In Dallas, the North Texas Tollway Authority, an authority that is responsible for collecting tolls, has been scrutinized for months due to its toll collecting policy. This policy charges drivers who do not pay up at the toll booth fines of hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars. Because the NTTA has been under fire in the public eye, it announced today two steps it says that will target improving customer satisfaction.

The first part of the plan that the NTTA took was to permit all drivers to utilize the electronic toll collection lanes, including those who do not have one. They can do this without being punished with a twenty five dollar fine.

Before this measure, drivers without toll tags that utilized the electronic lanes on the Dallas North Tollway were seen at as violators and would be fined twenty five dollars for each time they passed through an electronic toll booth, rather than a cash booth after the fact.

But after February eighth, the drivers who don’t have a toll tag who use the electronic lanes will be given the chance to pay off the tolls before being hit with the additional twenty five dollar fine. But these toll charges will continue to be calculated at the cash rate, which is twice as high as the rates paid by toll tag consumers.

Unfortunately, the change won’t affect the NTTA’s collections policy in any other way and it will not stop consumers without toll tags who do not pay toll bills mailed to their homes from being charged twenty five dollars for every unpaid toll. This is a policy that can turn a week’s worth of tolls into a thousand dollar bill.

The NTTA’s second move was to appoint an internal auditor as a sort of mediator, which will be available to frustrated customers who have first complained their way through NTTA customer service hierarchy without a result that satisfied them. The auditor will then review the account and determine if customer service and billing reps have followed their own rules.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution, a national collection agency. Looking for credit card services or skip tracing? Contact us today.

When it comes to the subject of debt collecting, there are a lot of misconceptions and misinformation. Here are some tools of the trade that you can use if a debt collector ever calls you. When the collection agent calls, the first thing you want to do is determine if this is a third party collector or an in house collector. Third party collectors are hired by creditors on contingency, while in house collectors are the creditors.

Ask the debt collector “Are you contacting me as a creditor or a third party collection agent?” Not only will this give the bill collector the impression that you are competent, but it is important to know, because third party debt collectors must abide by strict regulations enacted under The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Keep in mind that most debt collectors are third party ones.

The debt collector will deliver what is known as a “mini Miranda.” What this means is that your phone call is being recorded and anything you say can be utilized by the company to collect debt. After this they will ask you about the debt that they are calling about. Instead of replying in any way that would acknowledge that you owe money, politely request some initial information from the collection agent before the conversation continues. By law, a third party collection agent is required to give you the name of the agency, their address, fax and phone number, and the name of the original creditor. Ask for all of this, the debt collector’s name, and their specific phone number.

After you have obtained this specific information, tell the debt collector you are busy right now and will call them back in an hour. Keep in mind that debt collectors will always try to achieve a sense of urgency and may insinuate that you must or should talk to them now, but you do not have to. Now, after hanging up, you are in control because the ball is in your court.

Take this time to try to remember if you know what debt the collection agent might have been asking you about. If you remember legitimately taking on the debt, and the amount of the debt is accurate, contact the collection agent back and ask them if there is some type of repayment plan you could work out with them. It’s important to pay off this debt before the debt collector marks your credit score negatively, or even recommends that the creditor file suit against you.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on commercial collection agencies.

As the recession gets worse, more and more Americans are falling into debt, and more of us are declaring bankruptcy every day. Bankruptcy can be seen as a fresh start, relieving you of much of your debt and payments, but it will also tear up your credit score, staying there for ten years, and decreasing it by several hundred points. In most cases, bankruptcy should be viewed as a last resort because of how important it is to maintain a healthy credit score. If you are forced to file for bankruptcy, there are certain measures you should take to ensure that you can get on the road to financial recovery as quickly as possible.

The first step to rebuilding a healthy credit score, of course, is to know what it is. Be certain that it is free of mistakes or errors because inaccurate information will increase the amount of time that it will take to score high enough for conventional credit. Everybody with a credit score is entitled to a free credit report every twelve months from every one of the three national credit bureaus. This means you could check your score at all three bureaus at once to compare the scores, or check your credit score every four months to make sure that the information is accurate. Either way, make sure you are on the up and up.

After bankruptcy, it is a good idea to get a hold of a secured credit card. Typically, these cards are credit cards that are secured by a deposit account (usually a savings account) that the cardholder owns. These cards are designed for people with poor credit so that they can remain in low credit-limit situations for a long time at a high interest rate, so that they can build up a good history after bankruptcy. Also, having more than one kind of credit line will help improve your credit report.

One of the keys to having a good credit score is to have at least two credit cards from well known and respected banks, and other payments such as a house payment. The people who have excellent credit reports keep balances below fifteen percent of available credit every month. Around ten percent of your credit reports is based on the kinds of credit that you use.

Another ten percent is based on new credit accounts that include credit lines that you are able to establish after filing for bankruptcy. Bear in mind if you are looking to repair your credit after declaring bankruptcy that some credit “doctor” or credit repair businesses might make sensational claims that they can miraculously fix your credit file, many times for an exorbitant fee. It is pertinent to remember that only time, not some magic cure can cause your negative credit history to drop off of your credit score.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on commercial collection agencies.

Welcome back to debt collection 101, your beginner’s guide to debt collection. In articles one and two, I spoke about the different kind of collection agents, how bill collectors will locate a consumer, and what they will do when they contact the consumer. In article three I described the strict rules and regulations that debt collectors, particularly third party debt collectors must abide by when they make each phone call.

In article four I spoke about what the job of a collection agent is like, and in article five I wrote about the expectations that bill collectors are generally required to meet on the job. Now I will write about the perks of being a debt collector, and what the collections industry can expect to see in the future.

The important thing for any debt collector just beginning to remember is to hang in there: the amount of experience that a collections agent gains is directly proportional to their rate of success, and more success, means more money in commissions. There is much growth potential for debt collectors, as collectors who are successful will usually get bigger accounts that come with opportunities to earn more money.

Additionally, collection agents who acquire additional experience, training and skills are also more likely to advance. The majority of collection agents work forty hours per week, with some working evenings and weekends, others working part time. Usually, the work schedules of a collection agent are pretty flexible.

In the year of 2008, studies showed that there were almost 411,000 collection agents. Twenty five percent were hired by businesses, nineteen percent were working for financial and insurance agencies, and eighteen percent were employed in the health care field. Researchers expect the amount of debt collection jobs to grow at a rate faster than the average of all other occupations. It is projected to grow by a staggering nineteen percent from 2008 to 2018. These researchers expect that new jobs will be created in industries like health care and financial services, and that jobs will grow for both in house bill collectors and third party collection agencies.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on national collection agencies.

Student loan debt is maybe the most tiresome, grueling type of debt that you can owe. For you to go to school, Uncle Sam has given out money, and he fully expects to get that cash back. Unlike most other loans, federal student loans are extremely hard to discharge in bankruptcy. A man that drove to Vegas and gambled himself into foreclosure has a much higher chance of being able to walk away from the situation than a student who borrowed money to go to school. Additionally, federal student loans have no statute of limitations and can be collected even from debtors’ Social Security Payments after they retire.

So what do you do if you are a student fresh out of school struggling to make ends meet? Get educated, again. A Collections manual, 2009 PCA Practices, was temporarily posted in a public section of the Department of Education’s website. A guide for the private collection agencies that work with the Department of Education, this manual can prove to be an invaluable resource for former students who are trying to learn more about paying back their student loan.

This article is founded on what I have learned from the manual, and it hones in on the rare circumstances under which collection activity may be suspended on a student loan account. It also goes into how you would go about ceasing collection activity on your student loan if you really wanted to. According to the manual, collection agencies must immediately suspend collection activity on an account if the borrower disputes the amount that is being owed, for example, claiming that the debt was paid off, was never owed, or should have been canceled.

Collection activity should immediately be suspended if the borrower raises a legal defense against repayment. These might include a closed school, an ability to benefit, or circumstances under which the Department of Education might not be allowed to pursue collection. If the borrower receives a 65 Day Notice of Federal Offset, or 30 day Administrative Wage Garnishment notice, and requests a written review or hearing in response, the collection agency needs to suspend collection activity. Finally, if the borrower files a written or verbal complaint against the collection agency, collection activity must be suspended.

Unlike suspension of collection activity, which is non-permanent, ceasing collection activity is non-temporary. If you want your student loan collection agent to cease contacting you, you must request in writing that the collection agency stop all communications with you. In these cases the collection agency is allowed to contact you one final time to let you know how they plan to proceed. Keep in mind that requesting that collection activity on your student loan be stopped is not a very good idea, as after the section on ceasing collection activity comes a section that informs the collection agency that the Department of Education expects the collection agency to evaluate the accounts with these requests for litigation. So even though you may experience a period of peace, that one final phone call you receive very well might be to inform you that you are being sued for all of the money you owe.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on commercial collection agencies.

Research recently collected by RealtyTrac Year-End 2009 Foreclosure Market Report indicates that 3,957,643 foreclosure filings were reported on 2,824,674 United States properties in 2009. Included in this research was scheduled foreclosure auctions, default notices and bank repossessions.

This is a twenty one percent increase in land from statistics in data that was collected in 2008, and a one hundred and twenty percent increase in total properties from 2007. Additionally the report indicated that one in forty five housing units, 2.21 percent, got at least one foreclosure filing in the year of 2009, up from 2008’s 1.48 percent and 2007’s 1.03 percent.

In the month of December alone, foreclosure filings have been reported on 349,519 properties in December. This a fourteen percent jump from the previous month of November and a fifteen percent increase from 2008. But despite the fact that there was an increase in December, foreclosure actions in the fourth quarter of 2008 has decreased by seven percent.

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

Arizona claimed the country’s second highest state foreclosure rate in 2009 with even more than six percent of properties that received at least one foreclosure filing during 2009, and Florida was the country’s third highest foreclosure rate at 5.93 percent of its properties getting at least one foreclosure during the filing year.

This raises issues in the collection’s industry. Recent trends have told collections officials that consumers are purposely pumping up their credit debt and downplaying their assets to get lower payment plans. The fact that they are increasing debt on their credit cards to receive lower payment plans does not look promising.

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

Nowadays, cash is hard to come across for everyone attempting to meet the standards of living, even young people. As the job market tightens with more and more people losing jobs, competition for employment becomes more fierce and a college education may now be a necessity. While you were in school, loans paid your way through college, but since you have graduated the unthinkable has happened, and these debts have come out to haunt you, maybe even before you are able to secure your first job. A whole slew of debt collectors may be contacting you, and now, you are a frenzied mess searching for anyone who can help you with a student loan consolidation.

Many students who have just finished their education and are currently looking for jobs attempt to go for federal school loan consolidation first. This loan comes with many benefits. Firstly, the government will be the source of this loan but the loan is issued by lenders that are private. What this means is that the length of time granted to you to repay the loan can be extended for a long while.

One of the most enticing benefits of school loan consolidation is that consolidation can take multiple student loans and substitute these with just one. This leads to the overall reduction in the amount of debt you owe, at times this reduction can reach up to sixty percent. Of course, this will lead to reduction in your monthly payment.

Better yet, your improved rate of interest is founded on the weighted average of the rates that apply on your current loans. Also, you won’t have to deal with the mental stress associated with recalling the details about multiple loans. Additionally, consolidation does not mandate a cosigner or any credit score check, and this is an opportunity to improve your credit report rating.

The only downside of student loan consolidation is that experts claim that it can be potentially quite hard to prove that you are eligible for the federal school loan consolidation. Typically, you should seek out the help of a good financial expert to prove that you can be eligible for consolidation. The standards to qualify have the tendency to be very rigid and leave many ineligible for the loan. Despite this fact, it is worth your while to see if you can qualify. It might be a good way to protect your finances in the future.

Mallory Megan works at Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on credit collection agencies

Your credit score. It could be a dream come true or your worst nightmare. But most of the time it is sort of like that rude mother in law coming to pay you a visit at your house. You are aware that she is coming to stay, and you are not looking forward to it, but you are too nervous to ask or even consider how long she might be paying you that visit. OK, so that analogy wasn’t that great. But anyway, read on to see just how long negative marks will stay on your credit history.

First, there are mistakes on your credit report. This happens when something that you didn’t do, or an account that doesn’t belong to you shows up on your score when you are looking it over. These will be removed immediately. Looking for and removing mistakes on your credit report are a crucial reason why we should check our credit scores at least once a year. If you do find a mistake, or a negative account that isn’t yours, get in touch with the credit reporting agency and the creditor too. Within 180 days you should be able to have that negative mark taken off your record.

Whenever a creditor pulls your credit report (which means that they ask to see it), something called a hard inquiry will be reported on your record. If it is only an occasional hard inquiry this most likely won’t hurt. However, if there are a large amount of inquiries recorded on your record, this will generally make prospective creditors think that you need the cash and you need it fast.

If a potential lender looks at your credit score and sees that they are the tenth financial institution that you have asked for money, they will have cause to be wary. Although the credit reporting gods will concede that people shop around for loans and credit, and say you have, two weeks where you have a lot of inquiries, they will take that into consideration and not penalize you too much, the bottom line is that the more hard inquiries that show up on your report, the lower your score will be. Hard inquiries last up to two years.

However, keep in mind that not all inquiries will negatively affect your credit score. A soft inquiry occurs when you check on your own credit score, or when potential creditors check your credit without you knowing to you to see if they want to make you any unsolicited offers of credit. Actually, lenders see this as a good sign. If you are regularly checking your credit report, you are most likely fiscally responsible. To be continued in part two….

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles about medical collection agencies.

In the first article in this set I spoke about how long different marks stay on your credit score. I mentioned that mistakes will be removed immediately, soft inquiries will have no effect, and hard inquiries can hang around on your credit report for two years. Late payments have the capacity to do way more damage.

Even though some creditors may opt to show you mercy and erase past credit problems if you pay your account immediately, late payments can have stay on your credit report for seven years. Luckily, these negative marks are common and do less damage to your score than the rest of the marks I will go on to discuss.

Like a broken mirror with seven days of bad luck, a tax lien brings seven years of poor credit. When you don’t pay your income or property taxes when they were due, and the government comes in and claims ownership of your property, you’re dealing with a tax lien. Unlike creditors, no matter how fast you settle your tax lien, big brother is peeved that you made him go out of his way to take your property, and it will stay on your record for seven years.

Foreclosures are equally as dismal and they will stay on your credit report for seven years. Foreclosures are seen as one of the worst negative accounts that can be on your credit report. In fact, if you do have a foreclosure on your credit history, good luck buying another home unless you are planning to pay for it entirely in cash.

It’s not the good old days anymore, so never default on those student loans either. Before the administration of President W., student loans generally were forgiven if they were declared when someone filed for bankruptcy. Now times have changed, so it’s crucial to pay your student loan debts. After 270 days of nonpayment, defaulting occurs, and before the loan defaults, you can bet your life that you will be the unlucky recipient of a whole slew of late payment fees.

The last, and most serious negative mark that can go on your credit report is bankruptcy. Bankruptcy will stay on your record for ten years, and instead of having a creditor pull your report, you may as well call them up and say “I am fiscally irresponsible and will be that way for the next ten years.” Declaring bankruptcy can hinder your ability to get a new car, any type of new credit or a new place to live. So watch your credit report, or you might end up living with that rude mother in law I wrote about in article one.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on credit collection agencies.

As we all know, we are in the midst of a recession that has left millions of people without jobs, and millions more searching for ways to save cash and cut down on spending. As more people lose employment, those with less experience will find the most difficulty, leaving younger workers and recent college graduates being hit especially hard.

This could lead to a good amount of young people moving back in with their parents, at least until they can find employment, or another job and clean up their financial situation. For the parents whose children return to live with them, the situation has changed drastically from when their kids were younger. Re-adjustment will probably be necessary for both parents and children to live together again. But, the situation can serve to benefit both parties if it is done right.

According to the Census Bureau, in 2008, one in eight Americans between the ages of twenty five and thirty four were living with their parents. That is roughly five million young adults. While some had not moved out of the house for the first time yet, others had come back home until they could get back on their feet financially. Whatever the circumstances might be, parents should set down some healthy boundaries with their adult children, especially when it comes to finance. Here is an opportunity for parents who may not have taught financial responsibility to their kids during childhood to help foster responsible spending habits as adults.

The most obvious way that parents of adult children who live at home to help out is to charge them lower rent, or maybe to put part of their rent into a savings account for them. Then, when their kids get on their feet and are ready to move out, this money can be given back to them to help them get re-established. Also, now would be a good time for adult children to tackle their debt while they are under their parents’ roof.

Think about this example: a child would like to move back in with her parents after getting laid off from her job and has substantial credit card debt. If rent in their area goes for about $750 a month, the parents can make the decision to charge their daughter $500 a month in rent to help her save money. As extra incentive, they let her know that they will put aside half of this amount every month if the daughter utilizes the $250 savings to pay down her credit card balance. This way, the daughter has the opportunity to pay off her debt, save money, and the parents get some cash too.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on commercial collection agencies.