Skip tracing is a debt collection tactic that involves the search for missing or hard-to-find persons or corporate dealings. Skip tracing aims to locate and contact people who owe money but cannot be found by other means such as phone calls, mailings, and credit reporting agencies. Skip tracers research databases for individuals with similar names and addresses; they also use social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn to find potential leads. You can read more about how skip tracing works in this blog post!

Skip Tracing Guide: Little Known Tricks to Help You Find ANY

Skip tracing - a method of looking for one's whereabouts. The name "skippy" refers to the phrase for "skipping cities," as well as tracking a person who "skipped towns." Skip tracing is used primarily to identify people by creditors, lonesome property developers, and private investigators. When looking into publicly available records, individuals can get the corresponding email address and postal address. This information can be used to contact a person about notification, pending bills, arrest warrants, or prospective offers. When I know that I'm going to find the best opportunity for buyers and suppliers, I will help to provide that solution.

What is Skip Tracing for Debt Collection?

Many companies use skip tracking to trace non-paying customers. However, if a car is purchased when someone fails to pay its loan, the bank might employ a skip tracer to track you. Similar construction holds for the collection of debts. Hiring an expert skiptracer is the first defense against client tracing. 

Why do I need skip tracing?

Skip tracing can be used to find and help people that don't want service. To avoid the service, they might change their address or job or relocate, making them difficult to find. And you might be required to serve a friend for whom you have nothing else. A process server can do so by using skip tracing techniques.

How does skip tracing work?

Sometimes skip tracers conduct interviews with close to an unknown subject who engage in surveillance. They will likewise access the internet search for the online presence of a subject and use skip tracing software and many subscription databases not accessible to the general public. On the surface, skip tracing seems like something you can easily do yourself, but it will cost you time, money, and energy that would be saved from hiring an outside company. An experienced process server and skip-tracer are accessible to sophisticated technologies, insider information, and cutting-edge surveillance techniques. In addition, they can call on a colleague who could be there to help. Of course, most importantly, this will allow them to impose federal-state law and local legislation in such cases.

Is it legal to practice skip tracing?

Skip locating is legal as long as you are not breaking the law to get what you want. Examples of illegal retrieving and deleting a record are obtaining information or accessing private evidence without permission. It would help if you always were honest as to your intentions. You need always check the local laws and/or business guidelines as some laws will dictate what you can or can't do.

How long does it take to complete a skip trace?

The duration of the time depends on easy accessibility to access the information that you are seeking. Some services can last 48 hours, while many might take 10-14 days.

What is the skip tracer process like?

In the skip-tracing process, a skip-tracer will first verify information provided by their client and correct any misinformation. The next step is to familiarize themselves with the subject through public resources such as: 

• Social Media
• Credit Reports
• Friends & Family 
• Free Public Records Databases such as Pipl, fast people search 
• Loan Applications
• Criminal Background Checks
• Job Applications
• Court Records
• Utility Bills
• Skip tracing vendors such as: 

IDI, TLO, Enformion, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, MicroBilt, DRN Digital Recognition Network, VeriFacts, Inc., and more. 

Skip tracers used to manually look for information, calling the subject's references and spending lots of time scouring public records at libraries. Nowadays, skip tracers can get all this information online - social media has made things so much easier!

Unfortunately, with the abundance of free internet-based databases like LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters, it’s becoming harder to find people who skip town.

How do I hire a skip tracer?

Hiring a third-party collection agency can be more cost-effective than hiring an independent skip tracer for two reasons. First, the costs associated with working through one company are usually lower because of bulk discounts or referral incentives. Second, having access to other functions like collections and credit reporting may make the job easier by removing some leg work from your process while still allowing you to get results quickly rather than waiting until after you have all three pieces in place before making progress on finding someone who owes money.

If you're looking to hire a skip tracer, reach out, and I can recommend the best ones at the industry's lowest rate.

The next time a customer seems to go “off the grid” after failing to pay, you should reach out to me and ask for help. Click to rearch out