Asset Search for Debt Buyers
A tape is priced on a recovery assumption, and two questions sit under it. Enforceability is a legal question for counsel, and under 12 CFR 1006.26 it is now judged on a strict liability standard where not knowing is expressly no defense. Collectibility is answered from the public record, account by account, and that is what this page covers.
Quick Answer
An asset search for debt buyers answers the collectibility half of portfolio valuation: what each debtor actually holds of record, including real property with equity, entity interests, vehicles, vessels, aircraft, UCC filings, and judgments already recorded against the same debtor, which reveal both competing creditors and their priority dates. It does not determine whether a debt is time-barred, a legal question made unforgiving by the strict liability standard at 12 CFR 1006.26. $295 flat per account, delivered in 1 to 5 days, with no volume tier.
Can a debt buyer be liable for suing on a time-barred debt without knowing?
Yes. Under 12 CFR 1006.26, part of Regulation F, a time-barred debt is one for which the applicable statute of limitations has expired, and a debt collector must not bring or threaten to bring a legal action against a consumer to collect a time-barred debt. The Bureau adopted a strict liability standard, under which the prohibition is violated even if the collector neither knew nor should have known that a debt was time barred. There is no reasonable-belief defense and no carve-out for relying on a seller’s representation that a tape was current, which places the risk of a bad tape on the buyer and makes pre-purchase diligence the only available protection. The limitations determination itself turns on account documentation and the governing state period, and belongs to counsel.
Debt Buyer Snapshot
| Governing rule | 12 CFR 1006.26, Regulation F, collection of time-barred debts |
|---|---|
| Time-barred debt | A debt for which the applicable statute of limitations has expired |
| Prohibition | Must not bring or threaten to bring a legal action to collect it |
| Standard | Strict liability, no knowledge requirement |
| No defense | Violated even if the collector neither knew nor should have known |
| What this report answers | Collectibility, not the limitations period |
| Highest-value finding | Judgments already recorded, with their priority dates |
| Pre-purchase | $195 Asset Profile, outside the FCRA |
| Post-purchase | $295 Creditor-Status, review or collection of an account |
| Volume | Flat published pricing, no tier and no breakpoint |
Five Things That Decide Debt Buyer Cases
- Not knowing is expressly not a defense. Reg F applies strict liability to time-barred suits.
- Diligence is protection, not negotiation. The usual defense is unavailable by rule.
- Existing judgments reprice an account. Priority runs by date, and you would be behind them.
- Nothing of record means judgment-proof. Whatever the face value on the tape says.
- No volume tier. Per-account cost at 500 equals per-account cost at five.
Debt Buyer Pricing
| Report | Price | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Skip Trace | $95 | Locating the subject before searching |
| Asset Profile Report | $195 | United States, all 50 states, statewide, nationwide |
| FCRA Creditor-Status Profile | $295 | Permissible-purpose collection of an existing judgment |
| Title Search Report | $595 | One property, 30-year chain of title, liens, comparables |
Published flat fees with no volume tier. FCRA-governed reports issued only on certified permissible purpose. Account data is GLBA-protected and never sold. No employment or income verification, and the debtor is never contacted. Limitations determinations belong to counsel.
Two Questions Decide What a Tape Is Worth, and Only One of Them Is Legal
A portfolio is priced on face value and a recovery assumption. Both questions underneath that assumption have to be answered before you bid, and they are answered from different places.
The first is enforceability: is the debt still legally collectible, and is the documentation sufficient to prove it. That is a legal question answered from account documentation and the governing statute of limitations, by counsel. The second is collectibility: even where the debt is perfectly enforceable, is there anything to collect from. That question is answered from the public record, and it is the one this page is about.
Getting the second question wrong costs money. Getting the first one wrong now costs considerably more than money, because the standard that governs it changed. Citations current as of August 8, 2026.
Why the Enforceability Question Stopped Being Forgiving
Under 12 CFR 1006.26, part of Regulation F, a time-barred debt is a debt for which the applicable statute of limitations has expired, and the rule states the prohibition without qualification: a debt collector must not bring or threaten to bring a legal action against a consumer to collect a time-barred debt.
The part that matters for portfolio diligence is the standard of liability. The Bureau adopted a strict liability approach, under which a collector violates the prohibition even if the collector neither knew nor should have known that a debt was time barred. There is no reasonable-belief defense, no reliance-on-the-seller defense, and no good-faith carve-out for a tape that was represented as current.
Read plainly, that shifts the whole risk of a bad tape onto the buyer. Diligence stops being a way to negotiate price and becomes the only available protection, because the ordinary defense, that you did not know, is expressly unavailable. This report does not answer the statute of limitations question, which turns on account documentation, the applicable state period, and events that may have tolled or revived it. That is counsel’s determination. What the report answers is the other half, and it answers it from primary records rather than from the seller’s representations.
What the Record Tells You About a Tape
Sellers describe portfolios in aggregate. The record describes debtors individually, and four things in it move valuation more than anything on the stratification sheet.
| What the record shows | What it does to the price you should pay |
|---|---|
| Recorded real property with equity | A judgment lien has something to attach to, read against the state homestead exemption |
| Judgments already recorded | Creditors ahead of you, and dated evidence that others pursued the same debtor |
| Entity and business interests | Charging order analysis, and income that wage garnishment will not reach |
| Nothing of record at all | A functionally judgment-proof account, whatever the face value says |
The second row is the one buyers consistently underuse. A debtor with three judgments already docketed against them is telling you two things at once: that others found them worth suing, and that you would be fourth in line behind claims with earlier recording dates. Priority is decided by date, so an account that looks identical to another on the tape can be worth a fraction of it once the stack is visible. Where transfers rather than liens are the issue, the undisclosed asset search covers voidable transaction timing, which carries its own short clocks.
Where Screening Pays For Itself
The arithmetic of portfolio screening is simple and it is usually run backwards. Buyers compare the cost of investigating every account against the cost of investigating none, which makes diligence look expensive. The comparison that matters is against the cost of litigating accounts that were never collectible, where filing fees, service, and attorney time are spent to obtain a judgment against someone who owns nothing of record.
| Where it sits in your process | Which report | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-purchase tape sampling | $195 Asset Profile | Not a consumer report, no permissible purpose required |
| Post-purchase account review | $295 Creditor-Status | Review or collection of an account is an enumerated purpose |
| Pre-suit screening | $295 Creditor-Status | Avoids litigating against an account with nothing of record |
| Locate only, debtor moved | $95 Skip Trace | Address resolution before any investigation is ordered |
Pricing is flat and published, with no volume tier and no breakpoint, which means the per-account cost at 500 accounts is identical to the per-account cost at five. That is deliberate: a tier structure would make screening cheaper only for buyers who least need the discipline. Which product applies to which step is a legal question rather than a preference, and the FCRA compliant asset search page sets out the enumerated permissible purposes so you can take them to counsel. Portfolio-level economics for ongoing operations are worked through on the asset search for collection agencies page.
What This Report Will and Will Not Do
It will not tell you whether a debt is time-barred. That turns on account documentation, the applicable state limitations period, and any tolling or revival events. It is a legal determination for counsel, and given the strict liability standard at 12 CFR 1006.26 it is not one to infer from a records report.
It will not be issued without a certified permissible purpose where the report is FCRA-governed. That obligation sits on the provider under 15 U.S.C. 1681e(a) and no order volume changes it.
It will not return bank or brokerage balances. Account data is GLBA-protected and is never sold here at any price.
It will not verify employment or income. Not a service offered here. Recorded business ownership and public licensure only, and the debtor is never contacted.
It will not value your portfolio. It returns what each debtor holds of record, with dates and citations. Converting that into a bid is your model and your judgment.
Price the Tape Before You Bid
$295 Creditor-Status Profile, flat per account
The FCRA-compliant report, issued on certified permissible purpose, documenting recorded real property, business entities, vehicles, vessels, aircraft, UCC filings, and judgments already recorded against the same debtor. Delivered in 1 to 5 days. No contracts, no minimum order, and no volume tier, so the per-account cost at 500 is the per-account cost at 5.
Order the Creditor-Status Profile, $295Screening before purchase, outside the FCRA? The $195 Asset Profile Report requires no permissible purpose. See which one applies.
Bank and brokerage account data is GLBA-protected and is never sold here at any price.
Who Orders an Asset Search for Debt Buyers
| Jurisdiction | What lives there |
|---|---|
| Debt buyers and portfolio purchasers | Account-level collectibility before bidding |
| Collection agencies | Pre-suit screening against uncollectible accounts |
| Creditors’ rights attorneys | Documented asset picture before filing |
| Judgment purchasers | Existing lien stack and priority dates |
| Credit unions and banks | Charged-off portfolio triage |
| Medical receivables buyers | High-volume, low-balance account screening |
Asset Search for Debt Buyers Questions
What is the rule on suing over time-barred debt?
Under 12 CFR 1006.26, part of Regulation F, a time-barred debt is one for which the applicable statute of limitations has expired, and the rule provides that a debt collector must not bring or threaten to bring a legal action against a consumer to collect a time-barred debt. The prohibition covers threatening suit as well as filing it.
Does it matter whether I knew the debt was time-barred?
No, and this is the provision that changes portfolio diligence. The Bureau adopted a strict liability standard, under which a collector violates the prohibition even if the collector neither knew nor should have known that a debt was time barred. There is no reasonable-belief defense and no carve-out for reliance on a seller’s representation that a tape was current.
Can your report tell me if an account is time-barred?
No, and no records report can. The limitations question turns on account documentation, the applicable state period, and any tolling or revival events, which makes it a legal determination for counsel. Given the strict liability standard, it is specifically not a conclusion to infer from a public records search. What this report answers is collectibility: whether the debtor holds anything of record worth pursuing.
How does an asset search change what a portfolio is worth?
By replacing an aggregate recovery assumption with account-level facts. Recorded real property with equity gives a judgment lien something to attach to. Judgments already recorded against the same debtor reveal creditors ahead of you and dated evidence that others pursued them. Entity and business interests open charging order analysis and identify income wage garnishment will not reach. And an account with nothing of record is functionally judgment-proof whatever its face value.
Why do already-recorded judgments matter so much?
Because priority is decided by recording date, and buyers consistently underuse this. A debtor with three judgments already docketed is telling you that others found them worth suing and that you would be fourth in line behind claims with earlier dates. Two accounts that look identical on a stratification sheet can be worth very different amounts once the existing stack is visible.
Which report do I use for pre-purchase sampling?
The $195 Asset Profile Report. Before you own the accounts, screening a sample is generally not a consumer report purpose, and that report is an asset investigation the FCRA does not reach, so no permissible purpose is required. After purchase, review or collection of an account is an enumerated permissible purpose and the $295 Creditor-Status Profile applies. Which one fits your specific use is a legal question for counsel.
Do you offer volume discounts for large tapes?
No, and that is deliberate. Pricing is flat and published with no volume tier and no breakpoint, so the per-account cost at 500 accounts is identical to the per-account cost at five. A tier structure would make screening cheapest for the buyers who least need the discipline, and it would make the published price meaningless.
Is screening worth it against the cost of just filing?
That is the comparison worth running, and it is usually run backwards. Buyers weigh the cost of investigating every account against investigating none, which makes diligence look expensive. The real comparison is against litigating accounts that were never collectible, where filing fees, service, and attorney time are spent obtaining a judgment against someone who owns nothing of record.
Do you contact the debtor?
Never. Every finding comes from public records and licensed databases across all 50 states and 3,250+ recording jurisdictions. No pretext calls, no impersonation, and no contact with the debtor, their employer, or any financial institution.
How fast is it, and what does it cost?
$295 flat per account for the FCRA-compliant Creditor-Status Profile, $195 for the Asset Profile Report where the FCRA does not apply, and $95 for a skip trace, each delivered in 1 to 5 days. No contracts, no subscription, and no minimum order, so a five-account sample and a five-hundred-account portfolio carry the same per-account price.
Where Debt Buyer Cases Go Next
FCRA compliant asset searchasset search for collection agenciescollectibility assessmentjudgment collection asset searchundisclosed asset searchorder a creditor-status profileOrder Your Report
Flat-fee pricing. No contracts, no retainer, no escrow account. Delivered in 1 to 5 days, depending on complexity and county.
Order the Creditor-Status Profile, $295Choose Your Report
Skip Trace ($95) → Asset Profile Report ($195) → Creditor-Status Profile ($295) → Title Search Report ($595) →Start Your Asset Search for Debt Buyers
$295 flat per account, delivered in 1 to 5 days. No contracts, no minimum order, and no volume tier, so the per-account price at 500 accounts equals the per-account price at five.
Order the Creditor-Status Profile, $295