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Research Guide

Personal Finances

ProPublica: Tracking PPP

Description:

This ProPublica search tool collects and presents information concerning businesses that applied to and received monetary relief from the U.S. Paycheck Protection Program, otherwise known as PPP loans. This also provides information concerning how much was paid out and how much of the loans are outstanding, have been paid down or have been forgiven.

Resource Type:

Media and Other Open Sources

Area of Investigation:

Professional History, Nonprofits, Personal Finances, Associated People

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Public Records Requests

Description:

Resource Type:

Federal Records

Area of Investigation:

Professional History, Associated People, Political History, Background and Family, Personal Finances, Nonprofits

This is an offline resource.

Recorders of Deeds

Description:

The Recorder of Deeds, sometimes called the county clerk or another name, is the keeper of documents about real property and other official documents. In most jurisdictions, counties maintain these records, but in states such as Connecticut, towns maintain them. Search for recorded documents naming an individual in each of the jurisdictions where the individual has lived or worked. In some jurisdictions, there is no online access to official records. Use these records to find an individual’s counterparties in transactions, creditors and financial information. The following common types of records may be filed with the recorder of deeds or equivalent authority: Warranty Deed, documenting the sale of a property Quitclaim Deed, documenting the release of forfeiture of an ownership claim on a property Deed of Trust, or Mortgage, registering a lender’s security interest in a property to permit foreclosure in case of default Certificate of Release, or Notice of Satisfaction, documenting the full repayment of a loan and the release of a lender’s security interest in a property Mechanic’s Lien, documenting a contractor’s right to foreclose a property in case of nonpayment for work conducted on it Tax Lien, registering an unpaid tax debt Judgment, registering a judgment entered by a court Affidavit, in which an individual makes a factual declaration under oath, generally for the purpose of executing a contract that will be signed by the individual Marriage License – in some jurisdictions these will be recorded publicly with the County Clerk Oaths of Office – in some jurisdictions county employees publicly file sworn oaths of office Military Discharges – in some jurisdictions, veterans can choose to publicly file their military discharges

Resource Type:

State and Local Records

Area of Investigation:

Background and Family, Professional History, Personal Finances, Associated People

Link will vary depending on jurisdiction.

SEC Edgar Full Text Search

Description:

The Securities and Exchange Commission Edgar Full Text Search allows users to search the full text of SEC filings for public companies and some other entities dating back to 2001. You can search it for people, companies, and other information. One company’s filings may contain mention of another company, providing information on client and supplier relationships. Filings for public companies contain lists of directors, details of executive and board compensation and stock trades, professional bios details on company performance, summaries of significant litigation and more. Here are key filings to look for: Form 10-K, an annual report of a publicly traded company containing audited financial statements Form 10-Q, a quarterly report of a publicly traded company containing audited financial statements Form 8-K, a current report disclosing material information about a publicly traded company, such as a merger agreement Schedule 14A, a proxy statement disclosing information on a company’s corporate governance, including its board of directors, its executive compensation and any shareholder proposals scheduled for votes at the annual shareholder meeting Forms 3, 4 and 5, which disclose stock ownership and transactions for officers, directors, and significant shareholders of a publicly traded company Form D, disclosing a private offering of equity or debt, such as a venture capital funding round for a startup Form 13F, a quarterly snapshot of the publicly traded securities held by a fund manager, which are required for funds holding at least $100 million in publicly traded securities

Resource Type:

Federal Records

Area of Investigation:

Professional History, Associated People, Personal Finances

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Secretaries of State

Description:

In most states, the secretary of state’s responsibilities include chartering companies and administering elections. Some states, such as Arizona, have a distinct agency to charter companies, the Arizona Corporate Commission. Others, such as New York, have a distinct agency to administer elections, the New York State Board of Elections. As the agency responsible for chartering companies, the secretary of state generally maintains a database of companies chartered in the jurisdiction. You can search some of these databases by company name, officer name and registered address, and retrieve all corporate filings for free, but others allow search only by company name and charge for access to filings. Secretaries of state also maintain databases of Universal Commercial Code financing statements. These statements allow lenders to record security interests in property held by debtors. UCC financing statements generally don’t cover real property but do cover accounts receivable, inventory, office equipment and financial accounts. UCC databases maintained by secretaries of state often allow users to search by the debtor or secured party’s name. As the administrator of elections, the secretary of state also often provides information on election results and candidate registrations for both state-level and federal races. For state-level candidates, the secretary of state also often maintains records of financial disclosures filed by state-level candidates and officeholders and campaign finance reports for state-level candidates. The secretary of state may also keep a database of disclosures filed by state government lobbyists.

Resource Type:

State and Local Records

Area of Investigation:

Professional History, Political History, Personal Finances

Link will vary depending on jurisdiction.

State or County Case Indexes

Description:

Using an individual’s known address history as well as their professional and educational history, you should have a list of counties in which the individual has lived, worked, or studied. These should be the same counties where you search for any documents naming the individual at the local Recorder of Deeds. Consider including certain neighboring counties in your searches if they form part of a larger metropolitan area. For example, a candidate who lived and worked in Cambridge, Massachusetts, might be party to civil cases in Middlesex County, which includes Cambridge, or Suffolk County, which includes neighboring Boston. In some jurisdictions, there is no online access to state-level court records, and in these cases, you may need to order onsite research or visit the court yourself. The structure of the courts varies from state to state, and the nature and availability of court records also vary from state to state and often from county to county. Briefly familiarize yourself with the structure of the courts in any jurisdiction where the individual has lived, worked, or studied. Focus first on trial courts, or first-instance courts, as opposed to appeals courts. Some states have a single, unified level of trial courts which hear all cases. For example, in California the Superior Court is the first-instance court for all cases. In other states, there is a divided trial court structure, with courts of “general jurisdiction” hearing felony criminal cases and high-value civil cases and lower courts that hear misdemeanor criminal cases and small claims civil cases. For example, in New York the trial court of general jurisdiction is named the Supreme Court, and there are a number of lower-level trial courts that hear small claims cases, misdemeanor cases, and landlord-tenant cases.

Resource Type:

State and Local Records

Area of Investigation:

Civil Litigation and Criminal Cases, Associated People, Personal Finances

Link will vary depending on jurisdiction.

TLO

Description:

TLO is a proprietary database that aggregates information from “credit headers,” or the portion of a credit report without financial information, as well as other public and private data. A TLO comprehensive report provides identifying details, address history, associated phone numbers and email addresses and possible employers, among other information. As a proprietary database, TLO is a secondary source, and anything significant in a TLO report must be verified independently. TLO data should only be used to identify leads for further investigation but never as an authoritative source itself. Because of the wide range of data that TLO provides, obtaining and reviewing a TLO report on an individual is almost always the first step to be taken in any new project. The database offers leads on an individual’s family connections, professional licenses, employment history and associated companies. It can also provide insights into the individual’s voter registration history, property ownership and vehicle registrations. For legal matters, TLO can offer leads on criminal cases, civil judgments, bankruptcy filings and traffic infractions.

Resource Type:

Proprietary Databases

Area of Investigation:

Background and Family, Professional History, Political History, Personal Finances, Civil Litigation and Criminal Cases

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Tax Assessors

Description:

Property owners in all 50 states and the District of Columbia owe taxes on real property. Generally, it is the county that collects these taxes, but in some states it is the town. The County Tax Assessor, sometimes referred to as the County Treasurer or by some other name, is responsible for valuing real property in the county and assessing property owners the appropriate amount of tax. Thus, the County Tax Assessor keeps up-to-date information on the current ownership of properties, their boundaries and features, and the taxes owed by property owners. In most counties, the tax assessor provides an online database that can be searched by property address, parcel ID, or owner name. In some states, such as California, assessors do not provide the names of property owners because of privacy laws. In many states, assessors provide a satellite map of properties that identifies their owners and boundaries. Many states offer homestead exemptions, which reduce the property taxes owed on properties that the owner uses as a primary residence. Consider whether any homestead exemptions claimed by an individual are consistent with the individual’s voter registration or claimed residence. In addition to taxing real property, many states also tax ‘personal property,’ or any property that is moveable, such as cars, watercraft, product inventory and office equipment. Determine whether the individual lives in such a state and whether personal property tax records are publicly available.

Resource Type:

State and Local Records

Area of Investigation:

Professional History, Personal Finances, Associated People

Link will vary depending on jurisdiction.

TinEye

Description:

TinEye is a reverse image search engine. When uploading an image, you can find out where it came from, how it’s being used, if modified versions of the image exist, or if there are higher resolution versions.

Resource Type:

Media and Other Open Sources

Area of Investigation:

Background and Family, Educational History, Professional History, Political History, Civil Litigation and Criminal Cases, Nonprofits, Campaign Finance, Personal Finances, Social Media, Associated People

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US Coast Guard Port State Information Exchange

Description:

This database is searchable by the name or other identifying details on a specific vessel, but not by owner name. Note that many vessels are titled with a state authority, often the DMV, so they may not appear in this database.

Resource Type:

Federal Records

Area of Investigation:

Personal Finances

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Valital

Description:

Valital is a paid resource that searches publicly available information. Using it, you can extract, filter and analyze online media on people and organizations you’re researching. It creates a well-organized clip search that makes it easy to know where to start with your research.

Resource Type:

Media and Other Open Sources

Area of Investigation:

Background and Family, Educational History, Professional History, Political History, Civil Litigation and Criminal Cases, Nonprofits, Campaign Finance, Personal Finances, Social Media, Associated People

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Vessel Tracking Websites

Description:

Use vessel tracking websites to find an individual’s or associated person’s boat. Current locations and recent ports of call for vessels are publicly available for free, while historical movements generally require purchase.

Resource Type:

Media and Other Open Sources

Area of Investigation:

Personal Finances

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Yahoo Image Search

Description:

Use Yahoo Image Search to find visuals such as photos, vectors, screenshots and icons.

Resource Type:

Media and Other Open Sources

Area of Investigation:

Background and Family, Educational History, Professional History, Political History, Civil Litigation and Criminal Cases, Nonprofits, Campaign Finance, Personal Finances, Social Media, Associated People

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Yandex

Description:

Yandex is a suite of internet search tools hosted by Yandex, LLC, a Russian technology company. This site indexes networks and pages on the internet outside of the West and is useful when searching for information about individuals in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia.

Resource Type:

Media and Other Open Sources

Area of Investigation:

Background and Family, Educational History, Professional History, Political History, Civil Litigation and Criminal Cases, Nonprofits, Campaign Finance, Personal Finances, Social Media, Associated People

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Zillow

Description:

Zillow is a free website that provides photos and data on real property throughout the U.S. Its property data is generally sourced from county-level tax assessors. (As primary sources, tax assessor records are more reliable, so use them to verify anything reported in Zillow.) Zillow complements tax assessor data by also providing data on a property’s listing history. For example, Zillow may report that a property owned by an individual was recently listed for rent, suggesting that the individual may no longer be living there.

Resource Type:

Media and Other Open Sources

Area of Investigation:

Professional History, Personal Finances

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