// Skip tracing
DPPA and skip tracing: when you can use DMV records
Motor-vehicle records are a rich locate source, but the Driver's Privacy Protection Act limits who can use them and why. Here's how the DPPA applies to skip tracing.
The short answer
The Driver's Privacy Protection Act (18 U.S.C. §2721) bars obtaining personal information from state DMV records except for specific permissible uses. Skip tracing isn't a listed use on its own. The data is reachable through hooks like a licensed private-investigation agency acting for a permissible purpose or use in connection with litigation. Pulling DMV data for general marketing skip tracing is a violation.
Why DMV data is regulated
State motor-vehicle departments hold names, addresses, and sometimes more, tied to a verified identity. After a stalker used DMV records to find and murder an actress in 1989, Congress passed the DPPA to lock that data down. It's some of the most reliable locate data available, which is exactly why access is limited.
The permissible uses that matter for locating people
The DPPA lists permissible uses in §2721(b). The ones relevant to skip tracing are narrow: use by a licensed private-investigative agency or security service for a purpose otherwise permitted, use in connection with a civil, criminal, or arbitration proceeding, and certain government functions. There's no exception for finding a property owner to make an offer. Marketing is a permissible use only with the individual's express consent, which a cold skip trace doesn't have.
What this means for real-estate investors
Most real-estate skip tracing runs on public records, property data, and consumer-header data, not DMV records, precisely because marketing has no clean DPPA hook. That's fine: the phone and mailing address you need to reach an owner rarely require motor-vehicle data. If a tool is quietly using DMV data to boost hit rates on a marketing account, that's the tool's exposure and potentially yours.
// Common questions
Answered.
Can I use DMV records for real estate skip tracing?+
Generally no. Real-estate marketing isn't a DPPA permissible use, and there's no consent from the owner. DMV data for locating people is reserved for licensed investigators, litigation, and government uses, not cold marketing lists.
Is skip tracing a permissible use under the DPPA?+
Not by itself. The DPPA permits specific uses, and skip tracing has to fit inside one, like a licensed PI agency acting for a permitted purpose or use in litigation. General marketing locates don't qualify.
// Keep reading
More on skip tracing.
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Read →Skip tracing laws in Texas: licensing, privacy, and DNC rules
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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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