Skip Trace, Utility Pretext, and Shared Database Credentials
A judgment creditor's attorney hires a Missouri private investigator to locate a debtor who owes $48,000. The last known address is a duplex; the current tenant says the debtor moved six months ago. The phone is disconnected. The investigator has the debtor's name, date of birth, last four Social Security digits, and an old license plate. A coworker offers to lend his login to a national skip-trace database 'just this once.' The investigator drafts a call to the electric utility: 'This is his brother; he is in the hospital and we need his service address.' The attorney also asks for a copy of the debtor's bank balance, saying 'attorneys can get that anyway.' The budget is six hours, and the attorney wants an address by Friday for a garnishment hearing.
1. Evaluate the proposed utility pretext call and the use of the coworker's database login.
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Both proposals are high-risk and should be rejected. Misrepresenting himself as the debtor's brother to obtain a service address is deception. Even if a utility is not a 'financial institution' under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Missouri licensing rules prohibit fraudulent, deceptive, or dishonest conduct, and the utility may release account information only to the account holder or under legal process. A pretext call can also violate consumer-protection and telephone-records rules.
Using the coworker's database credentials is unauthorized access. It violates the database contract, may violate computer-access law, and exposes both the investigator and the coworker to license discipline and civil liability. The investigator should not use another person's login even with permission. The correct approach is to use only accounts and permissible-purpose certifications that belong to the investigator or the licensed agency, and to document the lawful purpose for each search.
2. What lawful steps can the investigator take within the six-hour budget to find a current address?
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Prioritize low-cost public and commercial records: county assessor and recorder property records, voter registration where available, Missouri court records and Case.net, Secretary of State business filings, UCC filings, and the old plate through a permissible-purpose database only if the investigator can certify a lawful use. Check the duplex's neighbors for a forwarding lead, contact the debtor's last known employer, and review social media for location clues. Run a skip-trace database search only through the investigator's own credentialed account.
If those fail, ask the attorney to use formal discovery-written discovery, a subpoena to the bank, or a subpoena for employment records-rather than having the investigator deceive anyone. The investigator should report which leads were checked, what was found, and why the address could not be confirmed by Friday. A six-hour budget should be documented in a time log so the attorney can decide whether to authorize more work or seek a continuance.
3. How should the investigator respond to the attorney's request for the debtor's bank balance?
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The investigator should decline to obtain the bank balance by pretext or informal means. Bank records are protected financial information, and a private investigator cannot call a bank posing as the debtor or as an authorized party to obtain them. The attorney's statement that 'attorneys can get that anyway' may be true through a subpoena or court order, but that does not authorize the investigator to shortcut the process.
The correct response is to explain that the attorney can issue a subpoena or use post-judgment discovery to obtain bank records, and that the investigator can help identify the bank through lawful public records or surveillance. If the attorney insists on an improper call, the investigator should refuse in writing and document the request. The report should separate verified facts from unverified leads so the attorney does not rely on unlawfully obtained information in a garnishment proceeding.