Background Checks
Civil Records and Litigation History
A search of civil court records - lawsuits, judgments, liens, bankruptcies and family court matters - to show the disputes a person or business has already been through.
- #1 Private Investigator in Texas
- Texas License #12818
- Twenty-five years of experience
- Marine veteran owned
- Statewide Texas coverage
- Free confidential consultation
What this is
Civil Records, in plain terms.
Criminal history tells you what somebody was charged with. Civil history tells you how they behave in a disagreement, and in business that is usually the more predictive record. A contractor with nine suits from former clients has told you something a reference check never will.
Civil records are kept by court, by county and by district, and they are not aggregated anywhere reliable. Like criminal records, the search has to follow the person: where they have lived, where they have operated, and where the entities they are behind were registered.
The work
What actually gets done.
- Search district and county civil filings in the relevant jurisdictions.
- Search federal civil dockets, which local searches do not reach.
- Identify judgments, abstracts of judgment and liens.
- Search bankruptcy filings.
- Search filings against related business entities, not only the individual.
- Retrieve the actual pleadings and orders, not just docket entries.
Background Checks
Searched where the records actually live.
County by county, court by court, agency by agency. The report says which jurisdictions were covered and which were not, because a search without its scope stated is not a search.
What you get
At the end of it.
- A case-by-case list with court, cause number, parties and disposition.
- Copies of the pleadings, judgments and orders that matter.
- A summary of the pattern, where there is one.
- A clear note of the jurisdictions searched and the ones not covered.
When people call
The three situations we hear most.
You are about to do business with somebody
Litigation history is the cheapest character reference available.
You are evaluating a claim against you
Whether the other side is a repeat litigant changes how a case should be handled.
You are enforcing a judgment
Other judgments and liens tell you who else is already in line.
Questions
About this service.
Is a civil records search the same as a public records search?
No, and the old site treated them as the same thing. Civil records are court files - who sued whom and what happened. Public records work is requesting documents from government agencies. Different custodians, different process.
Will it show cases that were settled or dismissed?
Yes. A filed case is a public record regardless of how it ended, and the disposition is part of what makes it informative.
How far back does it go?
It depends on the court’s retention and digitization. Recent decades are generally well covered. Older files sometimes require a physical retrieval, which we can arrange.
Is the first conversation really free?
Yes, and it is confidential. You describe the situation, we tell you whether an investigation is likely to help, roughly what it would involve and what it would cost. There is no charge for that call and no obligation at the end of it.
More in this area
Other services in Background Checks.
Where we work
Four metros, and the rest of Texas.
Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio are where most cases start. Coverage runs to the whole state, and records and asset work is run nationally.
Free consultation
Tell us what is going on. The first call is free.
Describe the situation and we will tell you honestly whether an investigation would help, what it would involve and what it would cost. Confidential, no obligation, and no charge for the conversation.