There are consumer protection laws in place which says they do have to release this information to a Trustee or the heirs, but they will play dumb so they can rack up the late charges prior to giving you the payoff amounts.

Dear Every Real Estate Agent Whose Listings I'm Viewing Recently,STOP using the SAME lockbox code on all your listings. Especially those of you who have 9 listings across town. STOP using the property address as the l...

My client was actually a good boss (he made it clear I actually report to him despite being a contractor) so he was able to protect me a lot.

Of course we have an exit plan and strategies planned to protect both him and us.

You can look most of that up, since it is public records!

My commercial assets were in LLCs from day 1, so more protection. 

In other cases, which is the most likely situation for you, there is no reporting.https://www.irs.gov/publications/p523#en_US_2017_publink100011876

Only public (wall Street) or local mortgage broker.

If you are not paying him, and he is doing it for free, either way, you still want to make sure you have an agreement with him on payment and enough protection to cover your liability.

If I'm doing business with people who are not in my inner circle I'd be looking to see if it's possible to structure the transaction, entity, in a way that keeps me in full control of the property while protecting the others financial interests.