How Do Creditors Find Your Bank Account?

Judgment creditors locate bank accounts through a combination of mandatory financial disclosures, formal discovery tools, public records searches, and third-party subpoenas. Florida law gives creditors broad post-judgment discovery authority under Rule of Civil Procedure 1.560, and most people underestimate how quickly a determined creditor can identify where funds are held.

Understanding these methods is essential for anyone developing a bank account protection plan before a creditor begins the collection process.

Florida’s Fact Information Sheet

The most direct path a creditor has to your bank account information is the fact information sheet required under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure Form 1.977. After a final judgment is entered, the court orders the debtor to complete this sworn financial disclosure and return it to the creditor’s attorney within 45 days.

Form 1.977 requires detailed information about every bank account the person holds, including the institution name, account number, account type, and current balance. The form also asks for employment information, real estate holdings, vehicle ownership, and other financial details that can lead to additional accounts. Failure to complete and return the form can result in a contempt finding, which may carry fines or even incarceration.

The fact information sheet is governed by Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.560, which authorizes discovery in aid of a judgment, decree, or execution. The rule permits a judgment creditor to obtain discovery from any person, not just the debtor, in any manner provided by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.

Florida courts can also require the judgment defendant’s spouse to complete a separate spouse-related portion of the fact information sheet. Under Rule 1.560(d), the creditor must show a proper predicate for discovery of the spouse’s separate income and assets, but this threshold is relatively low when the creditor can demonstrate that marital assets may be reachable.

Post-Judgment Discovery Under Rule 1.560

The fact information sheet is only one of several discovery tools available to judgment creditors in Florida. Rule 1.560(a) authorizes the full range of discovery mechanisms, and creditors frequently use multiple methods simultaneously.

A creditor can serve written interrogatories requiring the judgment defendant to identify every financial institution where that person maintains or has maintained an account within a specified period. Unlike the fact information sheet, interrogatories allow targeted follow-up questions about specific transactions, account closures, and fund transfers.

Creditors also demand document production under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.350, compelling the person to turn over bank statements, canceled checks, tax returns, and financial statements. Tax returns are particularly valuable because they disclose interest and dividend income, which identifies the financial institutions holding the account holder’s funds.

Oral depositions give creditors even more leverage. The creditor can question the person under oath in real time, follow up on evasive answers, and probe areas that written discovery would not fully capture. Depositions extend beyond the judgment defendant to include a spouse, business partners, accountants, and financial advisors, all of whom may have knowledge of that person’s banking relationships.

Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.370 adds another layer through requests for admissions. A creditor can ask the person to admit or deny specific statements, such as whether that person holds an account at a particular institution. If the person fails to respond within 30 days, the statements are deemed admitted, giving the creditor a conclusive factual basis for garnishment.

Previous Payment Records

Creditors routinely trace bank accounts through their own records of prior transactions with the person who owes the judgment. If that person ever paid the creditor by personal check, electronic transfer, or ACH payment, the creditor already has the routing number and account number on file.

This method is more effective than many people realize. A check written years before a lawsuit was filed still provides a starting point, and creditors will verify whether that account remains active before seeking a garnishment order. Even if the account has since been closed, the bank may have records showing where the remaining balance was transferred.

Creditors who are institutional lenders (banks, credit unions, or finance companies) often have access to the original loan application. That application typically contains a complete financial snapshot, including bank account details, investment accounts, and employer information. The borrower was motivated to disclose assets when seeking credit approval, making loan origination files a rich source of financial information that creditors can exploit years later during collection.

Third-Party Subpoenas

Florida law authorizes judgment creditors to subpoena third parties for documents and testimony about the judgment defendant’s assets. This power extends to financial institutions, employers, accountants, financial advisors, and business associates.

A creditor can serve a subpoena duces tecum on a bank, requiring the bank to produce records showing whether the person holds any accounts. The bank must comply regardless of any privacy expectations the account holder may have, because the subpoena carries the authority of the court. Creditors sometimes issue subpoenas to multiple banks in the person’s geographic area, or to national banks where the person is likely to hold accounts, without knowing in advance whether that person actually banks there.

Employers are another common target. A subpoena to the employer can reveal the bank and account number used for direct deposit of wages. Payroll records also show whether the employee participates in a retirement plan, has wage assignments, or receives compensation through a business entity.

Subpoenas to the account holder’s accountant or tax preparer can produce copies of tax returns, financial statements, and records of wire transfers or large deposits. These records often reveal banking relationships the person failed to disclose on the fact information sheet.

Public Records and Asset Investigations

Creditors and their investigators use publicly available records to build a picture of the judgment defendant’s financial life and identify potential bank accounts.

Property transfers recorded in county records often identify the bank that financed the purchase. Mortgage documents, closing statements, and title insurance records all contain banking information. Even a cash purchase leaves a trail because the buyer’s funds must come from somewhere, and the closing agent’s records will show the source.

Uniform Commercial Code financing statements filed with the Florida Department of State can also reveal secured lending relationships. If a lender has filed a UCC-1 statement against the person’s personal property, that filing identifies the secured creditor, which is often the same institution where the person banks.

Florida’s Division of Corporations maintains records showing the judgment defendant’s involvement in business entities. Creditors use this information to trace bank accounts held in the name of entities the judgment defendant controls, which may be reachable through proceedings supplementary under Florida Statute 56.29. Vehicle and vessel title records serve a similar function because the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles lists lienholders on each title, and a lienholder is often the same institution that holds the person’s deposit accounts.

Skip Tracing and Professional Asset Searches

Creditors with larger judgments frequently hire professional investigators or asset search firms that specialize in locating assets. These firms use proprietary databases that aggregate data from multiple sources—including credit bureau records, utility records, insurance claims, and commercial transaction histories—to identify bank accounts the person may not have disclosed.

Skip tracing tools can identify banks where the person has recently opened accounts by cross-referencing address changes, direct deposit records, and electronic payment histories. These databases are not available to the general public but are accessible to licensed investigators and law firms engaged in judgment collection.

Asset search firms also monitor social media and other digital footprints for evidence of undisclosed financial activity. Someone who posts about a vacation, luxury purchase, or business venture may inadvertently reveal information that leads a creditor to previously unknown bank accounts or income sources.

Can a Creditor Find a New Bank Account?

People sometimes believe that opening a new account at a different bank will prevent a creditor from reaching their funds. This strategy rarely succeeds for long.

A creditor can compel disclosure of new accounts through updated interrogatories, a deposition, or by requiring an amended fact information sheet. Florida courts have the authority to order ongoing disclosure obligations, meaning the person may be required to report any changes in their banking relationships within a specified period.

Even without a court-ordered update, creditors can locate new accounts through payroll records (if the person changes the direct deposit destination), through electronic payment traces, or through the professional asset search tools described above. Anyone who receives regular income will eventually route that income through a bank account, and a persistent creditor has multiple avenues to discover where those funds are held.

The more effective approach to protecting bank account funds from creditors involves structuring accounts to take advantage of Florida’s statutory exemptions rather than attempting to conceal them.

Proceedings Supplementary

When standard post-judgment discovery tools are insufficient, Florida creditors can initiate proceedings supplementary under Florida Statute 56.29. This procedure allows the creditor to compel the judgment defendant to appear before a judge or magistrate and testify about assets under oath. It also authorizes the creditor to implead third parties who may be holding that person’s property.

Proceedings supplementary are particularly powerful because they combine discovery with enforcement. The court can order the person or a third party to turn over assets, impose an injunction freezing assets, or appoint a receiver to manage the assets during the collection process. A creditor who discovers through these proceedings that funds were transferred to a family member or business entity can seek to reverse the transfer as fraudulent under Florida’s Uniform Voidable Transactions Act, Chapter 726.

The proceeding may be commenced at any time during the 20-year life of a Florida judgment, and creditors can use the mechanism repeatedly as new asset information emerges. Because proceedings supplementary reach assets held by third parties, even funds deposited into a tenancy by the entirety account may come under scrutiny if the creditor can establish that the transfer was made to hinder collection. The scope of these tools explains why effective bank account protection depends on Florida’s statutory exemptions rather than concealment.