It’s always been a problem for debt collectors when the debtor becomes missing and stops paying his obligations. Melvin Richardson wrote that skip tracing is a process that debt collectors can utilize to locate a debtor who has decided, for whatever reason, not to pay and his address is unknown.
When the debtor’s phone number is disconnected or when he has resigned in his place of employment, debt collectors know right away that they must start the skip tracing activities to up their chance of locating the debtor. According to Richardson, “the longer the amount of time that’s allowed to accumulate after the debtor has gone missing makes it extremely difficult to locate the debtor.”
How will debt collectors go about skip tracing? First, they will contact the debtor’s last known employment to see if he gave them information about his new employment. They will also contact the neighbors of the last known address which can be gathered through a database, and ask for information about the debtor. According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, debt collectors should not disclose the nature of the call and especially cannot mention that they are calling because the debtor is past due on a bill.
A debt collector will also use information on credit application if there is one on file. Whenever someone fills out an application to rent an apartment, buy a car, get credit from a retailer or for whatever purpose, there is usually a request for personal references. The references will also be contacted by the debt collector to see if they have any knowledge of your whereabouts.
Another possible source of information comes from the debtor’s other creditors. Collectors will get a copy of the credit report and call other creditors to see if they have any new information. Sometimes they give information, such as a new place of employment or a new address.
At present, many information and skip tracing services are available and can be found on the internet. These include databases and other organizations that can assist in locating the person and giving information as to his whereabouts or location. These resources have been helping credit collection companies in tracing missing debtors.
