If you are looking for a process server, be sure that they offer skip trace services. This particular service is extremely useful for one very simple and obvious reason: if the subject who needs to be served with legal documents isn’t living at the current address provided, then you need to perform a search to locate their current location.
That’s essentially what skip tracing is all about. It’s simply finding a person’s current location, and such kind of service is required by many law firms, collection agencies, process server companies, debt collectors, and bounty hunters.
Today, though, it’s no longer easy to disappear completely. The problem in the digital age is not that there’s very little information available. In fact, there may be too many records to scour, and that kind of volume can be overwhelming if you think you can do it yourself. A professional process server, however, can use the proper tools and procedures so that the search can be done methodically and effectively.
So what are these modern methods of locating a missing defendant? A few of the very basic methods are:
- Telephone directories. In the old days, just about everyone could be found through the telephone directory. Today, that’s not always the case. One difficulty here is that most people today just use mobile phones, and they may not always have a landline. Another problem is that there are too many telephone directories online, and sifting through all these directories can be time-consuming.
Nonetheless, this is often the first step. Sometimes you can get lucky and contact a relative, who can then point you to the right direction. This is especially true if the person you’re looking for does not have a common name like Smith and Jones.
- Google. Technically, you can use any search engine on the Internet, but there’s a reason why Google has become a popular choice. It is a truly effective search engine, and it can lead you towards any website which contains any mention of the person you are looking for. If they have ever used their real name in any discussion group or was cited in a newspaper article, then the subject may be found just by “googling” the name.
Of course, it can be very helpful if you know more than just the name. Any photo can be very helpful, as well as the birthday, Social Security number, and the last known address.
- Social networking websites.A lot of people are using these websites, especially Facebook. After all, they were designed to facilitate ongoing communication between groups of friends and family over long distances. YouTube can also be searched, along with professional networking sites like LinkedIn.
These are just the most basic tools, and professional process server companies use proprietary databases and investigative search methods when locating people who can’t be found. It may not be easy to find someone out there, but sometimes it may even be more difficult if that person doesn’t want to be found. That is exactly why you need to rely on experienced professional process servers who provide skip tracing services.
