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Nationwide litigation support

Skip Tracing FAQ


Served 123 LLC runs locates, identity confirmation, asset and vehicle searches for litigation, service of process and lawful recovery — through licensed investigative platforms, cross-checked, with the source behind every finding. Purpose is vetted before anything is pulled. These are the questions counsel and recovery teams ask most.

50 States + D.C. & Puerto Rico Purpose Vetted at Intake Sourced & Confidence-Rated NAPPS Member since 2023
Contact & Intake

Send the identifiers you hold. Purpose is checked first, a written quote comes back, and nothing is pulled until you approve it.

Email
info@served123.com
Email your identifiers
Phone
(800) 321-2377
Call (800) 321-2377
To start: the subject's full legal name at minimum, plus anything else you hold — last known address, partial date of birth, prior addresses, a phone number, an employer, or names of relatives. You can also request a quote online.
What We Won't Run

Vetted at intake, before anything is pulled.

  • Credit, employment, tenancy or insurance decisions
  • Locating someone who has a protective order against the requester
  • Any search where the stated purpose doesn't hold up at intake

The Basics

What is skip tracing?

Skip tracing is locating a person whose current whereabouts are unknown — or confirming who they are, what they own, or what they drive.

It runs through licensed investigative platforms that require credentialed accounts and permissible-purpose vetting, plus public records and proprietary databases. Every finding comes back with the source behind it and a confidence indicator, so you can judge whether to act on it or verify further.

Who can request a skip trace?

Attorneys, law firms, paralegals, investigators, insurers, collections and judgment-recovery professionals, and self-represented parties.

What matters is not who is asking but why. The purpose is vetted at intake under the GLBA and DPPA before anything is pulled — not after the invoice.

What can you not use skip tracing for?

  • Credit, employment, tenancy or insurance decisions. Those are governed by the FCRA and require a consumer report from a consumer reporting agency — which these searches are not.
  • Locating someone who has a protective order against the requester.
  • Any search where the stated purpose doesn't hold up at intake.
Not a preference: it's the condition under which the data is made available to us in the first place. A search we can't lawfully run is one we say no to, rather than running the next search on the list.

How is skip tracing different from a background check or a people-search site?

Three different things that get confused constantly:

  • A background check is a consumer report produced by a consumer reporting agency for a screening decision. Different legal regime, different product.
  • A people-search site returns whatever a scrape happened to catch — no source, no recency, no accountability.
  • Skip tracing locates a known person for a permissible legal purpose, cross-checked across sources, with a source note and a confidence indicator on every finding.

What You Can Order

What searches can I order?

Grouped by what each one actually returns, because that's the choice you're making:

  • Locating a person — comprehensive skip tracing, reverse phone, reverse email, social media
  • Confirming who someone is — SSN search, mortality check
  • Assets, for recovery — nationwide asset search, bank account search
  • Vehicles — reverse licence plate, vehicle sighting, CarFax report

Every one is on the order form with its price. Tick the ones you want and we'll tell you if a cheaper one would get there first.

What does a locate search return?

Current address, phone numbers, email and known associates — each with the source behind it and a confidence indicator, so you can judge whether to act on it or verify further.

What identifying information do I need to provide?

A full name at minimum. Anything else you hold sharpens it considerably:

  • Last known address, and any prior addresses
  • Partial date of birth
  • A phone number, even an old one
  • Last known employer
  • Names of relatives or known associates

A name alone is workable. Common names take longer to disambiguate and cost more to run down.

Do you search for assets and vehicles?

Yes, for lawful purposes such as post-judgment recovery.

An asset search returns real property, vehicles, business interests and account relationships where the data supports it — the groundwork for garnishment or execution. It works best from a confirmed identity and, ideally, the judgment it relates to. Bank account searches are quoted individually rather than priced flat.

Vehicle searches cover reverse licence plate, vehicle sighting and CarFax reports, from a plate or VIN — or from the subject's identity if you want vehicles tied back to them.

Results & Limits

Will you find them?

Often, not always. Results depend on what the data holds and what identifiers you can supply.

Anyone promising a guaranteed find is describing a sales position rather than an investigative one. Results are not guaranteed.

What happens if nothing is found?

You get a no-find report setting out what was searched and what the data showed.

For many matters that documentation is itself the next procedural step — it's the diligence record behind a motion for alternative service.

Can a skip trace report be used in court?

A skip trace report is investigative work product supporting service or contact efforts — not standalone evidence.

The document that carries procedural weight is the no-find report, because it records what was searched and what the data showed behind a motion for alternative service. Findings may require further verification depending on intended use and jurisdiction, so raise the evidentiary requirement at intake if you have a specific one.

What sources do you use?

Licensed investigative platforms that require credentialed accounts and permissible-purpose vetting, plus public records and proprietary databases.

Every finding carries a source note. You can see what a finding rests on rather than taking a single unattributed record on trust — which matters when the address you act on turns into an affidavit.

Purpose & Compliance

How is permissible purpose vetted?

Before anything is pulled — not after the invoice. We confirm the search is one we can lawfully run under the GLBA and DPPA, and say so plainly if it isn't.

These searches are not FCRA consumer reports and cannot be used for credit, employment, tenancy or insurance decisions. That isn't a preference on our part; it's the condition under which the data is made available to us at all.

What counts as a permissible purpose?

The ones we run:

  • Locating a party, witness or debtor in active or contemplated litigation
  • Finding a subject so process can be served on them
  • Post-judgment recovery — identifying assets to execute against
  • Due diligence and fraud investigation with a permissible purpose

If you're unsure whether yours qualifies, state the purpose at intake.

Can I use this to screen an employee or a tenant?

No. Credit, employment, tenancy and insurance decisions are governed by the FCRA and require a consumer report from a consumer reporting agency. These searches are not consumer reports and must not be used for those purposes.

If screening is what you need, a consumer reporting agency is the right vendor — not us.

How is my data handled?

Encryption, access controls, retention periods and the position on onward disclosure are set out in the privacy policy, which is the governing document rather than a summary of it.

Cost & Getting Started

How long does a skip trace take?

Turnaround depends on the search and the subject, so it's confirmed in writing with your quote rather than promised on this page.

An asset search reaches further than a reverse phone lookup. A common name takes longer to disambiguate than a distinctive one. Publishing a single number here would mean publishing one that's wrong for most orders.

How much does a skip trace cost?

Comprehensive skip tracing starts from $50 per search.

Other searches — assets, records, vehicles — are priced individually on the order form, so you pick only what you need rather than buying a bundle to get one result. Bank account searches are quoted individually.

Where third-party charges apply they run through a separate retainer, drawn down against the actual charges and reconciled after the work. It sits on its own line, apart from the service fee.

Can you combine skip tracing with service of process?

Yes — and for a subject who has moved, it's usually the right order of operations.

Locating first means the service attempts go to the address the data actually supports, instead of spending three attempts on one that went stale two years ago. Each part is priced on its own line, so you can see what you're paying for rather than approving a bundle.

How do I request a skip trace?

Then, in order: purpose is checked first, a written quote comes back, and nothing is pulled until you approve it.

Why Served 123 LLC for Skip Tracing

What the data can carry, and nothing it can't.

Licensed investigative platforms requiring credentialed accounts, plus public records and proprietary databases.
A source note and a confidence indicator on every finding — so you can judge whether to act or verify.
Purpose vetted before anything is pulled, under the GLBA and DPPA. Not after the invoice.
A no-find report either way — the diligence record a motion for alternative service needs.
Searches priced individually, so you pick only what you need.
Locate and service under one roof — across all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico.
Need to find someone for a legal matter?
Send the identifiers you hold. Purpose is checked first, and nothing is pulled until you approve the quote.