Follow the bills

• 1). Visit your local county clerk's office and search their filing computer terminals for liens, entering relevant names, the name of a business or potential debtors. Keep an eye out for liens, or claims from a party such as a bank or another business that alleges a debt has been unpaid. You should also look for notices of claim, which is the first step toward filing a civil lawsuit.
  
  
• 2). Search the county courthouse for civil cases by the name of the defendant. A formal lawsuit specifying how much the plaintiff is suing for, and under what claims, would proceed the notice of claim within a few months. That file might also include a response from the defendant.
  
  
• 3). Contact the U.S. District Bankruptcy Court closest to you and ask for a records clerk. By phone, they can at least confirm or deny if the party you have asked about has applied for, and whether they have yet been granted, bankruptcy protection. But for more details, you either need to visit the courthouse to review the file in person or search the online federal judiciary database online (Public Access to Court Electronic Records, or PACER). The filing should at least include an estimate of the filer's debts and a listing of the parties to whom they owe the most money. Again, the bankruptcy records are only at the federal court level, but liens and civil lawsuits filed in a county may provide details not listed in the bankruptcy request.