Legal professionals and process servers often face the same challenge: finding individuals who don’t want to be searched. Some people dodge legal papers, disappear without notice, or leave debts behind. When that happens, knowing how to track them down can make or break a case.
Unlike a simple internet search, skip tracing requires a structured method. It involves gathering information from public records, databases, and other sources to determine a person’s current location. Legal teams and process servers rely on it to locate the right person efficiently and lawfully.
Let’s explore and answer the question, “How does skip tracing work?”, why it is widely used in legal proceedings, and when it is the most effective solution.
What Does Skip Tracing Mean?
Skip tracing is the process of locating an individual whose whereabouts are unknown, often because they have intentionally or unintentionally made themselves difficult to find.
The term originates from the idea that the person has “skipped town,” leaving behind minimal or outdated information, making it necessary to “trace” their movements.
Unlike standard people searches, skip tracing involves a more thorough investigation using data sources, public records, and analytical tools. It requires professionals to verify and cross-reference information, ensuring that the located person is, in fact, the correct individual.
Skip tracing is a valuable tool for several industries, including:
- Process Servers: To locate individuals who need to be served legal papers but have moved without leaving a forwarding address.
- Attorneys & Law Firms: To track down witnesses, defendants, or individuals involved in ongoing legal cases.
- Debt Collectors: To find people who owe unpaid debts but have changed addresses or contact information.
- Bail Bondsmen: To locate individuals who have skipped bail and failed to appear in court.
- Private Investigators: To track down missing persons or conduct background investigations.
- Real Estate Professionals: To find property owners for foreclosure or real estate transactions.
While skip tracing is often associated with locating individuals avoiding legal obligations, it is also used for more benign purposes, such as reconnecting lost relatives or verifying identities in fraud investigations.
What is a Skip Trace Search in Legal Services?
Skip tracing is mostly used in legal services, debt collection, private investigation, and law enforcement. Legal professionals and process servers rely on skip tracing to find individuals who need to be served legal documents, appear in court, or respond to legal obligations.
This could include defendants in lawsuits, witnesses in legal proceedings, or individuals evading debt repayment.
Where Does the Information Come From?
Skip tracers piece together information from various public and private records, including:
- Court and Property Records: Deeds, lawsuits, criminal filings, and business registrations can reveal addresses and ownership details.
- Utility and Subscription Data: Setting up a new phone line, internet service, or utility account often points to a recent move.
- Employment & Licensing Records: A professional license, corporate filing, or LinkedIn update may indicate where someone is working.
- Financial Clues: Bankruptcy filings, foreclosures, or tax liens can signal where someone has been recently active.
- Social Media & Digital Footprints: Even people who lay low online may have activity through friends’ posts, tagged locations, or past accounts.
- Friends, Family, and Known Associates: If someone is intentionally avoiding being found, those close to them can sometimes provide useful information.
Why Does Skip Tracing Matter in Legal Cases?
In legal proceedings, time is often of the essence. If a defendant, witness, or debtor can’t be located, a case can be delayed or even dismissed.
So, how does skip tracing work in these situations? Here’s how:
- Ensure due process: Legal documents must be properly served to be valid in court. If someone is unreachable, the entire case may be in jeopardy.
- Help process servers deliver papers: Some individuals actively avoid being served, making skip tracing an essential tool for process servers.
- Recover debts and assets: Lawyers and collection agencies use skip tracing to track down individuals who have defaulted on financial obligations.
- Find witnesses or defendants: People move, change jobs, and switch contact details all the time. A well-conducted skip trace ensures they can still be reached.
How Does Skip Tracing Work for Process Servers?
Skip tracing helps process servers locate individuals when direct attempts to serve legal documents are unsuccessful. Common scenarios where skip tracing is necessary include:
- Individuals who have moved without leaving a forwarding address
- Defendants or witnesses who are actively avoiding service
- Cases where the information on file is outdated or incorrect
Without skip tracing, process servers may face repeated failed service attempts that can lead to delays in legal proceedings.
How Skip Tracing Works for Process Servers
Skip tracing is a multi-step process that involves gathering and verifying information from various sources. Here’s how process servers typically conduct a skip trace:
1. Collecting Available Information
The process starts with the details on file, such as the individual’s full name, last known address, phone number, date of birth, and employment history.
2. Searching Public and Private Records
Process servers review court filings, property ownership records, voter registrations, and utility records to identify any recent updates.
3. Using Professional Databases
Specialized databases provide access to credit headers, rental applications, vehicle registrations, and other legal records that may indicate a person’s recent activity.
4. Reviewing Social Media Presence
Public social media profiles, business listings, and online interactions can give clues about an individual’s location or employment status.
5. Contacting Known Associates
When necessary, reaching out to family members, neighbors, or past employers may help confirm a person’s whereabouts.
6. Verifying and Confirming the Address
Before attempting service, process servers may conduct surveillance or cross-check multiple data points to ensure the information is accurate.
Is Skip Tracing Ethical?
Skip tracing is a common practice in legal services, debt collection, and investigations, but it often raises ethical concerns. Since it involves gathering personal information to locate individuals, questions about privacy, legality, and fair use come up frequently.
The short answer is that skip tracing is ethical when done within legal boundaries and used for legitimate purposes. However, when it involves deception, unauthorized access to personal data, or harassment, it crosses the line.
What Makes Skip Tracing Ethical?
For skip tracing to be ethical, it must follow legal guidelines and responsible data collection practices. Here are three important factors to determine whether skip tracing is ethically conducted:
1. Use Only Legal and Publicly-Available Data
Ethical skip tracing relies on legitimate sources of information, such as:
- Public records (property deeds, court filings, business registrations)
- Voter registrations, tax liens, and other government records
- Consumer credit header data (name, address, phone, but not full credit reports)
- Social media and other publicly available online data
Skip tracing becomes unethical when data is obtained through:
- Pretexting: Pretending to be someone else to extract information (e.g., calling a bank while impersonating the individual).
- Hacking or unauthorized access: Breaking into private accounts, emails, or databases.
- Accessing protected data: Retrieving medical records, full credit reports, or financial statements without consent.
Professionals who engage in these practices not only violate ethical standards but may also face legal consequences.
2. Follow Privacy and Consumer Protection Laws
Skip tracing is regulated by strict privacy and data protection laws that set clear boundaries:
- Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): Restricts how credit data can be used and requires a legitimate reason for accessing consumer reports.
- Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA): Protects financial records from being shared or accessed without permission.
- Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA): Limits how motor vehicle records can be used.
- Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA): Prevents excessive or intrusive phone contact.
3. Use the Information Gathered Responsibly
Even if information is gathered legally, how it is used matters. Ethical skip tracers must:
- Avoid harassment or intimidation. Information should never be used to pressure, threaten, or target someone unfairly.
- Verify accuracy before acting. False or outdated records can lead to mistaken identity issues.
- Limit data sharing. Personal data should only be used for its intended purpose and shall not be sold or misused.
Skip Tracers’ Biggest Challenges
Skip tracing has never been an easy process. While technology and digital records nowadays have made it easier to track people, many hindrances still make this difficult.
Here’s a look at some of the biggest challenges skip tracers deal with every day:
1. Outdated or Unreliable Information
Skip tracers depend on public records and databases to locate someone, but these don’t always reflect the actual information.
Many databases pull from records that can take months or even years to update, which means that an address, phone number, or workplace listed in one system might no longer be accurate.
For example:
- A court record might show an old address from a previous legal case.
- A phone number may have been reassigned to someone else.
- A property record may indicate ownership even though the person sold the house months ago.
This forces skip tracers to dig deeper. Instead of relying on one record, they must cross-check multiple sources and look for patterns in the data.
If a person’s name appears in a new utility registration, lease agreement, or voter record, those are stronger indicators of their current whereabouts.
2. People Who Don’t Want to be Traced
Some people purposely work to stay off the radar. This is common in cases like debt collection, legal service, family disputes, or criminal activities.
To avoid detection, some people even go the extra mile to hide their identities and do the following:
- Use aliases or different name variations.
- Rely on prepaid phones that aren’t tied to their identity.
- Move frequently and stay with friends or relatives instead of having a lease in their name.
- Use business or PO box addresses instead of their home address.
3. Conflicting Information From Different Sources
It’s common to find multiple addresses, phone numbers, and other essential data for the same person. This happens because:
- Different records update on different timelines.
- Some people use multiple mailing addresses
- Shared names cause data to be mixed up.
A good skip tracer looks for patterns. If a person has a documented history of moving every six months and their last lease ended three months ago, there’s a strong chance they’ve relocated again.
4. Verifying the Accuracy of Information
Even when a skip tracer finds what seems like a valid address or phone number, it must be verified before acting on it.
Sending a process server or investigator to the wrong location wastes time and money. Worse, in legal cases, misidentifying a person can lead to serious problems.
A responsible skip tracer:
- Confirms that an address is still active by checking for recent utility registrations or lease agreements
- Validates employment records by checking corporate filings or social media updates
- Verifies phone numbers before making direct contact to avoid false leads
Skipping this step can result in incorrect service of legal documents, wasted investigative efforts, and reputational damage for the professional involved.
5. Cases Where No Digital Footprint Exists
While most people leave behind some kind of paper trail, there are cases where a person has no verifiable digital presence, either because they’ve deliberately erased it or have never created one.
This is common for elderly individuals with no online accounts, people who avoid banks, utilities, or traditional employment, and intentional identity concealment.
In cases where a digital footprint isn’t available, skip tracers should depend on manual investigation methods like:
- Searching for handwritten records in courthouses (old property filings, marriage licenses).
- Contacting local businesses, landlords, and employers who may have interacted with the subject.
- Conducting in-person fieldwork when necessary.
Let DR Legal Process Handle the Hard Work
When legal proceedings depend on locating someone, delays can mean missed deadlines, stalled cases, and unnecessary frustration. Without accurate location data, legal professionals waste time chasing leads that go nowhere.
DR Legal Process takes the guesswork out of skip tracing. They use verified data, investigative expertise, and legally compliant methods to locate hard-to-find individuals quickly and efficiently.
With access to trusted databases and real-time information, they deliver results legal professionals can rely on.
Knowing what is a skip tracing process requires precision, not assumptions. Contact DR Legal Process today and get the answers you need to keep your case moving forward.
