MOBILE, Ala. -

If recovery industry executives want to sharpen their skip-tracing skills, Alex Price often is one of the first experts called. As a result, Price has taken nearly 30 years of industry experience and created the Skip-Tracers National Certification Program.

“What I basically did was take tried-and-true, old-school skip-tracing techniques and melded them with today’s technology to give today’s skip-tracer a solid foundation that someone brand new to the industry can take the course and gain knowledge or a seasoned veteran can do the same in our litigious society,” Price explained.

In addition to receiving national certification, individuals who enroll in the course will also receive at no cost two additional tools — the Military Locator Guide and the Florida Records Guide.

“Understanding laws is critical to the skip-tracer so they reduce the overall liability to themselves and their employer,” Price emphasized.

Price began his career with Barnett Bank as a field representative collecting past-due accounts. He then moved to World Omni Finance where during the next 10 years he worked in all aspects of collections and handling the nationwide charge-off skip portfolio.

In 1995, Price ventured out and opened his own skip-tracing company, Renegade Research. After 10 years of operating his own successful skip-tracing company, he joined MasterFiles as a consultant in May 2006. Later that same year, he accepted the position of national sales/training manager to bring “the next generation of skip-tracing technology to the industry.”

Price believes previous skip-tracing materials simply were volumes of where an individual could find debtors’ information.

“There hasn’t been an instructional manual to help someone with the basics and the advanced methods of skip-tracing,” he emphasized.

“Early recognition is the key,” Price surmised. “The sooner you recognize that you have a skip and start working the file, the more apt you are in finding it and not incurring a loss.” 

Organizations such as Recovery Industry Services Co. are throwing their support behind the program.

“It is imperative that those who provide skip-tracing services undergo the training to understand the various federal laws affecting data security, pre-texting, military personnel, etc,” RISC officials declared.

“We are convinced that the Skip-Tracers National Certification Program will provide this training and will be an invaluable tool to enhance their ability to serve their clients professionally and competently,” they added.

To learn more about this program, call (866) 996-7472 or visit http://www.riscus.com/ecomSkip.aspx.