Method and system for locating a mobile asset
An improved system and method for creating and accessing a centralized database containing an assorted variety of information related to a debtor such as physical addresses of the debtor or his friends, associates and relatives, as well as information related to a mobile asset, such as physical description information, collectively referred to as “identifying information.” Methods are also disclosed for lenders and others to send identifying information to the centralized database, and for users such as skip tracers to be able to download and use the information located in the database for asset recovery purposes.
1. A method for locating a mobile asset of interest, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a first database comprising a plurality of items of identifying information and a plurality of items of location information for a plurality of mobile assets;
the plurality of items of identifying information includes at least two of: a mobile asset physical description, a mobile asset license plate number, a mobile asset VIN, a mobile asset owner, information identifying a make, model, or color, a mobile asset photograph, and mobile asset type;
the plurality of items of location information includes at least two of: a residence location associated with a mobile asset owner, a work location associated with the mobile asset owner, a mobile asset previous recorded location;
establishing a communication between a handheld mobile device and the first database;
receiving from the handheld mobile device a mobile device current location;
comparing the mobile device current location to at least one of the plurality of items of location information;
sending to the handheld mobile device at least one of the items of identifying information associated with a mobile asset if a result of the comparison is that the mobile device current location is within a specified distance of the at least one of the plurality of items of location information; and
sending to the handheld mobile device financial data concerning payment associated with repossessing the mobile asset.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing at least some of the identifying information and at least some of the location information at the handheld mobile device.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising transmitting at least some of the identifying information and at least some of the location information to the handheld mobile device.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the mobile device is a GPS-enabled smart phone, a tablet computer, or a laptop computer.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location information includes time stamp information regarding the age of the location information.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving verification from the handheld mobile device confirming a sighting of the mobile asset.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a second database that includes user type designations, and validating at least one of the user type designations upon receiving the mobile device current location.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the user type designation includes a commercial vehicle recovery service.
9. The method of claim 7 wherein the user type designation includes a law enforcement agency.
10. A system for locating a mobile asset, the system comprising:
a database comprising:
mobile asset identifying information associated with a plurality of mobile assets wherein the mobile asset identifying information includes at least two of: a mobile asset physical description, a mobile asset license plate number and a mobile asset VIN; and
mobile asset location information associated with the plurality of mobile assets wherein the mobile asset location information includes at least two of: a mobile asset owner residence location, a mobile asset owner work location, and a mobile asset previous location;
a communication system in communication with a handheld mobile device and the database, wherein the handheld mobile device comprises a GPS transceiver to transmit a handheld mobile device current location to the database;
a processor associated with the database for comparing the handheld mobile device current location with the mobile asset location information;
wherein the communication system is configured to send identifying information associated with the mobile asset to the handheld mobile device if the handheld device current location is within a specified distance of the mobile asset location information; and
wherein the communication system is configured to send to the handheld mobile device financial data concerning payment associated with repossessing the mobile asset.
11. The system according to claim 10 , further comprising a server, wherein the server comprises the database and the processor.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the mobile asset identifying information includes lender contact information.
13. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the handheld mobile device is a wireless device and the communication system is at least partially wireless.
14. A method for locating a mobile asset of interest, the method comprising:
providing a database comprising a plurality of items of identifying information and a plurality of items of location information corresponding to a plurality of mobile assets;
wherein the plurality of items of identifying information includes at least two of: a mobile asset physical description, a mobile asset license plate number and a mobile asset VIN;
wherein the plurality of items of location information includes at least two of: a mobile asset owner residence location, a mobile asset owner work location, and a mobile asset previous location;
receiving a handheld mobile device current location;
comparing the handheld mobile device current location to at least two of the plurality of items of location information;
providing identifying information associated with a first mobile asset of the plurality of mobile assets if a result of the comparison is that the mobile device current location is within a specified distance of at least one of the plurality of items of location information associated with the first mobile asset; and
sending to the handheld mobile device financial data concerning payment associated with repossessing the first mobile asset.
15. The method according to claim 14 , further comprising providing an alert if the mobile device current location is within the specified distance of the location information associated with the first mobile asset.
16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the alert comprises instructions for repossessing the mobile asset.
17. The method according to claim 14 , further comprising periodically receiving an updated mobile device current location and comparing the updated mobile device current location to at least one of the plurality of items of location information.
18. The method according to claim 14 , further comprising receiving confirmation of a visual sighting of a physical mobile asset matching the identifying information.
19. The method according to claim 14 , further comprising receiving a user type designation corresponding to a user of the handheld mobile device.