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Liens, Judgments, and Bankruptcies Searches

Assess whether your candidates meet your qualifications for regulated financial positions.

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Support regulatory compliance 

Address Risk Assessment Challenges 

With the implementation of the National Consumer Assistance Plan (NCAP)’s enhanced standards for public records, all civil judgments and most tax liens were removed from credit reports. As a result, financial institutions struggle to meet the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)’s risk assessment and reporting requirements.

Liens, judgments, and bankruptcies searches can help fill gaps in credit history by searching financial history records directly in public record sources.

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Mitigate compliance risks

A Proactive Approach to FINRA Reporting

Our searches help you proactively manage FINRA’s reporting requirements, instead of defensively responding to inquiries from regulators, reducing the risks of audit findings and penalties.

Tailored financial solutions

Tax liens, judgments, and bankruptcies searches to meet financial institutions’ needs 

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Lien, judgment, and bankruptcy results are self-reported by candidates and employees and validated with the primary source directly.

Get nationwide bankruptcy coverage, as well as lien and judgment records at the federal, state, and local levels. The search covers over 2000 counties in 92% of states and can be bundled with a credit check.

Strict compliance measures are applied to drive consistency and validate that the results pertain to the right employee or candidate.

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In-depth financial data

Dig deeper into candidates’ financial history

The Liens, Judgments, and Bankruptcy search focuses on key financial events, helping you strike a balance between:

  • Staying compliant with local regulations
  • Respecting candidate privacy
  • Managing organizational risk effectively

Order the Liens, Judgments, and Bankruptcy search alone or with a credit check for a more thorough picture of candidates’ financial history.

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Why First Advantage?

Our advanced fulfillment systems will accelerate the turnaround times on your background criminal record checks. Approximately 90% of our U.S. criminal searches utilize intelligent automation to speed up the entire employment criminal background check process of searching for court records*.

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Frequently asked questions about Liens, Judgments, and Bankruptcies Searches

FINRA requires background investigation and verification of registered financial professionals, including a validation of criminal records, liens, judgments, and bankruptcies. Other agencies may require these searches to meet their own requirements.

The search focuses on state and federal tax liens, civil judgments, and bankruptcies filed with the U.S. District, Bankruptcy, and Appellate Courts.

Liens, judgments, and bankruptcies searches search the last seven years of financial history that have been filed with the courts.

In addition to supporting FINRA compliance requirements, Liens, Judgments, and Bankruptcies searches provide an overview of key financial history details that can help financial institutions make informed decisions when hiring for positions with financial oversight, while promoting respect for candidates’ privacy.

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Whether you want to rethink your employment background check program or need enhanced criminal background checks for more informed hiring, we can help.

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Source *First Advantage as of 12/31/2025

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