Skip Tracing Leads
Member since 2026 · 4 posts · 4 votes
Wanted to get some opinions when it come to skip tracing data. I would love to know where people are getting there most accurate and current data from. Also a majority of the phone numbers I see have "dnc" next to them. Are these number completely off limits or are we still calling these numbers in hopes of a quality conversation?
For skip tracing, I would focus less on who gives you the most numbers and more on who gives you the most accurate numbers. Bad data just means more wasted calls.
I have used DealMachine for years and have had good results with their data, but no skip tracing provider is going to be 100% accurate.
As far as DNC numbers, I would not just call them anyway. DNC is a compliance flag, not a bad data flag. Make sure you understand the federal and state rules before calling those numbers.
The bigger thing I would focus on is getting a good targeted list, having clean data, and being consistent with your outreach and follow up.
@Hunter Korn Two separate questions in there, so I'll take them one at a time.
On accuracy, no single source wins everywhere. Results change by market, by how old the owner data is, and by whether the owner is a person or an LLC. The most reliable way to choose is to test. Take a few hundred records from your actual target list, run the same sample through two providers, and compare. Numbers that show up in both tend to be your best bet. It also helps to check whether a number is mobile or landline, and whether it's tied to the owner's name and not a relative or an old tenant. I'd judge providers by connect rate and wrong number rate, not by how many numbers they hand back per record.
On the DNC flag: it usually means the number is on the National Do Not Call Registry, a state list, or a provider's own flag list. It doesn't mean the number is dead, and it doesn't automatically mean you can never reach that person. It does change the rules for unsolicited calls and texts, though. Whether an investor calling a homeowner counts as telemarketing is something attorneys genuinely disagree on, and penalties can be per call, so a lot of operators scrub and skip. Some states, Florida for example, add their own rules on top of the federal ones. I'm not an attorney, so please run this past a real estate attorney who handles TCPA in your state before building a plan around it.
A few habits cover most of the risk:
- Scrub every list against the federal registry and your state list before anyone dials, and re scrub about every 31 days, since numbers get added all the time.
- Run a litigator scrub too, because some people file complaints repeatedly.
- Stay inside the legal calling window (federal is 8am to 9pm in the owner's time zone, and some states are tighter).
- Keep an internal do not contact list and honor a stop request right away.
- Tag flagged records instead of deleting them. You can still reach those owners by direct mail or by knocking on the door, and clean tracking means you're not guessing later.
What market are you working, and are your leads mostly individuals or LLCs? That changes which data source tends to hold up best.
@Michael Clinton thank you for your thourough response. I'm currently working markets in Ohio, Columbus and Toledo specifically as of right now
@Hunter Korn Good markets to be working in for skip tracing, since both are large enough that provider coverage tends to be solid.
A couple of things specific to Ohio. Ohio has its own Do Not Call list in addition to the federal one, so both need to be scrubbed, not just the national registry. Ohio also has a state litigator and complaint history worth checking, since a chunk of TCPA activity nationally comes from a small number of repeat filers, and skipping known ones cuts a lot of your risk for very little lost reach.
On individuals versus LLCs, since you're skip tracing owners in Columbus and Toledo, you'll run into a fair number of LLC owned properties, especially rentals. For those, the skip trace needs to land on the actual person behind the LLC, not just a registered agent or a general business line. Providers vary a lot in how well they resolve that, so when you test providers, pull a sample specifically of LLC owned properties and check separately how many resolve to a real personal number versus a dead end.
If you're finding one city performs noticeably better than the other for data quality, that's also worth tracking, since it's common for one market to have better coverage than a market thirty minutes away.
DNC doesn't mean off limits for direct mail or non telemarketing calls (you're not cold calling as a business selling something check with a local attorney on TCPA specifics for your state). For accuracy, cross referencing skip trace data against absentee/mailing address mismatches has helped me filter out bad numbers before I even dial.
The number is only useful after the name matches the current deed. On a Franklin County (Columbus) or Lucas County (Toledo) parcel, read the grantee on the last deed at the county auditor or recorder. If the skip-trace contact is a relative, an old tenant, or the mailing-address occupant and not that grantee, do not dial it. A mailing-address mismatch is a filter. The deed grantee is the identity.
DNC stays a do-not-call flag. Mail can still go to the grantee of record. I am not an attorney, and I am not in Ohio, so the TCPA point already in this thread is the one to run past counsel before anyone dials a flagged number.
I do not sell skip-trace lists. The check I do is that grantee match, written from the county page, before an offer. That write-up is $100 for one South Florida parcel. No phone numbers in it.
The biggest thing we've learned with skip tracing is that results vary heavily by location. Some providers work much better in certain regions than others.
For example, Data Skip IO and Skip Matrix have been our best sources in a lot of the southern states. In New England, we've had better results with DealMachine. So it really comes down to where you're targeting. Test a small batch from two or three providers in your market and compare connection rates before committing to one.
On the DNC numbers, I'd treat those as off limits for cold calling. The fines for calling numbers on the Do Not Call list can add up fast, and one quality conversation isn't worth that risk. Scrub your lists before they hit the dialer and put your energy into the clean numbers. Also be aware of the legislation in your specific state, since some have stricter rules than the federal list. If you're unsure, it's worth a quick conversation with an attorney.
Where are you looking to skip trace?
On the DNC numbers: treat them as off limits unless a lawyer in your state tells you otherwise. Fines can run hundreds to over a thousand dollars per call, and one bad list can put you out of business. "But I'm buying, not selling" is an argument you don't want to be testing in court.
That doesn't mean the lead is dead. It means the phone isn't the channel. Send a letter, knock the door, or have a driving-for-dollars partner stop by. A lot of those DNC owners are the ones nobody else is reaching, so they're less burned out on investors.
On data: no single provider is accurate enough by itself. Run your list through two sources and compare. The numbers that show up in both are usually the live ones.
Not legal advice, just how I'd protect myself.