Monday, October 8, 2012

Locating People with Skip Tracing Tools

By Prateek Thaman


The art of locating a person who may owe money is called skip tracing. There are several techniques that can be used to locate these people. The person being searched is called the skip, from the phrase "skip town", someone who leaves unannounced to get out of a bad situation and hide. As a result the people who are trying to find the skip are called skip tracers. This practice is very common in the collection industry.

The first step in skip tracing is collecting information, it is a major step and the more information the tracers have the easier the process becomes. Information like phone numbers, addresses, social security numbers on the subject or his/her family is the first step and can be of great help in the entire process.

Before the money is recovered, skip tracers must have correct information. When locating the person the information available can be cross referenced to make sure it is correct so contact can be made and the person can be located. To cross reference skip tracers use tools like public and private databases, such as credit reports, background checks, and public tax information. This process is a part of the daily life in debt collection.

Skip tracers use known information they have to try to make contact. It usually starts with calling primary, alternate phone numbers, or going to the listed address. If the information is not correct then the skip tracers can talk to the neighbors or even relatives (if available) in an effort to locate the person. Skip tracing tools are constantly being used to confirm that the information available is correct so the person can be located.

Skip tracing is a lot easier today than it used to be in the past. Thanks to the internet, most of the information is now available online. From the phone directories to all the major databases are at the skip tracer's finger tips and can be searched instantly so the information can be confirmed. Skip tracing is also a lot cheaper today because most of this information is available for free.




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