// Skip tracing
Do you need a license to skip trace? PI licensing by state
Skip tracing your own lists usually needs no license. Skip tracing for hire is regulated PI work in most states. Here's the line, and the states with no PI license at all.
The short answer
Whether you need a license to skip trace depends on your state and who you're doing it for. Skip tracing for your own business, like a real-estate investor finding owners to market to, generally doesn't require a license. Skip tracing for hire, as a service to others, is regulated investigative work in most states and usually requires a private investigator license. A few states, including Idaho, Mississippi, South Dakota, and Colorado, have no state PI license at all.
The rule: for-hire vs. for-yourself
The dividing line is whether you're paid to locate people for someone else. Running skip traces on your own marketing lists is using a tool, and states don't license that. Selling skip tracing as a service, finding people on behalf of clients, is investigative work for hire, and most states put that under their private investigator statutes. The same search, done for a paying client instead of your own deals, can flip from unregulated to license-required.
States that license private investigators
Most states regulate PI work and would treat for-hire skip tracing as covered. California licenses investigators under the Business and Professions Code through the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. Texas uses the Department of Public Safety's Private Security Bureau. Florida licenses under Chapter 493. New York, Illinois, and most others have their own boards. If you're skip tracing for clients in these states, you likely need the license, and doing it without one can be a misdemeanor.
States with no PI license
A handful of states don't license private investigators at the state level. Idaho, Mississippi, and South Dakota have no statewide PI license. Colorado's licensing program sunset in 2020, so it currently has none either. Wyoming and Alaska have no state license but require local city licensing in places like Cheyenne, Anchorage, and Fairbanks. Even where no license is required, the federal rules (DPPA, GLBA, FCRA, TCPA) still apply to the data and the outreach.
What this means for real-estate investors
Almost all real-estate skip tracing is for-yourself: you're an investor or wholesaler finding owners to make offers to. That's the unregulated side of the line in every state. The licensing question only becomes real if you start offering skip tracing as a paid service to other investors, at which point your state's PI rules apply.
// Common questions
Answered.
Do real estate investors need a license to skip trace?+
No, in general. Skip tracing your own marketing lists to find property owners is using a tool for your own business, which states don't license. The license question applies to skip tracing for hire.
Is it illegal to skip trace without a license?+
Only where a license is required for what you're doing. For-hire skip tracing without a state PI license can be a misdemeanor in states that regulate it. Skip tracing your own lists generally needs no license.
Which states don't require a PI license?+
Idaho, Mississippi, and South Dakota have no state PI license, and Colorado's lapsed in 2020. Wyoming and Alaska require local rather than state licensing. Federal data and outreach rules still apply everywhere.
// Keep reading
More on skip tracing.
Skip tracing laws in California: licensing, privacy, and DNC rules
Is skip tracing legal in California? Do you need a license? Here's California's PI-licensing status, privacy law, and telemarketing rules, plus the federal rules that always apply.
Read →Skip tracing laws in Texas: licensing, privacy, and DNC rules
Is skip tracing legal in Texas? Do you need a license? Here's Texas's PI-licensing status, privacy law, and telemarketing rules, plus the federal rules that always apply.
Read →Skip tracing laws in Florida: licensing, privacy, and DNC rules
Is skip tracing legal in Florida? Do you need a license? Here's Florida's PI-licensing status, privacy law, and telemarketing rules, plus the federal rules that always apply.
Read →Put this into practice.
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