Blog

May 18, 2020

Real Estate Due Diligence Best Practices: UCC, Corporate, Legal, Public Records

Never before has it been more important to Know Your Customer. Federal and state regulations and their overwhelming compliance requirements have become the reality – the defining characteristic of our era. In 2016 alone, the Treasury Department collected over $21.5 million in penalties and settlements for OFAC violations.

Thorough due diligence and background investigations aren’t just prudent. They should be conducted without exception and include the use of onsite researchers.

We understand the headaches involved in conducting due diligence. Paper trails seem to lead nowhere. Confusing abbreviations make performing accurate searches seem nearly impossible. Different filing practices complicate matters even further. We feel your pain, and we have a solution.

Due Diligence Best Practices to Conduct in any Transactional Deal

• Research all jurisdictions in which the stakeholder has resided, owned property and has had business dealings.
• An investigation into public records (State and Federal Civil litigation histories, UCC, State and Federal Tax Liens, Judgment Liens and Bankruptcies)
• Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), lists known terrorists, money launderers and financiers of these activities
• A monitoring system

Key Questions that need to be answered

• Who owns the business? Are they who they say they are?
• How long have they been in business?
• Are they licensed in the State/County/City?
• What is the corporate status of the target?
• Are they in good standing?
• Are there any UCC’s or Liens Filed?
• Are the receivables already pledged as collateral in an existing UCC?
• Are there any pending litigation cases?
• Is there a judgment against the business or principal?
• Does the borrower own any property? What is the assessed value?
• Do the business owners or partners have:
• A record of bankruptcy
• History of serial litigation & Liens
• Criminal problems
• Product safety issues
• Are they mentioned on official lists (OFAC) that indicate possible association with crime, money laundering or terrorism?

We at Lincoln  help simplify your workflow and mitigate risk in the due diligence process. 

For over a decade we have worked hard to offer solutions that address local jurisdictional search and filing challenges.  Our services include:

• UCC / Tax Lien / Judgment Services
• Bankruptcy
• Monitoring
• Regulatory / Compliance Services
• Real Estate Ownership Verifications / Title Searches
• Courthouse Research and Retrievals
• OFAC / Patriot Act Searches

Achieving Real Estate Due Diligence Best Practices is Easy with Lincoln

Contact Lincoln Abstract or see our Services to see how our comprehensive services make us a true one-stop solution for real estate due diligence.