Discount Process Servers

What is Skip Tracing ?

Skip tracing is the process of locating the whereabouts of persons of interest usually defendants, witnesses and missing persons. These people may be missing intentionally or unintentionally.

Finding elusive individuals might seem like the work of a detective, but it is an important skill for qualified process servers. Whether a person does not want to be served or lives in an isolated location, it is common for process servers to require skip tracing in order to complete the job and appease their clients.

Why do you need skip tracing?

You might require skip tracing if you need to serve someone who doesn’t want to be served. In an effort to avoid service, they might change residential or employment addresses to make them more difficult to locate. Or you might need to serve documents on somebody when you do not have much information on them. In this case, a process server can use skip tracing techniques to find and serve them.

How to skip trace ?

Skip tracing is about asking enough questions to the correct people or searching the correct databases. These databases can be both publicly available or private databases, quite often with a ‘pay per view’. Skip tracers will often discreetly conduct interviews with people who are close to their subject and engage in surveillance. Skip tracers know that most people have a online presence such as on social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

Skip tracers may access information from the following sources to name a few:

Driver’s license/vehicle registration and title, Credit reports, Credit card applications, Loan applications, Job applications, Phone number databases, Utility bills, Flight records, Department store/customer loyalty card, Consumer fraud, Public tax information, Public records databases, Criminal background checks, Courthouse records, No known heirs estate and People who are key witnesses in a lawsuit.

At first glance, skip tracing may seem like something you can do yourself but it will cost you time, money, and energy that could be saved by working with a professional. An experienced process server and skip tracer has access to high-tech methodologies, insider information, and cutting-edge surveillance techniques. Free internet search services can occasionally be helpful, but the best services will cost you a fee. Plus, they can call upon associates for assistance. Perhaps most importantly, a professional skip tracer will the while abide by legislation especially trespass and privacy laws.

How long does it take to complete a skip trace?

How long is a piece of string ? The amount of time depends on how easily accessible it is to find the information. Some efforts take up to 72 hours while others could take up to ten days or longer.

Is it legal to skip trace?

Yes of course. Skip tracing in Australia is legal as long as you’re not breaking the law to retrieve the information. Examples of illegal ways to skip trace are obtaining private confidential information or accessing private documentation without consent usually with a bribe of a public servant. It is not a crime to ask questions.   

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