How Do Creditors Find Your Assets?

Florida law gives judgment creditors broad authority to investigate a debtor’s finances after a court enters a money judgment. The process is called discovery in aid of execution, and it allows creditors to use the same investigative tools available in general civil litigation. The practical result is that there are very few assets a creditor cannot eventually locate.

Discovery in aid of execution is not optional for the debtor. A creditor who holds a valid judgment can compel disclosure of virtually every detail of the debtor’s financial life, and the court will enforce that obligation with contempt sanctions if necessary.

Fact Information Sheet

The Fact Information Sheet is typically the first asset-discovery tool a creditor uses after obtaining a judgment. Florida Rule of Civil Procedure Form 1.977 requires the debtor to disclose bank accounts, real property, vehicles, income sources, business interests, and other assets under oath.

The court orders the debtor to complete and return this form within 45 days. Failure to comply is grounds for contempt, which can result in sanctions including a bench warrant. The information the debtor provides on this form gives the creditor a roadmap for every subsequent collection effort.

Deposition in Aid of Execution

A creditor can require the debtor to sit for a formal deposition under oath. The scope of questioning is extremely broad. The creditor can ask about every bank account the debtor has opened in recent years, every piece of real estate the debtor has owned or transferred, every business interest the debtor holds, and every source of income the debtor receives.

The deposition must generally take place in the county where the debtor resides. A creditor cannot force a debtor to travel to the creditor’s attorney’s office in another county. The creditor can, however, take multiple depositions over the life of a 20-year judgment as long as the frequency does not constitute unreasonable harassment.

If the debtor fails to appear after being properly served with a notice of deposition, the court can hold the debtor in contempt and issue a body attachment—essentially an arrest warrant—to compel the debtor’s attendance.

Written Discovery

Beyond depositions, the creditor has access to two additional categories of written discovery. Interrogatories are written questions that the debtor must answer under oath within a set timeframe. Requests for production of documents require the debtor to turn over specific financial records.

The documents a creditor can demand include bank statements, canceled checks, credit card statements, tax returns, insurance policies, loan applications, and business records. Florida law allows creditors to request documents going back at least four years. The debtor must produce anything in the debtor’s custody or control that could lead to the discovery of assets available to satisfy the judgment.

Third-Party Subpoenas

Creditors are not limited to information the debtor provides. Under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.351, a creditor can subpoena records directly from third parties including banks, brokerage firms, employers, accountants, and financial advisors. This tool is particularly effective because it bypasses the debtor entirely.

A bank served with a subpoena duces tecum must produce the debtor’s account records, transaction history, and balance information. An employer must disclose compensation details. These records frequently reveal accounts and income streams the debtor failed to disclose on the Fact Information Sheet or during deposition—a discrepancy that damages the debtor’s credibility with the court and can support additional contempt proceedings.

Public Records Searches

Florida’s public records give creditors access to a substantial amount of financial information without needing any court order at all.

County property appraiser and recorder databases reveal every parcel of real estate the debtor owns in any Florida county, along with purchase prices, mortgage amounts, and assessed values. These records are digitized and linked to statewide databases, so a creditor can search all 67 counties electronically rather than guessing where the debtor might own property. The same search reveals whether the debtor holds any seller-financed mortgages—a receivable the creditor can garnish.

The Florida Division of Corporations database at Sunbiz.org discloses whether the debtor serves as an officer, director, manager, or registered agent of any business entity. Annual reports filed with the state often list the debtor’s name in connection with LLCs and corporations. Once a creditor identifies a business connection, it can investigate the debtor’s ownership interest through discovery.

UCC lien filings and Judgment Lien Certificate records at the Department of State reveal whether other creditors have already filed claims against the debtor’s personal property—and in the process, they confirm what property exists. DMV records disclose vehicle ownership and registrations.

Credit Applications and Financial Statements

Creditors who are also the debtor’s former lenders have a built-in advantage. Loan applications, personal financial statements, and personal guarantees submitted during the lending relationship contain detailed asset disclosures the debtor made voluntarily.

These documents become powerful tools during discovery in aid of execution. If a debtor inflated asset values on a loan application to secure financing but later minimizes those same values during a post-judgment deposition, the creditor can use the inconsistency to impeach the debtor’s credibility. Courts view this kind of contradiction unfavorably, and it can influence how the judge rules on contested exemption claims and other disputes.

Private Investigators and Asset Search Firms

Many creditors hire professional asset search firms or private investigators to supplement formal discovery. These firms use commercial databases, public records aggregators, and skip-tracing tools to compile comprehensive profiles of a debtor’s assets.

Investigators can access phone records and use reverse-lookup tools to identify calls from financial institutions where the debtor may hold accounts. They monitor social media for references to travel, purchases, and lifestyle that contradict the debtor’s claimed financial position. Some investigators conduct physical surveillance to verify whether the debtor actually resides at the property claimed as an exempt homestead.

Data broker services aggregate information from public records, utility connections, credit header data, and commercial databases into searchable reports. A single search can return current and historical addresses, associated phone numbers, known business affiliations, vehicle registrations, and property ownership across multiple states.

Cooperation Among Creditors

Collection professionals who work for institutional lenders and large collection agencies develop networks of contacts at banks and other financial institutions. These informal channels can quickly confirm whether a debtor maintains an account at a particular institution, giving the creditor a target for a writ of garnishment without needing to conduct extensive formal discovery first.

When multiple creditors hold judgments against the same debtor, the liens recorded by one creditor in public records alert other creditors to the existence and location of the debtor’s property. Judgment Lien Certificates filed with the Department of State are publicly searchable, creating a feedback loop where each creditor’s filings make the debtor’s assets more visible to every other creditor.

Why Hiding Assets Does Not Work

Asset protection does not involve hiding assets from creditors. The combination of sworn discovery obligations, third-party subpoenas, public records, and professional investigators means that creditors will find virtually everything a debtor owns. These tools form a core part of Florida’s judgment collection framework. Attempting to conceal assets during discovery in aid of execution requires lying under oath, which is perjury.

Perjury is a criminal offense, but the more immediate practical consequence is the destruction of the debtor’s credibility. Judges who discover that a debtor has lied during discovery tend to rule against that debtor on every contested issue for the remainder of the case. The far better approach is asset protection planning that uses legal exemptions and structures to protect assets from collection even after the creditor discovers them.