Collections Industry Solutions: 15 Debt Collection Resources
Do you need debt collection resources to help you find your debtor? If someone owes you money, you can’t collect if you can’t find the debtor. Searchbug offers a variety of tools that can help you locate people who might owe you money, even people who are trying hard not to be found.
If you work in the collections industry, some of these tools could make or break your search. If nothing else, they can save you time by speeding up your search processes.
Searchbug has worked with the collections industry for over 20 years, so we know that finding your debtors’ current whereabouts is often the first step in the collections process. We aim to make that process easier. Try some of these 15 debt collection resources to find debtors faster and increase collection rates.
How Much Debt Are We Dealing With?
With 68 million people having debt in collections before the pandemic, it’s no wonder the collections industry continues to grow. Debts could be as minimal as unpaid utility bills or parking tickets, or they could be lofty unpaid medical bills. Regardless, after 180 days of being unpaid, these debts enter collections and are reported to credit bureaus.
The pandemic threatens greater levels of debt as people find themselves out of work, unable to pay their bills, and even evicted. These threats affect everyday citizens, people who won’t necessarily be difficult to find. You can contact their place of employment (or former place of employment), find them online, or locate their information in public records databases.
However, those with a history of racking up debt and evading it are deemed criminals and therefore have to lie low to avoid being found out. This means they’re avoiding a paper trail, don’t have an online presence, and work off the books. This makes these debtors quite difficult to locate. But with these debt collection resources, you can bring out the big guns!
Debt Collection Resources
1. Advanced People Search
The people search tool allows you to find people by name, address, phone number, or email. Provide the information you have, and results include last known contact information. So even if the information you have is outdated, it can still be used to locate current data.
A premium people search returns names of relatives of the subject you are searching for. So even if there is no updated contact information to report, you might be able to get in touch with a relative who has had contact with your subject.
2. Batch Append Tool
If you have an entire list of people you’ve been trying to contact, but you’re afraid the information you have has been changed since you acquired it, you can use a batch append tool to update that list. Batch append not only corrects wrong or outdated information, it also fills in gaps. So if you have a list of contacts, and some are missing email addresses or phone numbers, batch append will fill those fields as long as the information exists.
Batch append is the best way to correct a large amount of data quickly and cheaply. It’s important that your contact data is accurate because you don’t want the hassle of reaching out to the wrong person. Don’t waste time with incorrect, outdated information. It only takes a few minutes to append your list.
3. Skip Trace API
App, website, and software developers can create useful applications for your own collections website with Searchbug APIs. APIs allow you to integrate data obtained from published phone directories, public records, criminal record repositories, and restricted skip trace databases right into your own website, mobile app, intranet or other internal system.
APIs are quick and reliable. By integrating a Searchbug API into your own system, you can investigate, locate, and verify people in real time. API options include background check, criminal records check, terrorist watchlist check, people trace, and SSN owner verification.
However, if you find that you have other data needs, you can request a custom API be built based on your parameters. Just tell us what information you need, and we’ll provide you with a quote.
4. Identify Phone Number Tool
If you need to make sure a phone number is active before calling it, you can use a phone validator. Just enter the phone number and search. You will receive the active status as well as the line type. This can let you know whether or not you will be able to send SMS messages to the number.
You can search a number at a time as the need arises, or if you have a long list of numbers you need to check, you can upload them and validate them in bulk.
5. Reverse Phone Lookup
Reverse phone lookup allows you to identify callers from unknown numbers as well as find current information from old numbers. You can get access to the most recent name and address for the number you enter. Or, you can request a detailed history report that provides a criss-cross directory for complete details of current and previous phone owners of a given number.
6. SMS Text Messaging
SMS text messaging service allows you to send text messages without the risk of being spammed or contacted at your personal number. Use this tool to quickly and easily send an SMS message to a debtor or client. We’ll even provide you with the current phone company the number is ported to.
7. Verify Email Address
Email addresses are easy to mistype and even easier to fake. Before sending emails to addresses that might not be legitimate, double check their validity with email address lookup. Results can include the status of the email address, the name of the owner, gender of the owner, and location of the owner when the information is available.
You can search email by email as they come up, or if you have an entire list you need to verify, you can upload an entire list and verify them in bulk.
8. Verify IP Address
If you can get an IP address, you can locate someone. Find location, internet service provider, and hostname for an IP address with an IP address lookup. Just enter the IP address and search to find the IP address location and internet service provider (ISP).
9. Background Check with Criminal and Civil Records
If you’re preparing to meet someone face to face, you might want to know ahead of time who you’re dealing with. Searchbug contracts with over a half-dozen top-tier data management firms and has access to multiple data APIs with billions of records combined, so results are as up-to-date and accurate as possible.
Conduct an advanced background check with criminal and civil records to quickly get a list of current and previous addresses and phone numbers for your subject. All you need is a full name. Other results typically include aliases, date of birth, current and previous address, criminal records, reported bankruptcies, and more.
10. Criminal Records Check
With a criminal records search, you can find out everything a debtor is wanted for. All you need is a full name and birthdate of your subject to find information regarding charges, offenses, disposition types, sentences, probations, and convictions if applicable. This search tool accesses over 200 million federal, state, and county criminal records.
11. Bankruptcy, Liens, and Judgments
By finding reported bankruptcies, foreclosures, tax liens, tax warrants, civil and federal judgments, notices of default, small claims, or suits filed, you might be able to serve multiple clients by collecting from one single debtor. Use this bankruptcy, liens, and judgments search to access the most recent county, state, and federal filings. All you need is a last name to find a debtor’s full name and addresses, filing type, judgement date and amount, and court name and location.
12. Marriage and Divorce Records
You might find that multiple people are responsible for the same debt. Use marriage and divorce records search to find each partner’s name, age, county and date of marriage. For divorces, this tool can provide petitioner and respondent names, county of divorce, and date of divorce. All you need is a first and last name to search.
13. Property Records Search
With a property records search, you can get all of the data for any property including sale history for the property; title company and loan details; owner, buyer, and seller names; property size and type; assessed value; and tax and delinquency information. Just enter the address in question and search!
14. Reverse Address Lookup
The reverse address lookup tool allows you to gather phone numbers associated with a particular address. Before you just guess, use this tool to find names and phone numbers of both people and businesses from a U.S. street address.
15. Private Investigator
If you come up short with any of these debt collection resources, then your subject is doing his or her best to live off of the grid. Therefore, you might need to elicit the help of a private investigator. Private investigators and professional people researchers have the experience and access to sources that can significantly increase the success rate of your search. Your results will be verified by a licensed professional.
Why Use These Collection Resources?
It’s never been easier to gather contact data and update old information. By using any one of these collection resources, you can save yourself time by avoiding mistakes and getting the correct data on the first try. Stop scouring the internet and public records and let us access those databases for you in minutes.
Find the people you are looking for so that you can start collecting. Get accurate, dependable information and avoid embarrassing and time-consuming errors. Searchbug delivers verified information that enables collections professionals to find and contact any debtor. Only pay for data, not searches. If no information is available, you don’t pay. There are no monthly minimums, no subscriptions, and no setup fees. If you run into any issues or have any questions, our customer service team is here to help. Collect more money for your clients, build a larger client base, and simplify your collections processes today.
