Finding Hidden Buyers

Trying to figure out who the individuals are behind legal entities like LLCs, trusts, or holding companies? ATTOM has a new tool for that.

It’s called Transparent Owner, a new data product that reveals the true property owners of residential properties who are typically hidden from view.

The product is built using proprietary identity resolution techniques that combine public record data, machine learning, and advanced linking logic to uncover and connect beneficial ownership across properties and geographies.

By assigning standardized Owner IDs and resolving inconsistencies in how names appear in public filings, ATTOM said, the dataset provides a clearer and more actionable view of who actually controls a property.

“Transparent Owner helps our clients cut through that complexity and see the real picture, whether they are vetting a deal, analyzing portfolios, or building compliance checks,” said Todd Teta, Chief Product and Technology Officer at the data and analytics company.

The platform works like this: First, it normalizes thousands of variations in how individuals, LLCs, and trusts are recorded across jurisdictions. Then it resolves owner identities across counties and legal entities using geographic, linguistic, and behavioral signals.

Next, it assigns a consistent, persistent identifier to each owner, regardless of how their name appears in different records. And after that, it connects resolved owner identities to verified mailing addresses, where available, for outreach and validation.

Finally, Transparent Owner categorizes owners into types such as Person, Investor, Lender, Company, Education, or Government, based on ownership patterns and scale.