How to hire a private investigator

Most people hire a private investigator once, under pressure, with no idea what a good engagement looks like. This guide covers what investigators actually do, where the legal lines are, and how to hire one without getting burned.

First, decide whether you need one

A private investigator is a professional fact-finder. They are useful when you need information gathered lawfully, documented properly, and delivered in a form you can act on or hand to a lawyer. The common, legitimate reasons people hire one are narrower than television suggests:

• Service of process. Delivering court documents to a party in an active case, and documenting that it was done.
• Insurance and fraud matters. Checking whether a claim or a business loss is what it appears to be.
• Corporate due diligence. Vetting a company, a counterparty, or a prospective partner before a deal.
• Background checks with consent. Confirming what someone has told you, where that person has agreed to the check.
• Locating people for a legal or family reason. A witness, an heir, a debtor in a court matter, or a missing relative.
• Legal discovery. Finding witnesses, records and evidence in support of a case, usually working with an attorney.

If what you want is to follow a partner, watch an ex, or find someone who does not want to be found by you, an investigator is the wrong tool and a reputable one will say so. More on that below.

What a private investigator can legally do

Investigators work with lawful methods. They do not have police powers, and their license does not let them do anything an ordinary person would be prosecuted for. Within those limits, the work typically includes:

• searching public records such as court filings, property records and business registrations;
• interviewing people who are willing to talk;
• observing and documenting what happens in public places, where the law allows;
• locating people and assets through lawful sources;
• serving legal documents;
• writing up findings in a report that can be used by you or your attorney.

What a private investigator cannot do

These limits apply everywhere. An investigator may not:

• record or intercept phone calls or messages they are not a party to;
• log in to someone else’s email, phone, social media or bank accounts;
• pretend to be a police officer or a government official;
• obtain phone, bank or medical records by pretending to be the account holder;
• trespass on private property;
• harass, threaten or intimidate anyone.

If an investigator offers any of these, they are offering to break the law on your behalf. Evidence gathered that way can be worthless in court, and you can share in the consequences. End the conversation.

Hire someone licensed

Most US states require private investigators to hold a license, and the rules differ from state to state. A licensed investigator has met their state’s requirements and answers to a regulator, which matters if something goes wrong. Ask any investigator you are considering what license they hold and where, and expect a direct answer.

Questions to ask before you hire

1. Have you handled this kind of matter before? Process serving, fraud work and due diligence are different skills. Ask for relevant experience, not years in the business.
2. What will you actually do? You should hear a method: which records, which steps, in what order. Vague answers now mean vague results later.
3. What will I receive at the end? A written report, photographs, a proof of service, a list of findings. Agree the deliverable before work starts.
4. How do you charge, and what is the likely total? Hourly, flat fee, expenses. Ask what would make the cost go up, and ask to be told before it does.
5. How will we communicate? How often you will get updates and how quickly they answer questions.
6. Is there anything about my request you would not do? A professional will tell you where the legal lines are. That answer is a good test of the person.

Expect to be asked why

A careful investigator will want to know your purpose before they take the work. This is not nosiness. Their license depends on not helping someone do harm, so they need to know the request has a lawful basis, particularly when it involves locating a person. Be straightforward about what you need and why. If your reason is legitimate, saying it plainly costs you nothing.

Protect your money

The most common bad outcome is not dramatic. It is paying up front and getting little or nothing back. A few habits prevent it:

• Get the scope and price in writing before any money moves.
• Avoid paying the full amount up front to someone you have only just met, and avoid cash or any payment you cannot trace.
• Tie payment to delivery. The cleanest arrangement is one where the money is committed but not released until you have the work.

That last point is how escrow works. On Casework, you pay through Stripe when you hire, the funds are held, and they are released to the investigator only when you mark the work complete.

Red flags

• A guaranteed result. Honest investigators promise effort and method. Nobody can promise what the facts will turn out to be.
• No interest in your purpose. Someone who will find anyone for anyone is a liability to you.
• An offer to do something on the “cannot” list. Phone records, account access, recordings.
• Evasiveness about their license.
• Pressure to pay everything now, with nothing in writing.
• No written report. If nothing is documented, you have nothing to use.

When a private investigator is the wrong call

If you are afraid of someone, or someone is following, tracking or harassing you, an investigator is not the first call. Contact the police, or reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline in the US at 1-800-799-7233, or Línea de la Vida in Mexico at 800 911 2000. In an emergency call 911.

And if what you want is to monitor a partner or keep tabs on someone who has cut contact, no reputable investigator will take that work. Casework refuses it outright.

The short version

1. Be clear about what you need and why, and make sure it is something an investigator can lawfully do.
2. Hire someone licensed, with experience in your kind of matter.
3. Agree the method, the deliverable and the price in writing.
4. Keep your money protected until the work is delivered.
5. Walk away from guarantees, pressure, and anything unlawful.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws vary by state and country; speak to an attorney about your specific situation.