Frequently Asked Questions
The following are our most frequently asked questions. If you are unable to find the answer to your question, please feel free to call 607-936-2200 Ext 4 or send us an email, info@findtheseller.com.
- Why should I use Find The Seller.com?
- Will the person I seek know I ran a Skip Trace on them?
- What will I say to my subject if they ask me how I found them?
- What is a Skip Trace?
- What's your turn around time?
- Who has access to these records?
- Will you definitely find the person I am looking for?
- Will I definitely get their phone number and address?
- Why don't you offer credit checks?
- Do you have an application we can use that gives a release for a background or criminal
check?
Before Running A Skip Trace:
- What should I do first?
- Then what do I do?
- I don't have a name, only an address, can you help me?
- What if all I have is a name with no address?
- What if all I have is an old address?
- What if the person has been divorced or remarried and I don't know the new last name?
- What if I don't have the correct spelling of the person's name?
- What if I'm not sure which is the person's first and last name?
- What if I'm not sure of the spelling of the name?
- What if the information I am provided by the tax assessor like the name or address is
incorrect?
- What if all I have is a phone number?
- What if I have just a social security number?
- What does 'No Records – No Charge' mean?
- How is it possible to achieve a 90% hit rate when your competitors don't even come
close?
- What if the person you are searching for has died and you want to buy the house from the
heirs?
- What if the person has a common name such as John Smith and you are not sure if you have
the right address?
- What if the person has a hyphenated last name?
Processing Orders:
Why should I use Find The Seller.com? Simple. We'll help you make money. If you're in the business of buying and selling properties, knowing finding the seller is critical if you want to do the best deals. When you find the seller you'll run circles around your competition. And when it's time to put people in your houses, a Criminal Background Report on each applicant is mandatory for the professional.
Will the person I seek know I ran a Skip Trace on them? No. Not unless you tell them. While our service may utilize credit header info, there is no credit inquiry.
What will I say to my subject if they ask me how I found them? Let them know that "via the public record" you learned of their ownership of the property at 123 Elm St. Some (not all) of the information we access is public data. It's very difficult to obtain, but public. Another pretense to use is the "I may have money for you/him/her. This works well when going through one party to get to your seller.
What is a Skip Trace? It's a very effective way to find an individual that is otherwise unavailable.
What's your turn around time? If we receive your submission by Noon Eastern, we will return your report the same day in most cases. If not, you'll receive it the next business day, latest. For Bulk Buy Customers submitting multiple orders in the same day, we will normally process 5 searches per day until complete.
Who has access to these records? Companies like FindTheSeller.com, Law Enforcement Agencies and Private Investigators.
Will you definitely find the person I am looking for? No. Not definitely. Our policy is to guarantee that if we find no records for your subject, you will receive a credit to your account. When we do return records, we cannot guarantee that you will locate your subject because we have no control over what you do with the information from the time you receive it.
Will I definitely get their phone number and address? Usually but not always. Some people who have abandoned their properties have moved in with a friend or family member and have not applied for new credit or service, such as phone, utilities etc. These people have left but are not yet leaving a trail behind them. That's where Neighbors, Relatives and Possible Associates at each of their previous addresses, including the house they've abandoned are so important to have. These people will usually lead you right to your subject with only a phone call or post card from you.
Why don't you offer credit checks? We believe you should have a mortgage professional review a tenant/buyer's credit report, rather than yourself. The way we do the Real Estate Business here (Yes we are Real Estate Entrepreneurs too) rarely if ever involves a straight rental. We sell our houses on lease option or land contract and so our goal is to turn them into a cash buyer. This strategy makes it vital to send the "buyer" to a mortgage professional for an assessment of their credit and an estimate of the time required to turn the "buyer" into an "A" credit "Cash" buyer. If you would like to learn more about this way of doing business, be sure to visit www.RealEstateWealthNetwork.com a free resource for Creative Real Estate Entrepreneurs.
Do you have an application we can use that gives a release for a background or criminal check? Yes, we do. You can click here to download our PDF and write in your business name and address at the top. Please remember that if you request an application to be filled out from your applicant, you need to do so for all applicants. If not, it may be considered as discrimination. You should also retain the applications for at least 2 years.
Before Running A Skip Trace:
What should I do first? Find the name and last known address of the person you seek. Typically, you'll have an address and will find the name via your local tax rolls. This can be done on the phone, on line or by visiting your local tax assessor's office.
Then what do I do? First, you’ll need to open an account with us if you haven’t done so already. Then you should purchase a skip trace, criminal search or tax roll search here.
I don't have a name, only an address, can you help me? Yes, if you are seeking property ownership for a vacant house or property, we can do a tax roll search for you. Sometimes, we may get an alternate mailing address. Most of the time you will need to do a skip trace search after attaining the owner’s name to locate the owner.
If you are trying to find other names associated with the property address, we can also provide that information. We can search on the address and give you an ‘Address Name List’ of all persons associated with it. This may include owners, prior owners, residents, or possible renters. The form of association is not included on this list. The Address Name List will contain some or all of the following information:
- Name
- Age or age range when available
- DOB (partial) when available
- Address as verification of search request
- Date first verified at this address
- Date last verified at this address to determine the most current on file
- Phone number(s) when available
What if all I have is a name with no address? If you can also provide us with a city and state where you think the person is likely to be, we are often able to find the person with just that info.
What if all I have is an old address? We can help. In most cases, if we can find records of the person with the 'older address' as a match, and the Comprehensive Report will contain the most current or likely address and a phone number when available. This along with information about possible relatives, possible associates and neighbors can help you in locating the person you are looking for.
What if the person has been divorced or remarried and I don't know the new last name? Our system can match a name (first or last) with an address and find the person. Knowing their age or an approximate age range can also assist in verifying you have the correct person. Please let us know this in the comments section of your submission.
What if I don't have the correct spelling of the person's name? We always search 'phonetically' for names and match with the address provided. What this means is if you don't have the exact spelling, we may find your person anyway. This is one more reason why we're the right service for you. Please understand that this does not negate the need for accuracy.
What if I'm not sure which is the person's first and last name? (i.e. Mitchell David) As long as we have the correct address, we can search the database on the first or last name. When we find a match with the address you'll get your report. Please let us know this in the comments section of your submission.
What if I'm not sure of the spelling of the name? Again we can search on just a first name and phonetically at the same time. If you provide us with Kathy and the correct spelling is Cathy or Kathleen, we can find a match to an address and find the person you are looking for. Please let us know you're not sure of the spelling in the comments section of your submission.
What if the information I am provided by the tax assessor like the name or address is incorrect? We can usually work around this by running the search one of several ways to find the correct person and or address. We are usually able to verify the parcel number of the property so if you have that, please include it in the comments section of when you run a Skip Trace. In some cases will require us to do a 'Name Search'. We'll let you know when it does.
What if all I have is a phone number? You should use a reverse directory to look up the name. You can find a reverse directory at your local library or online right here. If you prefer, we can search on a phone number with area code. Providing a city and state can also help in this case. We will then provide you with a full comprehensive report on the person associated with the phone number.
What if I have just a social security number? We can search on just a social security number and quite accurately as you might imagine.
What does 'No Records – No Charge' mean? If we run a Skip Trace and no matches are found? Then there is no charge. 'No Records' means no matches were found. We are currently experiencing a +/- 90% hit rate. You can learn more about this policy here.
How is it possible to achieve a 90% hit rate when your competitors don't even come close? The biggest reason is because we think about what we are doing. And we understand how to find people when there are slight , or when we have limited information. For example, you submit Susan Brown at 102 1st St and it is actually Suzanne Beth Brown at 102 First Avenue. We'll find her! Our competitors won't. They may not charge you, but what good is that? You just won't find another service better than we are.
What if the person you are searching for has died and you want to buy the house from the heirs? Running a Skip Trace on the deceased person will likely provide up to 10 relatives, plus possible associates and neighbors. On occasion, this may be the only way to find the relatives of the person you are looking for. By the way, if you know the home owner is deceased, you should look at their Will (usually public record) and see which, if any of their relatives they left the house to. This will help narrow your search considerably.
What if the person has a common name such as John Smith and you are not sure if you have the right address? If you know the age, age range, Date of Birth or SS number, we can do a search including this information to narrow down the search and get the results you are looking for.
What if the person has a hyphenated last name? We can search on just part of the last name and find the person you are looking for.
Processing Orders:
How are searches processed? We are open Monday – Friday and closed weekends. Paid orders received by noon est will normally have results returned the same business day. Otherwise, it will be the next business day. Monday’s are our busiest days as we have the weekend orders to fulfill also.
For those bulk buyers who submit multiple orders on the same day, we will normally fulfill 5 searches per day until all orders are complete. This allows us to meet all of our customers needs in a fair and timely fashion.
When your results are ready they will be posted to your account. You will receive an email notification letting you know that we have posted your report or results and a link to log back into your account to retrieve them.
Your results are posted in the Product Center. You should click on the link next to your purchase ‘Click here to place Orders and get Results. The order form links are at the top portion of the page and the results are posted on the lower portion of the page.
As you can see, if you use our services we will go the extra mile for you! This will ensure that you get the results you are looking for, get top quality information and Find The Seller!
If you have questions you don't see here, please call toll free 888-845-5219 or send them by email.