Three Skip Tracing Challenges – And How to Solve Them

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

With so many records out there, it may seem impossible for a person to go off the grid. And in a way, it’s true – people leave trails with almost everything they do, whether it’s making a purchase or liking a photo on social media. 

But many professionals know it’s not always easy to track people down, which is when skip tracing comes into play. What is skip tracing? Skip tracing is the process of tracking down a hard-to-find individual and  is critical for debt collectors and repo agents performing debt collection or asset recovery. Along with collections, law enforcement, investigators, and legal professionals may also use skip tracing to locate someone, like a person of interest or witness. While having billions of data points connected to people does make it harder for people to disappear, However, there are all sorts of issues you may still run into while skip tracing. While there’s no single solution, the right skip tracing tools can help. Here’s how to solve three key skip tracing challenges o with a public and private records database.

Gather skip tracing data on someone with no credit or bank activity

You might think that basically every American has at least some credit or bank activity. However, it’s becoming more and more common for people, particularly young people, to avoid credit and banks altogether. Whether it’s intentional or not, the person you’re looking for may have no credit or bank activity. This can be an issue in skip tracing because many databases pull large amounts of their data from credit headers and banks. But with no credit to link a person to, you may not be able to gather the information you need about that person using traditional searching methods. 

The solution? Use a skip tracing software like Tracers that also pulls data from unbanked and alternative data sources. When you perform a people search in a database that pulls from sources other than credit headers and banks, you can get a full profile on someone – even if they’ve never used a credit card or bank in their life. Tracers offers a variety of unique data sets, a key one being utility listings data. That means if someone has ever paid a utility in their life – whether it’s a phone, gas, electric, water or other bill – you can find the up-to-date information you need to locate and contact them. With Tracers comprehensive people search , finding someone without credit or bank activity is no longer a concern.

• Many databases rely on credit header data for their people information.
• If you’re skip tracing someone without credit or bank activity, you should use a people search that provides unbanked and alternative data sources, such as utility listings data.
• Utility listings data is pulled directly from utility companies, providing you with the current information you may need to skip trace people without credit history.

Skip trace an “off-the-grid” person with a social media 

People reveal all sorts of information about themselves on social media, making it a great source of information for skip tracing.  However, it can be tedious and difficult to manually search through different social networks to find the information you need — particularly if someone has tried to “go off the grid.”

If you want to use social media data to help with skip tracing, the most effective way to find it is with a social media search. What is a social media search? A social media search is a tool that searches all social networks for you and provides information about someone’s activity in one comprehensive report. When you do a social media search with Tracers, you’ll get pull information about key profiles (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.), as well as user accounts on other websites, message boards an individual has posted on, web domains they may own, mentions of the person on websites and media, extensive email address history, and much more.

With a comprehensive social media search engine,. even the smallest mentions on a website can  help you track down people who think they’re “off the grid.”

• Social media activity can be very useful for skip tracing a crafty individual.
• If the person you’re skip tracing tries to limit their social media activity, you can use a social media search to help dig up the information you need.
• A social media search will pull information from a variety of sources to uncover even the smallest social activity, like a location tag, for faster and more effective skip tracing.

Locate a person or hidden asset with an asset search 

When dealing with collections and repossession, people may try to hide or sell assets to help avoid themselves, or their assets, being found. .t. For example, a person may exchange their vehicle or change the name under the title of their car. .. 

In situations in which people are hiding assets or changing locations,, it’s simply not enough to know asset details from a few months ago. You need up-to-date asset information in order to track down a hard-to-find person or hidden asset and increase your chances of right-party contact, which is exactly what a hidden asset search tool can provide. 

With an asset lookup in Tracers, you can up-to-date property records pand motor vehicle registration, as well as other asset information like domain registrations, aircraft records, vessel records, and more. This search can provide a number of important details, like the current name, phone number, or address of any recent registrations or purchases.  You can use this information for skip tracing phone numbers and addresses to locate and contact with someone, or to determine the likely location of an asset for recovery.  

• When trying to skip trace a person or asset, you need the most up-to-date asset information available.
• If someone tries to hide an asset, you can use a hidden asset search to find current and comprehensive details on any assets that person is connected with.
• Asset record information like names, addresses, phone numbers, and registration dates can help you skip trace hard-to-find individuals and assets. 

When you run into problems while skip tracing, one of the best solutions is using a public and private records database like Tracers with powerful skip tracing services. Whether you need a single skip trace search or batch skip tracing options, Tracers can provide what you need. Get started with Tracers today.

• What Is Skip Trace for Collections?
• Social Media Search
• What Is a People Search Service?
• Tracers Voted #1 Database for Private Investigators