Guides

Plain-language guides to skip tracing, identity data, and the rules that govern using consumer records — written for the teams that do this work every day.

• What is skip tracing? How it works

  What is skip tracing? Locating a person's current contact details from the records they leave behind: how it works, who uses it, and the rules.

• Is skip tracing legal? The rules that decide

  Is skip tracing legal in the U.S.? Yes, with lawfully sourced data for a permitted purpose. Where the FCRA, DPPA, GLBA, and conduct laws draw the lines.

• Skip tracing software: 4 types, how to choose

  The four kinds of skip tracing software compared, what each actually costs, and how to judge data freshness, match transparency, and pricing before you buy.

• Skip tracing for real estate: find owners

  Skip tracing for real estate: how investors find absentee owners from an address, what per-hit tracing costs, and the outreach rules to follow.

• Skip tracing API — locate people programmatically

  A skip tracing API: search 250M+ consumer records by name, phone, email, or address, get labeled match tiers and confidence scores, and pay per lookup.

• Identity verification API without ID uploads

  How an identity verification API checks records without ID uploads, when database checks beat document IDV, and how to call CoverFi's free check.

• Identity resolution: how record matching works

  Identity resolution, entity resolution, and record linkage explained — deterministic vs probabilistic matching and how pool-and-score pipelines rank people.

• TCPA compliance for calls and texts

  TCPA compliance for calls and texts: penalties per violation, the Reassigned Numbers Database, and how stale phone data creates wrong-party risk.

• FCRA vs non-FCRA data: where the line sits

  FCRA vs non-FCRA: what makes a use regulated, what consumer data may be used for, and why the same record can be legal for one purpose and illegal for another.

• DPPA permissible use, explained in plain language

  DPPA permissible use, explained: the 14 uses the Driver's Privacy Protection Act allows for motor-vehicle record data and how attestations work.

• Business entity search across state registries

  How business entity search works across state registries: what a filing contains, how officer disclosure differs by state, and where the data runs out.

Reference

• Records & identity glossary

  Plain-language definitions for consumer-records and identity terms — match tiers, confidence scores, masking, DPV, carrier routes, and FIPS codes.

• CoverFi data dictionary

  Every field in CoverFi's consumer-records dataset — identity, alternate names, address history, phones, emails — with plain-English descriptions and types.

• Frequently asked questions

  Answers about CoverFi's free identity checks, record search, credits and refunds, the API, data sources, masking, and privacy rights — in plain language.