Does Baselayer check for assignment for the benefit of creditors (ABC) in bankruptcy and lien searches?

Whether an assignment for the benefit of creditors (ABC) appears in public records depends entirely on the state. ABCs are largely contractual transfers between a company and an assignee.

Roughly nine states require court supervision: Delaware, Florida, New York, Washington, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland. For those, we have coverage through our court docket search, where the ABC surfaces as a civil or chancery filing.

For the other 40+ states, including California and Texas, no court filing is required, so the ABC itself is generally not part of the public record. This is an industry-wide limitation rooted in what is publicly recorded, not something specific to Baselayer.

Two partial signals can help fill the gap:

• Assignees sometimes file UCCs reflecting the asset transfer. Our lien search captures these, though not in every case.

• Unpaid creditors and vendors often file lawsuits, or in some cases push the company into involuntary bankruptcy. Our litigation and bankruptcy search captures those.