Three Ways To Collect On An Outstanding Debt.

No matter what you do to try and weed out potential deadbeat customers, sooner or later one or more accounts will become past due. When you find yourself with a past due account on your hands, the worst thing you can do is ignore the problem. The more time that passes between the payment due date and the time that the customer is contacted, the less likely you are to receive the full payment. After 6 months, you statistically collect just 50% of the amount due and after a year that amount drops to only 25% of the original debt. If you are serious about turning a profit, there are three ways to handle the collection on past due accounts; in house efforts, hiring a collection agency, or taking legal action.

Collecting the debt yourself: If the debt is relatively fresh or small, you will most likely start by trying to collect the debt yourself before hiring a collection agency or a lawyer. The most effective way to start the process of collecting an outstanding debt is by calling the debtor. Be firm, yet polite when you call. Always keep records of the time, date, and outcome of the phone call. You’ll need this information later when you decide to hire a collection agency or a lawyer.

Many deadbeat customers can talk a great talk on the phone, but then never deliver. If you get the “I have the check right here and will send it in the mail” line from a business customer more than once, tell them you’ll send a courier service or someone from your office over to pick it up. If the business is local, try making an appointment with their finance manager to talk face to face.

Another effective way to motivate customers to make a payment is with a 10 day demand letter. Some debt collection agencies offer a free 10 day demand letter service that includes postage and mailing of a demand letter sent on official debt collection agency letterhead. Many times, this is enough to get your customer to part with their payment.

Hire a Collection Agency: Many small businesses do not initially think of hiring a debt collection agency to collect on past due accounts, but of the outsourced solutions, a debt collection agency is usually the most cost effective and will generate the best results. When you consider the in-house time spent trying to keep on top of delinquent customers, a debt collection agency is often more cost effective than trying to handle it with your own staff.

With a debt collection agency, you won’t pay a dime until they collect the debt, meaning that the debt collection agency is highly motivated to find a way to get the deadbeat to pay. Because they don’t get paid unless you do, a debt collection agency tends to work fast, They tend to “work at odd hours”, and use all of it’s professional resources to locate skipped debtors.

Today’s breed of debt collectors no longer use scare tactics or bully customers. That type of behavior has been outdated since the 70′s. Besides, not all customers who are behind on payments are deadbeats. It’s never wise in business to make enemies and gain a reputation as a brute force knee breaker for any customer who has a tough month. When you choose a debt collection agency, make sure one of its goals is to maintain extreme professionalism.

Taking legal action: Another option to collecting a debt is to take legal action whether by taking the debtor to small claims court or by hiring a lawyer to pursue the debtor. This is by far the most costly of your options.

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Cali Collection Company Attempts To Get Healthy And Fit

A debt collection company based in California initiated a ploy to educate and motivate employees to live healthier lifestyles in early January. There are twenty eight employees at the agency; more than half are currently participating in the implementation.

All of the parties that are involved have made a goal to lose ten percent of their total body weight by the end of June. Every Monday morning weigh-ins are scheduled and employees have a chance to win two cash rewards for losing five percent of their body weight by the end of March, and then another five percent by the end of June.

The Agency’s executive stated he had been considering the initiative for quite some time. He deems it perfect for the stereotypical office setting that is fraught with unhealthy eating, and employees taking breaks to get fast food. He made note of the fact that trying to make employees lose weight was more cost efficient than actually getting health insurance for his workers.

In a ploy to get employees to live healthier, the agency has sporadic lunches and “education track meetings” once a week. The meetings are supposed to assist employees target and plan for their weight loss goal. So far the program has been a success. The collection company has collectively lost 72 pounds to date. That’s the size of a small child.

The program works to produce a better all around worker. It follows that a worker that is less stressed will be more efficient and motivated. While a really relaxed debt collector does not seem like they would be the most efficient worker, it all seems like a good idea. As the government tries to sort out the health care system, perhaps it is time that more companies like this take this route. If employees cannot get health insurance, health initiatives and goals at work could be the next best solution.

Rapid Recovery Solution is a third party debt collection company. lawyer based and equipped with skiptracing tools. Visit the Uber Article Directory to get a totally unique version of this article for reprint.

You Foreclosed Your House And You Think You’re Off The Hook- Think Again

I would have trouble believing that people who have taken out mortgages become best friends with their mortgage lenders. Mortgage lenders raise rates as they please, and then, when they don’t receive that payment, they will take away your place of residence. Today, this is an alarming trend that ends up with homeowners either underwater or renting an apartment. And now, banks are attempting to get their money back from the foreclosure sale.

As today’s economy continues to suffer, it is all too often that a house goes into foreclosure and the amount due on the mortgage is more than the amount that the house was sold for. This remaining balance is called deficiency and it leaves mortgage lenders at a loss for words.

And regardless of the fact that there can be an agreement with the mortgage lender or bank to sell the house for less, these institutions might still want to be paid the remaining balance. Some factors may increase one’s risk for this sticky situation including credit history, other assets owned, and liens such as second mortgages.

This dilemma is especially important to the new group of homeowners who are choosing to walk out on their houses despite being able to afford payments. This is known as the “strategic foreclosure.” The belief of the people that do this is that it is better to pay rent at $1,000 than $3,000 on a mortgage every month.

Obviously, the mortgage lenders look at these strategic foreclosures with disgust. And it is no surprise that they are boosting their attempts to retrieve the money that is owed on such houses. The main targets? Homeowners who are just slightly behind on home payments.

Banks and mortgage lenders don’t have to attack this issue immediately after the house is sold and foreclosed. It is in their best interest to go after the money years after the fact. Its more lucrative for them this way, because once someone recovers from financial failure and their credit goes up, there is more money to be taken.

Collection agencies will collect on debts starting at $25,000 or more. To get around deficiency judgments, you should always take a look at the paperwork. Never sign anything that says anything about remains being owed and have the mortgage lender release any more obligations on the mortgage.

Mallory Megan is employed by a debt collection agency. Also she writes articles on business, finance, the credit industry and collection agencies. Visit the Uber Article Directory to get a totally unique version of this article for reprint.

Bleak News About Foreclosure Rates Revealed By Recent Report

According to the RealtyTrac Year-End 2009 Foreclosure Market Report, 3,957,643 foreclosure filings were reported on 2,824,674 U.S. properties in 2009. This includes scheduled foreclosure auctions, default notices and bank repossessions.

That’s a twenty one percent increase in properties from numbers in data gathered in 2008, and a one hundred and twenty percent increase in total properties from 2007. According to the report, one in forty five housing units, 2.21 percent, got at least one foreclosure filing during 2009, up from 2008′s 1.48 percent and 2007′s 1.03 percent.

In the month of December alone, foreclosure filings were reported on 349,519 properties in December. That’s a fourteen percent jump from the previous month of November and a fifteen percent increase from 2008. However, even though there was an increase in December, foreclosure activity in the fourth quarter of 2008 has decreased by seven percent.

Of all of the states, Nevada claimed the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate; more than ten percent of housing units received at least one foreclosure filing in 2009. That makes Nevada’s third consecutive year at the top of the foreclosure list. Nevada’s foreclosure activity in December increased twenty seven percent from the previous month, but still was down by twenty two percent from December of 08.

Arizona took the nation’s second highest state foreclosure rate in 2009 with more than six percent of properties receiving at least one foreclosure filing during the last year, and Florida claimed the nation’s third highest foreclosure rate at 5.93 percent of its properties having at least one foreclosure during the filing year.

This raises concerns in the debt collection industry. Recent trends have noted that consumers are pumping up their credit debt and low balling their assets to receive lower payment plans. The fact that they are maxing out their credit cards to receive lower payment plans does not look promising.

Mallory Megan works for a debt collection company. Also she composes stories on business and finance, consumer spending and collection agencies. This and other unique content ‘collection services’ articles are available with free reprint rights.

Bankruptcy: Automatic Stay And How It Protects You From Creditors

U.S. Bankruptcy Code imposes something called an automatic stay the moment that a petition for bankruptcy is filed. The automatic stay will usually halt the commencement, enforcement or appeal of actions and judgments against a debtor from the creditors they owe money to that are attempting to collect these debts incurred prior to the bankruptcy petition. In addition, the automatic stay protects property of the bankruptcy estate itself from collection actions and proceedings.

If a creditor violates the automatic stay their actions are voided out. Any violation of the stay might cause the violating party to have damages assessed to them. But, like every complicated law, there are exceptions. A creditor might be allowed to take their collateral if they obtain permission from the court first. They’ll get this by filing a motion for relief from the automatic stay.

The court will either grant the motion or provide security to the creditor, ensuring that the value of their collateral won’t decrease during the stay. Without the protection provided by the automatic stay creditors could hypothetically race to the courthouse in order to try to collect from a debtor. If this happened, and let’s say that a debtor’s business was simply facing just a temporary crunch, it might not survive a “run” by creditors when their business could otherwise be salvaged. A run may also result in waste and it might be unfair to similar creditors that are owed money too.

There are three kinds of avoidance actions, and all of these attempt to limit the risk of the legal system encouraging the downfall of a financially unstable debtor who hasn’t declared bankruptcy yet. The bankruptcy system will typically reward creditors who continue extending financing to debtors and will discourage creditors from ramping up their debt collection efforts.

Despite the seemingly simple nature of these rules, a couple of exceptions exist in the context of each category of avoidance action.

Mallory Megan works for a debt collection agency. She also does articles on business and finance, the credit industry, and collection agencies. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

Irish Gang Starts \”Bill Collection Agency\”

And you thought your bill collections agency was bad enough. It has been recently disclosed that a gang boss in Ireland has made a new career move – debt collection. This criminal genius has been linked to twelve murders; a threat even more serious than a collections letter.

Usually, legitimate creditors who aren\’t criminals will hire out third party bill collectors to retrieve debts. Collection agencies work on commission, where they receive a portion of the amount of money that they collect. Frequently collection companies will purchase debt from the creditors so that they can collect the whole sum of money owed.

It appears that the Irish hoodlums have borrowed inspiration from this practice, but the likenesses end there. The head of the notorious gang has made his own collection agency, buying debt and using his reputation to bully his way into gathering the money owed. The unfortunate debtors are drug users who are unable to repay dealers.

Legitimate collection agencies will normally start with a mild \”reminder letter.\” If the person in debt is hostile or evasive, the letters will become more severe. Phone calls are also used as a cue to those who owe money to deliver. If these tactics fail, the agency has the right to report a debt to credit bureaus, or file a lawsuit.

On the other hand, the Irish gangland bill collection agency will utilize its reputation as a group of ruthless murderers and crooks to intimidate debtors into paying back drug money. Thankfully, the head of this operation has been arrested, and the Justice Minister of Ireland has promised to do everything in his power to guarantee that the accused will be brought to justice.

So next time you get a telephone call from a bill collection company, try to keep things in perspective. And if you are ever in Ireland, it is probably not a good idea to take out a loan with a heartless gang.

Mallory McGuinness-Hickey works for bill collection company Rapid Recovery Solution and writes free lance articles on business news. Visit the Uber Article Directory to get a totally unique version of this article for reprint.

Spanish Collection Agency Humiliates Debtors Into Paying Up

Would you be mortified if a man in a tuxedo and a top hat followed you into a restaurant and silently joined your lunch date? How about a trio of men with more to love dressed like superheroes asking your neighbors for donations to assist you in your financial situation?

In Madrid, make sure your bills are paid or you might be visited by one of these colorful characters. The recession has slammed Spain. Official figures show that the unemployment rate has sky rocketed, reaching 19.3 percent. That\’s one of the highest rates in Europe. Around four million people are not working. That\’s the same number of jobless people as France and Italy put together. One business is flourishing however, that business is debt collection.

Spanish law is pretty relaxed when it comes to paying debts. They permit 95 days to settle bills unlike the 30 in other parts of Europe. This, coupled with the fact that Spanish courts give the matter low priority put collection companies in high demand.

One company, El Cobrador del Frac – which translates as \”The Debt Collector in Top Hat and Tails\” – has more than 250 collectors, and an equal number of investigators and secretaries.Their goal is to work out some deal and retrieve money, not to run after people without the means to pay.

For them, the new business stems from constructive trade which is suffering badly from a huge slowdown. Homeowners owe money to contractors, contractors owe money to construction companies, construction companies owe equipment makers, and so on and so forth.

Last year, the agency had a wedding company contact them over a couple who did not pay the $83,000 bill for their extravagant wedding. The agency obtained a wedding guest list and began calling up guests one by one on the phone and asking them if they had the chicken or the lobster, and then asked them where to send the bill. Eventually the shamed couple paid up.

These ideas are quirky, (I guess that is one way to describe it) but they will not be this effective in times to come. In this time of economic crisis, too many people have debts and they honestly can\’t pay. And to these people, it doesn\’t matter how much you humiliate them.

Mallory Megan is employed by a debt collection company. She also does pieces about finance and business, consumer spending and debt collection. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service