How Skip Tracing Helps Uncover Hidden Real Estate Assets

Skip tracing is all about locating missing individuals who disappeared on purpose or by accident. The practice derived its name from bounty hunting and debt collection when collectors needed to find those who "skipped town." These days, skip tracing is a vital tool for family members and authorities seeking missing individuals and crucial witnesses, as well as for delinquent parties or people who have decided to evade legal obligations.
Part of the practice is digital research coupled with investigative methods and public record searches. That's how, in a way, skip-tracing professionals find people who either relocated or modified their identities or cut off all ties to their past lives. Benevolent as it is, the practice supports both legal procedures, personal reunifications, and humanitarian objectives.

Skip tracing for real estate covers more than just public record searches; it analyzes concealed property ownership by tracing the actual owners and sometimes branches to undisclosed business and financial assets. While accessing property databases is available to all, professional skip tracers have superior tools, skills, and access to restricted databases.

This process is handy for real estate investors, attorneys, and even lenders, provided they need to find property owners, verify ownership, identify liens, and find assets often overlooked in more conventional searches. Skip tracing helps solve ownership disputes and uncover hidden owners of property. 

The Role of Skip Tracing in Real Estate

The real estate sector benefits from skip tracing for different purposes.

Locating Property Owners for Investment or Purchase

Investors are usually looking to buy abandoned, foreclosure, or tax lien properties. However, locating the property owner can be tricky, especially if they intentionally avoid contact. In such cases, skip tracing can help find these owners so that transactions can be made and investors can take advantage of these opportunities.

Asset Recovery and Debt Collection

Mortgage lenders, landlords, and financial parties' need for skip tracing may be chained to debt collection. Or even better, finding missing or defaulted property owners to recover their funds. Besides, skip tracing may reveal hidden assets that could be used for debt repayment.

Uncovering Hidden Assets for Legal or Estate Purposes

At times discovery of tangible estate-linked hidden assets may be needed during investigations of divorces, inheritance disputes, and cases of suspected fraud. Property owners commonly relocate their assets through ownership transfers to relatives and trusts as well as corporations to avoid paying financial responsibilities.

Even so,  a skilled tracer may follow records of financial movements and official documents to reveal secret assets.

Confirming Property Ownership

When property ownership or fraud concerns arise, skip tracing enables investigators to determine the legal property owner. Real estate disputes frequently need skip-tracing expertise for property deed clarification when owners operate shell companies as property holders or when several parties assert the same ownership rights to the assets in question.

How Martin PI Conducts Skip Tracing for Real Estate Assets

Our skip tracing process involves:

Data Access and Specialized Tools

The central aspect of skip tracing involves accessing both private databases and industrial tools, which are inaccessible to the common public. Through specialized databases, Martin PI secures reliable and current information for its clients. The databases provide direct access to multiple data sources.

• Tax lien data and property tax history records.
• Mortgage and foreclosure records
• Deeds and title ownership records
• Corporate filings (for LLCs, Trusts, and other business entities holding property)
• Bank and financial account information, when relevant

Social Media and Digital Footprints

DIYers frequently neglect to examine digital footprints when conducting skip-tracing investigations. Users of social media and online services disclose aspects of their personal lives through these platforms to reveal essential details about their position, financial standing, and real estate holdings. For example:

• People reveal their activities, both personal and business properties, and new addresses, through their social media behavior.
• Zillow and Redfin real estate listings disclose properties directly connecting to specific owners.
• You can find information about business affiliations through LinkedIn pages together with other commercial websites which may lead to identifying corporate or partnership-related properties.

Online activity analysis allows investigators to obtain beneficial insight into owner locations, business activities, and residential holdings not recorded in official documents.

Financial Asset Tracing

Skip tracing real estate assets requires to find hidden financial accounts such as: 

• Savings or investment bank accounts
• Brokerage accounts that contain stocks, bonds, and securities associated with the real estate properties.
• Trusts or offshore accounts that are used to conceal wealth

These records may be particularly relevant where attempts are made to disguise ownership using corporations or other trust arrangements. We can find and follow any concealed financial holdings that lead to valuable assets connected to real estate. That is possible because of our access to exclusive databases with financial information.

Remote Tracing / Online Investigations

Sometimes, skip tracing requires physical investigations for information verification or to uncover potential new leads. They can include: 

• Confirming ownership or occupancy by onsite visits to the properties
• Informal conversations with landlords, tenants, or even neighbors for potential leads
• Searching the county courthouses' local records in their area for any property disputes or sales
• Confirmation of property owner's residence or activities through surveillance 

Fieldwork is particularly useful when online and financial investigations do not cover whole areas of the property and the owner. It ensures that the property information is comprehensive and accurate before making legal or monetary decisions.

Skip Tracing Services Costs

Tracking down real estate properties through skip tracing is resource-heavy in terms of both time and expertise. The costs of professional skip tracing show a necessity for advanced tools, technology, and databases for more effective investigations. Following is a list of the services and their costs:

Basic Background/Asset Search

• Cost: $1,500.00 + $45.00 for FedEx (Total: $1,545.00)
• Projected Time of Completion: A day or less

Importance: This support service covers all 50 states and provides a detailed real estate holdings and financial transactions summary. This is useful for real estate asset investors, lenders, and legal practitioners needing prompt primary information about the property and its ownership.

Financial Institution Account Search

• Cost Estimate For Statewide Search: $4,800.00
• Cost Estimate For Nationwide Search: $7,500.00
• Projected Time of Completion: 5 to 8 business days

Importance: This service helps track bank, savings, and checking accounts linked to real estate owners' transactions and contracts. Those real estate professionals who work in the field of delinquent borrowers or clients with outstanding debts will need these searches to discover other recoverable assets like bank accounts.

Broker Account Inquiry:

• State Search: $4,800.00
• Nation Search: $7,500.00
• Projected time: 5-8 working days

Purpose: Like searching for institutions, accounts at brokerage firms may have underlying stocks, bonds, or real estate securities, which are critical in asset recovery. This is necessary for identifying concealed owners and assets trapped in the capital market rather than in real estate direct investment.

Other Investigation Expenses

Incurred Documents from Certain Legal Bodies:  Retrieval fees for documents of court records at any county courthouses or other legal bodies may be incurred.

Field Work Investigative Costs: Investigative work done in the field entails going to certain places to establish the existence of the real property and the identity of the person occupying it.

What Makes Martin PI Exceptional for Skip Tracing within Real Estate?

Martin Private Investigative Services is different from other services in the skip-tracing field because of our commitment to ethical, thorough, and goal-oriented investigations. Not to mention, our team is made up of former DEAs, FBI, and Secret Service agents. So this makes us the choice regarding real estate skip scoping.

1. Proprietary Data: We possess proprietary tools and databases that give us immediate information irrespective of its state, unlike other tools that give incomplete information.
2. Best Investigators: We have federal agents, financial investigators, and private detectives as part of our team, and this ensures that we apply decades of experience to every case.
3. Custom Solutions:  We customize your skip-tracing research to give you precisely what you need so that you can make an informed decision.
4. Rapid Turnaround: Most real estate deals need to be closed fast, so we produce results quickly while maintaining accuracy.
5. Legal Compliance: Your investigation will be ethical and legally compliant with US privacy laws and regulations, and compliance as federally issued guarantees your investigation is legal.

Conclusion

Skip tracing regarding real estate assets is crucial for many investors, some lenders, or even legal professionals as it allows them to find necessary information, locate concealed properties, and shield the possibility of questionable title ownership. 

Any practiced professional with the relevant devices and skill sets will be able to sort through the complex issues of property ownership, asset recovery, and financial conflict. Let's talk now! Call our offices at 800-577-1080, and we will assist you with your particular needs. 

Martin Investigative Services

Martin Investigative Services office is located at 620 Newport Center Dr Suite 1100, Newport Beach, CA 92660 

Open: 24/7

Phone: (800) 577-1080