I work for a debt collection company, and thus, am constantly searching for new things to write about this enthralling subject. One interesting story I dug up was on legal ways to locate information on debtor’s bank accounts. Of course, being able to find a debtor’s bank account can be rather helpful in your attempts to collect money.

Under the law, a licensed, private investigator must do the work, and you should always be very wary when you employ somebody to find bank account numbers seeing as there are a number of scam businesses claiming to do just that, and instead, taking the money while doing nothing in return.

But what if you are a “hands on” kind of collection agency? That’s where the article came in. It listed what it thought were some great ideas on finding your debtor’s bank account, but some of these just seemed crazy. But for your reading pleasure, here is a summary of them all.

1. The old “I give you my checking information you give me your checking information” shtick: If your debtor is employed by a retail store, purchase something from the person in debt and pay with a check. This is a useful way to figure out what the account information is, because by observing your own bank statement, you will be able to locate the debtor’s account number.

2. The “old landlady” scheme: speaking with a landlady or landlord that a debtor used to have can be very helpful. See if the landlady will tell you his bank account information, or you can subpoena the former landlord for a copy of the rental application to determine where the defendant banked. It is probable that the debtor utilizes the same bank account. (Editor’s note: Do NOT even ask me why a debtor’s formal landlady would voluntarily offer a former tenant’s bank account information to a random person!!!) To Be Continued In Part Two…

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes about credit collection agencies.