Skip tracing is the process of finding people of interest, usually people who are about to be served legal papers by creditors or people filing claims and lawsuits against them. Skip tracing is necessary when the whereabouts of the respondents or defendants are unknown. Whether their absence is on purpose or not, it is the job of a skip tracer to locate the individuals of interest through resourceful means.
Techniques for Finding People
How do tracers find people in New York? With a population of over 20.2 million people, NY is not the easiest place to look for people who may or may not want to be found. Skip tracers use methods, however, that focus their search down to the most probable geographic location.
At Serve Index, our skip tracers look for the following information to pin down the current residence or actual location of the people of interest:
- Social media accounts
- Friends and family members
- Public records
- Property documents
- Criminal background
- Legal history or blanket
- Credit score details
- Tax documents
On their own, the above information may not be enough to trace the current location of an individual. Experienced skip tracers gather all the information they can get to deduce not only the missing individual’s location but also their daily routines and schedules.
Ultimately, the goal of skip tracing is not only to find the current address of an elusive person but to carry out the tasks that called for skip tracing in the first place.
How Professional Tracers find People Who “Skip”
Our skip tracers at Serve Index maximize readily accessible tools and venues when looking for information on a person living in New York. We look through social media websites, alumni websites, corporate profiles on company websites, electronic calling cards, and public records from the City Register’s Office.
Skip tracers sometimes have to travel as they look for people in NYC. We cannot speak for other skip tracing services, but at Serve Index, we provide technical and network assistance so that our skip tracers can succeed just in time for the promised completion date.
Why Is Skip Tracing Important?
The law states that proper service of process is required for all claims and lawsuits filed in court. If service was not done, or if the service was done poorly, the defendant may ask the judge to dismiss the case. Service can only take place if the respondent or defendant is located, hence the importance of skip tracing.
The service can also be applied in other industries. Below are some of the people or entities that need skip tracing:
- Plaintiffs
- Attorneys and law firms
- Private investigators
- Banks, lenders, creditors, debt collectors
- Bounty hunters
- Genealogists
Process Servers as Skip Tracers
Licensed process servers in New York can also serve as skip tracers. Since skip tracing and service of process often go together, it only makes sense to hire skip tracers who can also complete the service of process correctly and efficiently.
Serve Index can help you locate people anywhere in New York. If you need skip tracing services, we have access to relevant databases and can carry out proper service of process, when necessary.
Take advantage of our services by asking for a free quote. Call us today.