I have always been curious to learn about things and have always actively sought out answers. That predisposition helped me a great deal as I charted my course in the sadly disparaged world of debt-collecting.

Scoff if you must, but collectors who uphold ethical standards are actually some of the most honest people that you’ll ever do business with. You will get the unvarnished truth-this needs to be paid—along with some education on how to resolve the balance. And in more instances than you might imagine-you’ll get an empathetic payment arrangement.

All of this magic happens after you actually make contact with the correct consumer. The process of searching high and low for a good contact number in order to reach a consumer is called ‘skiptracing.’

Attempting to locate the consumer or debtor that you want to ‘dun’ or ask/demand for payment is more than a notion. Nowadays, computers and their algorithms do the searching, but back in the not too recent past, it was another matter.

Since it wasn’t the Stone Age, we still used computers, but it was in a very different way. It was all about sleuthing and paying attention to the tiniest direct or indirect detail in order to find the right person.

A by-product and perhaps the most tangible benefit of my years in skiptracing has been the ability to sharpen my skills in curiosity.

This means everything, I repeat, everything in the world of family history research. One needs to pay attention to every shred of detail as it concerns your ancestors, their friends, associates, and neighbors (The FAN Club Method).

Nothing is too trivial to look closer into. The potential for breaking through a brick wall increases exponentially as you gather more facts.

Due diligence, time, and patience is necessary for the search but know that eventually, persistence is rewarded.

The situation is that we need to research our family history like someone owes a debt…

The Genealogy Situation Room