.When your bank, or the attorney representing your back, can’t locate the debtor you have a problem. The fact is, many debtors have been evicted, foreclosed, or are concealing their location to avoid legal process service often staying with family or friends in a different city or state. Locating that delinquent debtor is essential -you can’t start the collection process until the debtor has been successfully located. The question is how is the best way to go about making the locate? The solution I recommend is contracting with a licensed private investigator who specializes in doing locates, and here is why:

• Many states require that a locate be done by a licensed private investigator.
  
• Licensed PIs have access to PRIVATE databases to do the locates. Why is this important? There are many databases on the Internet that claim to do locates. The problems with using one of these sites is that they sell information to anyone with a credit card. Why would you want to pay a fee to do a search you could do yourself? In addition, the information may not be as accurate as you would like and they are not FCRA, DPPA, or HIPPA compliant.
  
• Even the best private databases are often not enough to make a successful locate, a real investigation must be done. Most licensed PIs are former law enforcement officers or agents who know how to do a record search, or find the debtor’s next of kin, then confirm the locate.
  
• The third party contact must meet the FDCPA requirements. A licensed PI who specializes in locates knows the law and stays with in the confines of it.

When you have made the decision to contract a licensed PI you can find one in many ways. Google or other search engine is one, here you can find a PI and go to their agency’s web site. You might consider going to your state’s web site for the division that governs licensing of private investigators. There you should be able to locate a tab that says something like “locate a PI”. Ask a colleague who has used a PI to make a referral.

Once you have narrowed the field down, verify that the PI license and the agency’s license is valid and that there are no actions pending against this person or agency. Ask how long the person has been doing locates, what is his/her experience. Have a honest discussion with the PI, let him/her know what you expect, the approximate turn around time, billing, and payment. Personally I like to have this open dialogue with my clients since I know how important the locate is to them.

I hope these tips and suggestions will be useful to you when you are faced with locating a delinquent debtor. Please feel free to contact me at missinglocated@yahoo.com or visit the web site at www.missinglocated.com.