which are not registered as corporations with the Secretary of State may instead be registered as a Fictitious Business.
Read MoreBritish Enlist Inventor of World Wide Web to Increase Transparency of Government Data on the Internet
Following the recent expenses scandal that has shaken up British Parliament, this week Prime Minister Gordon Brown has appointed World Wide Web creator Sir Tim Berners-Lee to help make British government data more Internet accessible to the public over the next few months.
Read MoreCorporate Records
Corporate records, such as Articles of Incorporation and Annual Reports, can be a powerful tool to verify a company's existence and good standing, identify conflicts of interest, learn about a subject's potential wealth, or verify resume claims.
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