Nashville Private Investigators Not sure what you need? Start here.

The useful test is whether you need something documented rather than simply known. If you want to understand a situation for your own peace of mind, a conversation or a public records search may be enough. If you will need to prove it — to a judge, an adjuster, an employer, or an attorney — that is where an investigator earns the cost, because the documentation standard is higher than most people expect. The consultation is free precisely so you can work that out before spending anything.

No licensed investigator can obtain bank account information or balances, read text messages or email, access a phone or computer they do not own, obtain phone records without lawful process, access sealed or expunged records, or place a GPS tracker on a vehicle they do not own — the last is a Class A misdemeanor under T.C.A. § 39-13-606. If you are comparing investigators, ask each one directly whether they can get bank records. The honest answer is no, and the answer you get tells you a great deal.

Surveillance and investigative fieldwork are billed hourly with travel disclosed up front. Locates, background research and process serving are typically flat-rate. Larger investigations are scoped in phases, so you approve a defined amount of work rather than an open-ended engagement. The single biggest cost variable is how well-defined the question is: a scoped question about specific days and locations costs a fraction of an open-ended request to find out everything about someone.

We treat client matters as confidential and do not discuss them, but it is important to understand that this is not the same protection an attorney provides. Investigator-client communications are not privileged in the way attorney-client communications are. Where privilege matters — a criminal defense case, a contested divorce, a business matter likely to reach litigation — the right structure is for your attorney to engage us, which generally brings the work inside attorney work product. We raise this at the consultation whenever it applies.

Not through us. Discretion is the core competency of the work, and an investigation that gets detected has usually failed regardless of what it found. Surveillance is conducted from positions and in vehicles chosen not to draw attention, investigators rotate where an engagement runs multiple days, and we do not contact a subject or anyone connected to them unless the scope specifically calls for it. The more common source of exposure is the client — a changed routine, a question asked differently — which we discuss at intake.

We can document where someone goes, who they meet, how long they stay and what is observable from lawful vantage points, which is what a court or a decision actually rests on. What we cannot do is read their messages, access their accounts or track their car, and those limits are legal rather than a matter of effort or price. In practice the documentation is usually more conclusive than message content anyway. Our infidelity investigations page covers the process, cost and evidentiary standard in detail.

Not bank accounts. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act makes it a federal offense to obtain bank account information under false pretenses, and no investigator can lawfully provide account numbers or balances. What can be established through lawful public-record research is real property ownership, business interests and entity ownership, vehicles and vessels where records permit, UCC filings, liens and judgments, and litigation history. That is frequently enough to support a judgment collection. Our asset searches page explains exactly where the line falls.

It varies enormously by service. A straightforward locate often resolves in one to two business days. Surveillance is typically two to three days of field time, though the calendar span depends on which days matter. A corporate investigation or criminal defense workup usually runs two to six weeks. Process serving is measured in attempts rather than days. At the consultation we give you a realistic range for your specific situation, including how a tight deadline changes both the approach and the cost.

That depends on how it was obtained, which is the main practical argument for hiring a licensed investigator rather than doing it yourself or hiring someone unlicensed. Evidence gathered unlawfully is not just inadmissible; it can damage your position and create liability. We document to a standard that anticipates cross-examination — intact metadata, contemporaneous notes, continuous logs rather than selected clips, and a clear record of how each item was obtained — and our investigators can testify to all of it.

Regularly, and on several kinds of case: criminal defense fact-finding, witness location and interviews, service of process, domestic and custody matters, insurance defense, and corporate disputes. Where counsel engages us, the work generally falls within attorney work product and we take direction on scope, sequencing and what gets documented. If you are represented, having your attorney make the call is usually the better structure, and we are happy to speak with them directly.

You get a report that says so, with a record of what was done and what it covered. That is a real outcome rather than a failure. In domestic matters especially, documentation that nothing unusual occurred across several days is frequently what the client actually needed. We are explicit about this at the consultation: you are paying for a reliable answer, not a predetermined one, and an investigator who only ever finds what the client hoped for is not investigating.

Yes, under Tennessee Code Annotated Title 62, Chapter 26, which governs private investigator licensing in this state. It matters for reasons beyond credentialing: a licensed investigator carries insurance, is accountable to a regulatory body, can testify as to their qualifications without the licensing question undermining them, and has a license to lose if they cut a corner. Unlicensed investigation in Tennessee is itself unlawful, and evidence gathered that way can be challenged on that basis alone.

Nothing is required, and you do not need to know the terminology. If you have them, useful details are full names, approximate ages or dates of birth, addresses, vehicle descriptions, the county involved, and any deadline you are working against — a hearing date, a claim deadline, a filing date. If you have documents, court papers or prior reports, mention that they exist. But the consultation works fine if all you have is a description of what is wrong.

Frequently, and it is a normal outcome of the consultation. If the situation calls for a police report rather than a private investigation, we say so. If an attorney should be your first call, we say that. If the likely cost of investigating exceeds what the answer is worth to you, or if the thing you want documented cannot lawfully be documented by anyone, you will hear it plainly. Taking an engagement we do not think will help is a bad outcome for you and a worse one for our reputation.