Charles Jones

What Charles Jones does

Charles Jones is a Trenton, New Jersey-headquartered public records search company that provides certified and non-certified due diligence services to the title insurance, legal, and lending markets. Founded in 1911, the firm has built its offering across six product categories: Name Searches (child support, judgment lien, patriot/OFAC), Tax Searches (NJ and PA), Flood and Tideland services, County Searches, Corporate and UCC services, and Nationwide Due Diligence and Registered Agent services. Its proprietary technology stack centers on the Sign On web-based order entry and retrieval platform and the DTS Title Plant, a digital index covering approximately 80% of New Jersey with 30+ year search depth across 16 counties; the firm also claims coverage of more than 3,600 taxing authorities in Pennsylvania.

The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DataTrace Information Services, having been consolidated under full DataTrace ownership in 2017 after a 2007-2017 joint venture period under the Signature Information Solutions LLC name. Charles Jones operates a sales-led and direct-to-customer go-to-market, with customers establishing accounts via the Sign On platform or through direct phone engagement with Customer Service and Product Specialists (800-792-8888). Revenue is generated primarily through per-transaction fees for certified and non-certified searches, with a recurring subscription component from Life-of-Loan flood monitoring and professional services fees for corporate filings and registered agent representation delivered via the NRAI partnership.

Charles Jones employs 101-250 people and serves a customer base concentrated in title insurance and abstract firms across New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with secondary exposure to legal professionals, lending institutions, and real estate professionals. Its leadership team consists of General Manager Chuck Mauro, VP of Sales Steven Goldstein, and Director of Operations Joe O'Gorman, all with multi-decade tenure in the title insurance industry. The firm is not a venture-backed or publicly-traded entity, and no revenue, ARR, or growth-rate disclosure is available in the source material.

Name

Charles Jones

Legal name

Charles Jones LLC

Website

https://charlesjones.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1911

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Charles Jones is a 1911-founded, Trenton-based public records search firm providing certified name, tax, flood, county, and corporate due diligence services to title insurance, legal, and lending customers across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and nationwide, operating as a subsidiary of DataTrace.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Records Search Services

NAICS

Title Abstract and Settlement Offices (541191), Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Title Insurance (6361), Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Title Search & Examination (BPAJAOAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Property Tax & Municipal Lien Search Services (BPAJAOAJ), Document Preparation & Recording Services (Deeds, Liens) (BPAJAOAG)

Keywords

• Public records search
• Title due diligence
• Tax certification services
• Flood determination services
• Corporate UCC searches

Headquarters

HQ city

Trenton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Public Records Search Services: Charles Jones generates revenue through providing certified and non-certified public records search services across multiple categories including name searches (child support, judgment lien, patriot), tax searches, flood and tideland searches, county searches, and corporate/UCC searches. Services are ordered per transaction with certified searches commanding premium pricing.
2. Life-of-Loan Monitoring Services: Automated life-of-loan tracking service for flood monitoring to identify properties affected by periodic changes in flood maps, providing ongoing compliance monitoring for lenders throughout the loan duration.
3. Corporate Filing & Registered Agent Services: Filing corporate documents locally and nationally, including amendments, mergers, dissolutions, withdrawals, and commercial registered agent services nationwide through corporate affiliation with NRAI.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Charles Jones provides certified and non-certified public records search services for the title, legal, and lending markets, specializing in New Jersey and Pennsylvania with nationwide capabilities. Core offerings include name searches (child support, judgment lien, patriot), tax searches, flood and tideland searches, county land record searches, corporate/UCC services, and nationwide due diligence delivered through a web-based Sign On platform and proprietary DTS Title Plant systems.

Product overview

Charles Jones is a public records search company offering a portfolio of due diligence solutions for the title, legal, and lending markets. The core offering consists of six integrated product categories: Name Searches (Child Support Judgment, Judgment Lien, Patriot Name), Tax Searches (NJ Tax and Assessment, PA Tax Certifications), Flood and Tideland Services (Flood Search, Life-of-Loan Monitoring, Tideland Claims, Tideland Grant, Wetland Determination), County Search Services, Corporate and UCC Services (Status Report, Franchise Tax, Good Standing Certificate, Legal Existence, Corporate Copies, UCC Plus, UCC State Certified, UCC State Report), and Nationwide Services (Due Diligence, Corporate Filing, Flood Search). The company operates the Sign On web-based platform for online order entry and retrieval, complemented by the DTS Title Plant for self-service automated searches across 16 New Jersey counties. While specializing in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, services extend nationwide for certain products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Child Support Judgment Search Certified New Jersey child support judgment search that confirms whether a child support judgment exists against requested names within 24-48 hours, supporting compliance with NJ State legislation requiring attorneys to ascertain child support debtor status before releasing settlements. Targeted at attorneys and legal professionals handling civil actions.
• Judgment Lien Search Certified New Jersey judgment lien search that identifies real estate liens, judgments, bankruptcies, and child support records for real estate, lending, and legal professionals.
• Patriot Name Search Certified search of OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) lists including Specially Designated Nationals, Foreign Sanctions Evaders, and Consolidated List, required under the USA PATRIOT Act and Executive Order 13224 for compliance before financial transactions.
• New Jersey Tax and Assessment Searches Certified New Jersey tax search detailing tax billing, payment status, utility information, and all lienable charges, with automated systems providing fast, comprehensive results in multiple formats.
• Pennsylvania Tax Certifications Pennsylvania tax certifications including all lienable information from public utility details to lien letter content, with coverage of more than 3,600 taxing authorities across Pennsylvania. Offers Official Government Tax Certifications with current or current and prior year search options.
• Flood Search Determination Determination of whether property is located in special or moderate flood hazard areas (100-year or 500-year flood zone) based on FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps for Flood Disaster Protection Act compliance.
• Life-of-Loan Flood Monitoring Automated life-of-loan tracking service to identify properties affected by periodic changes in flood maps, as required under the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994 for lenders to monitor flood insurance.
• Tideland Claims Search Certified search of riparian rights and claims established by the State of New Jersey to portions of property lying in areas presently or formerly flowed by tidal waters, using Tidelands Resource Council maps, tax maps, and U.S. Geological Survey maps.
• Tideland Grant Search Search of prior grants and leases for properties with Tideland Claims, showing historical grants and leases of any claimed area.
• Wetland Determination Opinion on the possible existence of wetlands on a property based on topographic maps, aerial photography, soil survey maps, National Wetland Inventory maps, and New Jersey Pinelands delineations using the three-parameter definition (soils, vegetation, hydrography).
• County Search Services County land record searches for all 21 counties in New Jersey, including present owner searches, full searches, foreclosure, and commercial searches. Utilizes DTS Title Plants for expedited completion independent of county record room hours.
• DTS Title Plant Digital title plant system enabling self-service County Searches for 16 New Jersey counties (Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Warren), with automated indexing three ways, 20+ years of filings, and availability outside county record room hours.
• Status Report Report providing corporation information including date of formation, registered agent, registered office, status (active, dissolved, revoked), and principal office address, with typical turnaround within 24 hours.
• Franchise Tax/Corporate Tax Lien Report Report on franchise tax lien status for entities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, detailing tax status with state Division of Revenue and notification of any liens filed or taxes due.
• Good Standing Certificate Certificate providing conclusive state evidence that a company is active and all reports and taxes are current within two years, available in Long or Short form.
• Legal Existence (Good Standing) Certificate Certificate providing conclusive status information for any entity registered with the state or commonwealth.
• Corporate Copies State issued copies of any document filed with Secretary of State in New Jersey and Secretary of the Commonwealth in Pennsylvania.
• UCC Plus Uniform Commercial Code search featuring a unique Dual Index Search examining NJ State UCC records and a proprietary database for faster, refined results with most results returned in 4 hours or less. Offers fixed fee pricing with all copies included.
• UCC State Certified Certified UCC report issued by the New Jersey Division of Revenue against requested names, typically returned within 24-48 hours.
• UCC State Report Uniform Commercial Code report issued against requested names detailing all findings filed with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
• Due Diligence Services Commercial due diligence products covering courts and record types nationwide, including Business Entity Document Retrieval, UCC Search and Retrieval, and Court Record Search and Retrieval.
• Corporate Filing & Registered Agent Services Corporate document filing submissions and retrievals for all types including amendments, mergers, dissolutions, and withdrawals, plus commercial registered agent services nationwide through affiliation with NRAI.
• Sign On Platform Web-based search system enabling online order entry and retrieval of public records searches, providing customers access to order products and retrieve results.

Quantifiable outcome

• Certified child support judgment search turnaround within 24-48 hours
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• NRAI (National Registered Agents, Inc.)supportOthersCharles Jones provides commercial registered agent services nationwide or internationally through corporate affiliation with NRAI. This partnership enables Charles Jones to offer registered agent services to corporate clients needing representation in multiple jurisdictions.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Black Knight / ICE Mortgage Technology (DataTree): DataTree delivers title plant, document imaging, and property records services used by title underwriters and lenders; directly analogous to Charles Jones's DTS Title Plant concept but operating at national scale as part of the ICE Mortgage Technology platform.
• Corporation Service Company (CSC): Large incumbent in corporate/UCC filings, registered agent services, and due diligence — directly comparable to Charles Jones's Corporate Filing & Registered Agent and UCC product lines, with far broader geographic coverage and a deeper enterprise technology stack.
• First American Title Insurance Company: Indirect peer via common affiliate/parent ecosystem (Charles Jones privacy policy points to firstam.com); First American operates its own title plant and due diligence infrastructure that competes with Charles Jones at the national level.
• LexisNexis Risk Solutions: Large data and analytics platform with due diligence, background, and public records products that overlap with Charles Jones's name searches, judgment/patriot searches, and nationwide due diligence — but at much broader scale and via API-first delivery.
• Stewart Information Services: National title insurance and settlement services company that is both a customer segment and an indirect competitor — many of Charles Jones's products (title searches, tax, flood, corporate) feed directly into Stewart's underwriting decisions.
• Wolters Kluwer Lien Solutions: Provider of UCC search/filing and due diligence solutions to title, lending, and legal markets — operates as a scaled, technology-led alternative to Charles Jones's UCC Plus and nationwide due diligence offerings, with broader national reach.

Regional players

• TransCounty Title / DRG (Data Resource Group): Northeast/Mid-Atlantic title and due diligence services firm with overlapping NJ/PA tax, UCC, and corporate search offerings — relevant regional competitor that competes with Charles Jones's Pennsylvania and New Jersey coverage footprints.

Direct peers

• DataTrace Information Services: Direct parent and operating peer — DataTrace is the title plant, due diligence, and public records platform that Charles Jones's DTS Title Plant technology sits within; both companies deliver county searches, tax certifications, and UCC products across overlapping geographies and customers.
• PropLogix: Technology-forward due diligence provider offering title, flood, and property reports to title agents and real estate attorneys — overlaps with Charles Jones's flood, tideland, and county search products and competes on turnaround and online ordering UX.
• National Tax Search (NTS): National tax search and utility services firm focused on lender/title due diligence — competes head-to-head with Charles Jones's NJ tax & assessment search and PA tax certification products for the same lender and title customers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/signature1911
• Facebookfacebook.com/signatureinfo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/charles-jones-signature-information-solutions

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Charles Jones