Experian Legal Collections

Use this service to retrieve Experian’s combined summary of bankruptcies, liens, judgments, Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filings, and commercial collections for a business.

Requirements

Application field	Requirement	Notes
Business country	Required	Provide the business country code. This service supports United States business information.
Business legal name	Conditional	Required when the application does not already have a Business Identification Number (BIN).
Business city	Conditional	Required when the application does not already have a BIN.
Business state	Conditional	Required when the application does not already have a BIN. Use the two-letter state code.
Business street, ZIP code, telephone, and EIN	Optional	These fields can improve Business Match results when Lendflow must obtain a BIN.
Business Identification Number (BIN)	Conditional	Required to run Legal Collections. If it is unavailable, Lendflow runs Experian Business Match and uses the result with the highest numeric reliability code. The service does not run if Business Match returns no result.

API flow

This service is available through Workflow Builder and the dashboard. It is not a Data Orchestration attribute, so a Data Orchestration template cannot run it. The dashboard starts a manual run with PUT /api/int/applications/{application_id}/enrich and provider experian_legal_collections. This is an internal dashboard route, not a supported public integration endpoint. To retrieve a completed result through the public API:

Call GET /api/applications/{application_id}/commercial_data through Get Commercial Data.
Pass services[]=experian_legal_collections.
Read the provider result from data.commercial_data.experian.legal_collections.
Use data.statuses.experian.legal_collections for the latest status, data.dates.experian_legal_collections for the latest date, and data.request_data.experian.legal_collections for the stored request.

The dashboard uses these corresponding paths:

Value	Dashboard data path
Response	`commercialData.experian.legal_collections`
Status	`commercialData.statuses.experian.legal_collections`
Submitted request	`commercialData.request_data.experian.legal_collections`

The outbound Experian request contains bin, subcode, legalFilingsCollectionsSummary: true, and legalFilingsSummary: true.

Data Orchestration availability

Capability	Availability
Workflow Builder block	Available
Manual dashboard run	Available
Data Orchestration attribute or prerequisite	Not available
Commercial-data retrieval	Available after the service runs

What the service returns

Result area	What it contains	How to interpret it
`businessHeader`	Identity data for the Experian business associated with the BIN.	Confirm that the result belongs to the intended business.
`legalFilingsSummary`	Total legal-item count, balance, and derogatory legal count.	A combined view of public-record activity.
`legalFilingsCollectionsSummary`	Counts and balances split across bankruptcies, liens, judgments, UCC filings, and collections.	Use the category fields to understand what contributes to the aggregate.

Representative response

{
  "businessHeader": {
    "bin": "000000000",
    "businessName": "SAMPLE INDUSTRIES",
    "address": {"city": "AUSTIN", "state": "TX", "zip": "78701"},
    "taxId": null,
    "dbaNames": null,
    "customerDisputeIndicator": false
  },
  "legalFilingsSummary": {
    "legalCount": 4,
    "legalBalance": 12500,
    "derogatoryLegalCount": 1
  },
  "legalFilingsCollectionsSummary": {
    "legalCount": 4,
    "legalBalance": 12500,
    "derogatoryLegalCount": 1,
    "bankruptcyIndicator": false,
    "bankruptcyCount": 0,
    "lienCount": 1,
    "lienBalance": 2500,
    "judgmentCount": 0,
    "judgmentBalance": 0,
    "uccFilingsCount": 2,
    "uccDerogatoryCount": 0,
    "collectionCount": 1,
    "collectionBalance": 10000
  }
}

Response attributes

Business identity

Attribute	Type	Meaning	Possible values or units	When returned
`businessHeader.bin`	String	Experian Business Identification Number.	Experian identifier.	When Experian identifies the business.
`businessHeader.businessName`	String	Name associated with the matched record.	Business name.	When available.
`businessHeader.address`	Object	Address associated with the matched record.	Street, city, state, ZIP, and ZIP extension may appear.	When available.
`businessHeader.phone`	String or null	Business telephone number.	Telephone number.	When available; otherwise `null` or absent.
`businessHeader.taxId`	String or null	Federal tax identifier.	Nine-digit identifier.	When available; otherwise `null` or absent.
`businessHeader.dbaNames`	Array or null	Doing-business-as names.	Array of strings.	When available; otherwise `null` or absent.
`businessHeader.customerDisputeIndicator`	Boolean	Whether the business disputed profile information.	`true` or `false`.	When supplied by Experian.

Aggregate legal activity

Attribute	Type	Meaning	Possible values or units	When returned
`legalFilingsSummary.legalCount`	Number	Total bankruptcies, liens, judgments, UCC filings, and collections.	Count.	When the summary is returned.
`legalFilingsSummary.legalBalance`	Number	Combined balance for balance-bearing legal items and collections.	Currency amount in provider units.	When the summary is returned.
`legalFilingsSummary.derogatoryLegalCount`	Number	Combined count of derogatory legal records.	Count.	When the summary is returned.

Category summary

Attribute	Type	Meaning	Possible values or units	When returned
`bankruptcyIndicator`	Boolean	Whether bankruptcy information is reported.	`true` or `false`.	In `legalFilingsCollectionsSummary`.
`bankruptcyCount`	Number	Bankruptcies on file.	Count.	In the category summary.
`lienCount` / `lienBalance`	Number	Liens on file and their combined balance.	Count / currency amount.	In the category summary.
`judgmentCount` / `judgmentBalance`	Number	Judgments on file and their combined balance.	Count / currency amount.	In the category summary.
`uccFilingsCount`	Number	UCC filings on file.	Count.	In the category summary.
`uccDerogatoryCount`	Number	UCC filings Experian classifies as derogatory.	Count.	In the category summary.
`collectionCount` / `collectionBalance`	Number	Commercial collection accounts and their combined balance.	Count / currency amount.	In the category summary.

Counts of 0 mean the returned summary found none in that category. A null or missing field means Experian did not supply that field and must not be treated as zero.

Statuses and errors

Signal	Meaning
`Not yet started`	The dashboard has no run for this service.
`Started`	The service was queued or is running.
`Success`	A provider response was stored.
Error message in `data.statuses.experian.legal_collections`	The service run failed and the status contains its message.
No Business Match result	Lendflow stops before the service request because it could not obtain a BIN.
Invalid credentials or subcode	Authentication or request validation fails before a usable result is stored.

FAQ

Does Legal Collections return individual filing records?

No. This service returns combined and category-level summaries. Use the dedicated Experian Bankruptcies, Liens, Judgments, or UCC Filings service for detail records.

Can I run Legal Collections in Data Orchestration?

No. The Workflow Builder block exists, but the current Data Orchestration inventory does not include this service.

Does this service require an Experian BIN?

Yes. Lendflow automatically runs Experian Business Match when the business does not already have one.

Is a missing balance the same as zero?

No. Zero is a returned numeric result. A null or omitted field means the provider did not supply that value.