Skip Tracing: Finding The Hard-To-Find


Simply locating the other parties involved in your legal case can be one of the most frustrating parts of the legal process. Thankfully, the skip trace experts at D&T Legal Services are here to help make your search easier. We offer some of the most talented, well-trained skip tracers, or “people finders”, in California. 


  • Has one of the key witnesses in your case seemingly disappeared? 
  • Is the defendant in your lawsuit laying low or on the run? 
  • Do you have paperwork you need to serve to someone who has skipped town? 
  • Are you trying to collect a debt from someone that you just can’t track down? 

D&T Legal Services can help with any of the above issues and many others that involve tracking down troublemakers. Skip tracing is one of our most important functions. We have decades of experience and have tackled many cases just like yours in the Bay Area and beyond. Let us help you find those who can’t be found. 

What is Skip Tracing?

Skip Tracing essentially means finding people. All too often, people involved in legal troubles try to hide. At D&T Legal Services, we believe that no one can outrun the law. Our team of talented private investigators can help you locate wary witnesses and dodgy defendants so you can get the justice you deserve. 


How Does Skip Tracing Work? 

One of the primary ways we track down targets is by sorting through public records. In today’s world, there is a paper trail for just about everything you do. However, investigations and combing through all that data can be a monumental task for non-professionals to handle. Our skip tracers have the latest training and experience  to find the needle in the haystack quickly and efficiently. We look at records such as: 


  • Phone numbers
  • Real Estate/Property ownership 
  • Professional licenses
  • Secretary of State records
  • Fictitious business name records
  • UCC And State of Equalization records
  • Court records
  • Local business licenses records
  • Post office forwarding address checks 
  • Credit reports
  • Job applications 
  • Loan applications 
  • Utility bills, such as gas and sewage
  • Public tax records
  • Criminal background checks

Our skip tracing experts often work alongside our judgment collection and process service departments to get you the information you need. 

D&T Legal Services’ top-tier tracers can find the address of those trying to hide from justice. We ask that you provide full name, last known address, social security number and any other identifying information you may already possess. Our accuracy and speed is dependent in part on the quality of the information you provide. 

Don’t let your legal troubles get bogged down by uncooperative third parties. Contact us today to get our team on the hunt! 

Finding the Unfindable: Service by Publication

Sometimes no matter how up-to-date records are and how talented our team is, our targets can’t be tracked. In this case, we also offer aid with Service by Publication petitions. 

Service by Publication allows you to serve legal documents “by publication”. You can request that the courts allow you to publish the documents in a newspaper circulated in the area you believe this person is located. Most courts will require you to perform an investigation or skip tracing first. This is why we don’t offer this step immediately. 


As with all legal documents, the paperwork needed for Service by Publication can be quite a lot to handle. You’re more than likely stressed already from all that searching you had to perform. It can be easy to make a mistake or forget a step. Let D&T Legal Services handle the hassle for you. Our process servers can also help with service of process and other attorney services.

They can run, but they can’t hide; contact us today to get D&T Legal Services on the hunt!