Different Ways To Collect Debt

On June 5, 2010, In business, By Jonathan Summers

The main point is, the more time that passes between the time the payment was owed and the time the consumer is contacted, the less likely you are to packet any sort of payment. If you’re serious about making a turnout, there are three ways to handle collection on past debt; in house efforts, hiring a collection agency, or taking legal action.

Collecting the debt independently: If the debt is new or small, you’ll in all likelihood start by trying to collect the debt yourself before hiring a collection agency or a lawyer. The most practical way to start the process of collecting an overdue debt is by calling the debtor. Many nonpaying customers can talk a great talk on the phone, but then never deliver. If the business is local, attempt to make an appointment with their finance manager to talk face to face.

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

Hire a Collection Agency: Many small companies at first dont think of hiring a collection agency to collect on delinquent debts, but of the outsourced solutions, a collection agency is usually the most cost effective and gets the best results. With a collection agency, you don’t pay until they collect the debt, meaning that the collection agency is highly impeled to find a way to get the customer to pay. Because they don’t get paid unless you do, a collection agency tends to work fast and much more efficient when working on a contingency basis.

Today’s modern collection agencies don’t use scare tactics or bully customers. Besides, not all consumers who are behind on payments are deadbeats. When you choose a collection agency, make sure one of its goals is to maintain extreme professionalism and one that fallows the FDCPA diligently.

Taking the legal path: Another alternative 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.

Rapid Recovery Solution is a commercial collection agency.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • •
 
0 Comments
Leave A Response

Federal Agents Arrest Two In Buffalo For Debt Collection Scam

On June 5, 2010, In business, By Jonathan Summers

The U.S. Attorney’s office handed in a criminal complaint Friday in U.S. District Court charging Timothy E. Arent and Neil G. Wieczkowski, both of Buffalo, N.Y., with mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Arent is also charged with bankruptcy fraud. The charge of mail fraud holds a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The conspiracy and bankruptcy fraud charges each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and fine of $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney MaryEllen Kresse aforementioned the complaint asserts that, from September 2005 through the present, Arent and Wieczkowski were engaged in a deceptive debt collection scheme in which they intimidated monetary payments from their victims by means of false pretenses, false impersonation and false representations. The complaint states that the victims were individuals who at one time or another owed some type of debt that had gone into collection status.

According to the office, Arent and Wieczkowski crookedly told their victims that the victims had failed to respond to summonses, which would result in their imminent arrest. It is further alleged that Arent and Wieczkowski told the victims that the only way they could avoid apprehension and detention by law enforcement was to make substantial monetary payments, usually in a matter of hours. The complaint also charges that the defendants tried to avoid detection by modifying the names of their businesses up to 18 times, and by using mail drops and “virtual offices.” Deposits into accounts used by the defendants’ businesses during the scheme were more than $8 million.

The complaint also alleges that Arent filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief in 2005, and that, during the proceedings, Arent fraudulently withheld information from the Bankruptcy Court. The complaint alleges that Arent failed to disclose to the Bankruptcy Court that he had bought a 4,700 square-foot residence in Buffalo worth $500,000 before the bankruptcy, and that, after filing for bankruptcy, he was actively engaged in debt collection work through two corporate entities. Arent’s debts, as well as two civil judgments that had been filed against him concerning his pre-bankruptcy debt collection practices, were discharged by the bankruptcy court in 2006.

Arent and Wieczkowski appeared before Judge Scott Friday afternoon. Ms. Kresse moved for pretrial detention. Judge Scott granted the motion pending a detention hearing scheduled for October 6, 2009 at 2:00 pm EST.

Rapid Recovery Solution is a New York collection agency.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • •
 
0 Comments
Leave A Response

Ten Tips To Effective Cold Calling

On June 1, 2010, In business for sale, By Mallory Megan

Cold calling. Just the name can send chills up your spine. There are effective ways for sales professionals to warm up to cold calling, says John Monderine, President of Rapid Recovery Solution, Inc.. He shares 10 tips guaranteed to take the chill off of cold calling.

1. Define the stages of selling, your selling cycle and the basics of prospecting. Understand your selling cycle and the foundations of selling. Know that 90% of your cold call must be spent interviewing your prospect.

2. Use ratios versus numbers. Instead of adding more calls to your day, work on developing the ratio of people that you reach. Call executives in the mornings, during lunch or in the evenings. Work on what you say to your prospects to increase the ratio. “Stand up when you’re talking,” suggests Monderine. “Smile when you speak.”

3. Generate leads and turn them into prospects. “If someone won’t speak with you, they are not a prospect,” says Monderine. “A lead becomes a prospect once they agree to speak with you.”

4. Prepare for effective cold calling. Have your information organized and your product well defined before you make the initial calls.

5. Get past the buffers and protectors. If you call before hours or on Saturdays you are more likely to get past the gatekeepers and directly to the prospect’s voice mail.

6. Use a great opening script. First, greet your prospect by name. Second, identify yourself. Third, make a credibility statement regarding your company, products or services. Fourth, use a reference or allude to a reference. For example, you might say: We work with companies such as Verizon and Sprint. Fifth, state the reason for your call. Here’s an example: Im calling today to make an introductory appointment with you. Id like to see what your company is doing now and if using some of our services would make sense for you.

7. Create the necessary level of comfort. Provide your prospect with the logic and foundation for a conversation. Using a reference helps create comfort.

8. Make the arrangements. Ask for the appointment.

9. Understand and overcome objections and adverse responses. Be prepared for the usual objections or responses by coming up with responses of your own. Answer an objection with a question. For example, if they say: We aren’t interested at this time. You can respond by asking: Well, what are you doing for _____ right now?

10. Follow through. Schedule your appointment, stick to your schedule and execute.

60 Seconds: To get through to an executive or find the name of a decision maker, call the company’s human resources or sales department and ask for their help.

Rapid Recovery Solution is a New York debt collection agency.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • •
 
0 Comments
Leave A Response

The Pros and Cons Of Bankruptcy

On April 15, 2010, In business, By Mallory Megan

Bankruptcy may be seen as a quick fix solution to financial issues. However, the effects of bankruptcy are long term and can impair your ability to obtain employment, house, and any type of credit. It is important to weigh the pros and the cons of bankruptcy before making a major choice.

Truly, bankruptcy brings a number of benefits to the table. First and foremost it wipes out most of your debt. It can help you with missed debt payments, defaults, repossessions and lawsuits. If you have bad credit, it can get you started on rehabilitation.

Bankruptcy will put an end to the phone calls from creditors, collections letters, repossessions, declined charge authorizations, cancelled credit cards, and lawsuits. You can also hold on to your car if you keep up on the payment; bankruptcy will also allow you to keep your home if you remain current on the payments for it.

Bankruptcy permits you to exit foreclosure and make monthly payments on amounts in the past. Finally, it halts creditors from making a claim after it is filed, even if your financial situation changes.

On the other hand, bankruptcy law offers a “fresh start” but only every six years in most instances. Bankruptcy will remain on your credit report for ten years and severely hurts your credit rating. Also, filing bankruptcy may require a wait of two years before it is possible to buy a home. Some lenders allow for home loans after one year however.

Bankruptcy does not clear away most tax debt. It does not have an effect on student loan debt. It requires you to give up your credit cards. It may cause you to lose some of your possessions, and unfortunately bankruptcy carries a stigma that can be embarrassing.

If you are not sure whether to file bankruptcy or not, call your creditors to see what type of repayment plan they can work out with you. While bankruptcy is an option, in most cases it should be seen as a last resort.

Mallory Megan works for a debt collection agency. She also composes articles on business, finance, the credit industry and collection agencies.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • •
 
0 Comments
Leave A Response

Debt Collection Practices

On April 15, 2010, In business, By Mallory Megan

If you owe money to a creditor debt collection agencies can report your debt to credit bureaus, file suits against you, and should be taken very seriously. The best way to protect yourself and your finances is a methodical approach. First, know why you are being contacted. Know what the debt is from and exactly how much it costs.

Inquire about the name of the person calling, the agency, the creditor, and the agency’s address and fax number. You have every right to tell a collector over the phone that you want all future contact to be in a written form. Follow up all requests with a written request.

Keep in mind if you tell the collector not to contact you at all it the agency is entitled to contact you once more to inform you how it plans to proceed. Another request that can be made is that you are the only person that can be contacted. It might be a good idea to keep a file including dates and details of phone conversations and when you mail out or receive letters.

If you do send any written correspondence to the collections company do this by Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested. This guarantees that the letter reached the collector, giving you a signed receipt as proof. If you work out a re-payment plan over the phone, ask for the terms of the plan in writing. Any promise to remove or adjust credit history should also definitely be documented.

Be certain that you pay the right party; payments should be made to the collections agency, not the creditor, unless you have been otherwise instructed to do so. Carefully look over the amount you are being asked to pay. Get an assessment of any interest, fees or charges that have been added.

If you feel that your collector is being abusive, be certain to complain to the agency and keep this complaint on file. Finally, never ignore a collector even if you feel that the debt isn’t yours; they will continue to contact you and it may mean more trouble and time in the long run.

Mallory Megan is employed by a debt collection company. She also composes stories on business and finance, consumer spending and collection agencies.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • •
 
0 Comments
Leave A Response

Debt Collection Agencies Explore Work At Home Opportunities

On April 12, 2010, In business, By Mallory Megan

Even though it always seems like a good idea to hire more employers to add to your ranks, maintaining a relationship with the best employees in a collections agency is key. It has become a recent trend that tenured collectors are now requesting to work at home.

It may be a smart move to consider accommodations for them keeping in mind that their commissions have been lower as of late, and the stress of the commute or a need to spend more time with family may turn your best collectors away.

Work at home programs have not become an every day thing yet, however there are a few agencies that are making exceptions for certain debt collectors. Typically these collectors are the best at what they do and may work from home a few days a week.

The way that working at home operates is simple. Generally, the debt collector is set up with a computer that has the capacity to access the computers at the office and they are given designated phone equipment to use. The beauty of it is that everything the collector does can be monitored still, as if he or she was working in the call center itself.

But before you start to send employees to work at home, it is imperative to assess the good and bad qualities of each collector. But studies have shown that if a collector is a good candidate to work from home, they will be more productive, take fewer breaks, and without social interaction with other employees they can focus on the job itself.

There are still a great amount of issues that need to be addressed when one considers working at home. First, there are potential data security performance control and data security issues. Also, keeping in mind of all of the recent legislation impacting the collection industry, it is not probable that we will know of many formal work at home programs anytime soon. Yet experts believe it is not good to alienate the best workers who are inquiring about work at home. They predict that we will see more collection agencies allowing collectors to work from home within the next five years.

Mallory McGuinness works for a debt collection company. She also composes stories on business, finance, consumer spending and collection agencies.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • •
 
0 Comments
Leave A Response

Bank Accused Of Bad Business

On April 2, 2010, In business, By Mallory Megan

Credit card issuer Capital One Bank and four other companies were sued by West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw for deceptive and unfair practices and bad business conduct. The complaint was filed this week in West Virginia’s Circuit Court and it alleges that Capital One fooled consumers into repayment plans by sending out solicitations disguised as new credit offers.

Capital One offered to give consumers one dollar of new credit if they agreed to transfer the whole balance of a charged off account to the new credit card. This meant that Capital One could re-age debts to get around the statute of limitations, which would start anew.

According to the case, Capital One sent out cards with limits as low as 200 dollars for low-income customers with bad credit histories. With The cards membership came fees of up to 59 dollars per year. Generally, the annual fees were billed on the consumer’s second monthly statement, leaving the consumer with just 141 dollars of credit when they thought they had 200 dollars. Then, if the consumer mistakenly exceeded the limit, they could face over the limit fees of up to 29 dollars.

In recent months, McGraw’s office has gone after debt collection companies in part of an effort to protect West Virginia’s consumers. In November his office sued two payday lending firms and four collection agencies.

As members of the collection industry, we may scratch our heads and wonder why, in an economy that is doing poorly and where debt is running rampant, we cannot collect the money that consumers owe. Experts allege that with unemployment rates running so high, it is impossible for consumers to repay their debts. But bad business practices are not going to help the situation either. It may be a knee jerk reaction to try to con consumers out of money, but it is just that. A knee jerk reaction.

Mallory Megan is employed by a debt collection company. She also writes stories on business, finance, consumer spending and collection agencies.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • •
 
0 Comments
Leave A Response

Cash4Gold Scam

On April 2, 2010, In business, By Mallory Megan

We have all seen them – the showy “Cash4Gold” commercials, some of these show people on the street dancing, or at other times, M.C. Hammer alleging that you will get quick cash in exchange for your old, unused jewelry. Although human nature makes us want to unconditionally trust the dancing person or even with his track record, M.C. Hammer, it turns out that Cash4Gold may not in fact be too legit to quit.

In recent news, Representative Anthony D. Weiner fingered Cash4Gold because of their bad business practices. Making a speech in front of jewelry appraisers that were legitimate, Weiner requested consumers to take their business to a place that they knew was valid as opposed to the shady mail in gold exchange.

The way that Cash4Gold works is that consumers use special envelopes to mail jewelry and gold to the company’s offices in Florida. According to the advertisements, the company will provide customers with a quick appraisal of the value of the items they have sent, and then they will mail them a check for that amount.

On paper, consumers are given a twelve day time span in which they have the ability to return their check and get the jewelry back. But according to research by Rep. Weiner and Consumer Reports, Cash4Gold paid out only 11 to 29 percent of the actual value of valuables sent to them, and often, they refused to mail jewelry back when it was requested to do so within the 12 day period.

Weiner proposed that the Federal Trade Commission should do some research the whole Cash4Gold problem, adding that he wants to introduce laws that would regulate companies that use mail to exchange cash and jewelry.

This law would impose fines on companies that melt down gold without the owner’s permission or before a return period has passed. It would make companies allow enough time for consumers to request a refund and ensure that companies actually insure the jewelry they are returning to consumers.

Mallory McGuinness is employed by a debt collection agency. She also writes articles on business and finance, consumer spending and collection agencies.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • •
 
0 Comments
Leave A Response

The Debt Collection Industry Today

On March 9, 2010, In Uncategorized, By Mallory Megan

The collections industry has grown quite large in the past couple of years. The reason for this is that collections and recoveries are typically outsourced business functions. It would be unthinkable for a creditor to try to handle retrieving debt from all of their accounts, so the creditors call upon the collections agencies.

But there seems to be a beginning of an enormous change taking place with the collections industry. The industry has grown to massive proportionas through the recession and seems giant. Rather than hire out more service providers, creditors are begining to lower the number of debt collection companies that they will work with, which requires the companies they originally hired to take on more accounts.The effects of this could change the way that the collections industry operates in a large way.

As the worst workers are removed from these collection networks, certain debt collection agencies are going to lose their most important clients. Creditors will also have less reason to work with companies that have a reputation for being inappropriate. The financial effects of this will cause these companies to suffer, and company value will also fall with some owners forced to sell their companies in distress.

As this happens, the most efficient performers will see a lot more potential job growth, less competition, greater leverage on contract terms, better revenues, and improved profitability.

Within the debt buying market, the same type of transference is also taking place. Instead of calling on more debt buyers, some creditors are lowering the number of companies they approach for selling the accounts.

Smaller, less efficient debt buyers will begin to a smaller chance to buy from these issuers. Again, concentration within the primary debt sales market will increase. Recovery executives within credit businesses will be making the same kind of choice more and more, picking concentration within their vendor networks over diversification.

Mallory McGuinness works for a collections agency that works with a debt collection lawyer. She also composes stories on business, finance, the credit industry and collections agencies.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • •
 
0 Comments
Leave A Response
Go To Top »