Skip Tracing - Michigan

Act 285 of 1965

License Required to Skip Trace: YES

Regulatory Agency: Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs

Agency Website: https://www.michigan.gov/lara/0,4601,7-154-89334_61343_35414---,00.html 

Applicable Sections:

338.821 Short title.

Sec. 1.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the "professional investigator licensure act".

338.822 Definitions.

Sec. 2.

As used in this act:

(b) "Computer forensics" means the collection, investigation, analysis, and scientific examination of data held on, or retrieved from, computers, computer networks, computer storage media, electronic devices, electronic storage media, or electronic networks, or any combination thereof.

(c) "Department" means the Michigan department of labor and economic growth.

(e) "Investigation business" means a business that, for a fee, reward, or other consideration, engages in business or accepts employment to furnish, or subcontracts or agrees to make, or makes an investigation for the purpose of obtaining information with reference to any of the following:

(i) Crimes or wrongs done or threatened against the United States or a state or territory of the United States, or any other person or legal entity.

(ii) The identity, habits, conduct, business, occupation, honesty, integrity, credibility, trustworthiness, efficiency, loyalty, activity, movement, whereabouts, affiliations, associations, transactions, acts, reputation, or character of a person.

(iii) The location, disposition, or recovery of lost or stolen property.

(iv) The cause or responsibility for fires, libels, losses, accidents, or damage or injury to persons or property.

(v) Securing evidence to be used before a court, board, officer, or investigating committee.

(vi) The prevention, detection, and removal of surreptitiously installed devices designed for eavesdropping or observation, or both.

(vii) The electronic tracking of the location of an individual or motor vehicle for purposes of detection or investigation.

(viii) Computer forensics to be used as evidence before a court, board, officer, or investigating committee.

(f) "Licensee" means a person licensed under this act.

(h) "Professional investigator" means a person, other than an insurance adjuster who is on salary and employed by an insurance company, who for a fee, reward, or other consideration engages in the investigation business.

338.823 License required; investigation of prohibited activities; civil or criminal action; violation; penalty.

Sec. 3.

(1) A person, firm, partnership, company, limited liability company, or corporation shall not engage in the business of professional investigator for hire, fee, or reward, and shall not advertise his or her business to be that of professional investigator or of a professional investigator agency without first obtaining a license from the department. A person, firm, partnership, company, limited liability company, or corporation shall not engage in the business of furnishing or supplying, for hire and reward, information as to the personal character of any person or firm, or as to the character or kind of business and occupation of any person, firm, partnership, company, limited liability company, or corporation and shall not own, conduct, or maintain a bureau or agency for the purposes described in this subsection except as to the financial rating of persons, firms, partnerships, companies, limited liability companies, or corporations without having first obtained a license as a professional investigator from the department.

(2) The department, the attorney general, the Michigan state police, or a local law enforcement agency, on its own initiative or at the request of any other person or legal entity, may investigate allegations of a person or legal entity engaging in activities regulated under this act without being appropriately licensed or exempt from licensure under this act. The entity conducting the investigation shall report its findings to the attorney general and county prosecuting attorney having jurisdiction in the location within which the alleged violator is engaged in business. The attorney general or county prosecuting attorney may bring an appropriate civil or criminal action in a court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin any person or legal entity that has engaged or is about to engage in any activity regulated by this act without being appropriately licensed or exempt from licensure under this act. Such an injunction may be issued without proof of actual damage sustained by any person or legal entity. Issuance of an injunction shall not prevent criminal prosecution of a violator. In addition to issuing the injunction, the court may impose a civil violation fine not to exceed $25,000.00. A person or other legal entity who reports to the department, a local law enforcement agency, a county prosecuting attorney, or the attorney general regarding an allegation of unlicensed activity is immune from tort liability for making the report.

(3) A person violating this section is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 4 years or by a penal fine of not more than $5,000.00, or both.

338.842 Advertising; contents; discontinuing misleading advertising; notice.

Sec. 22.

(1) An advertisement by a licensee soliciting or advertising for business shall contain his or her name and address as they appear in the records of the department.

(2) A licensee shall, on notice from the department, discontinue any advertising or the use of any advertisement, seal, or card, that the department determines to be misleading to the public. Failure to comply with such an order is cause for suspension or revocation of the license.

(3) Unless licensed under this act, a person shall not advertise his or her business to be that of a professional investigator regardless of the name or title actually used.