Debt Consolidator Information

10 Tips to help you recover money:

PREPARE: Reviewing the paperwork prior to calling is important. If you know the history of the account, the promises kept/broken and payment history you sound better on the phone. Have all records in front of you, ready for reference.

ATTITUDE: Adopt a professional attitude. You have a contract or you delivered goods now money is owed to you and you have a right to expect payment promptly. Never ever let it become personal. Don’t yell or raise your voice; and NEVER swear. Don’t threaten physical harm; legal action is your recourse.

CONTACT: Make sure you’re talking to the right person. Don’t let the individual brush you off with “You’ll have to talk to the bookkeeper.” Identify the person who will pay the bill. If you cant get through after several calls, tell the secretary that you know your calls are being screened. Indicate the purpose of your call and if necessary give deadlines.

CONTROL: Always control the conversation. Keep it focused on the debt and on the repayment schedule. Do not let the debtor sidetrack you with personal history, excuses, etc. Remember, the objective of your call is to collect money, or get a commitment to pay not to become friends with the debtor or win arguments.

FLEXIBLE: Be ready to adjust to the situation. Think about the kind of customer you’re dealing with and adapt to meet the circumstances. Be prepared to accept a reasonable payment schedule, and a willingness to deal with a customers circumstances.

NOTES: Try to Keep detailed, accurate notes of every single contact with the debtor. Always probe for additional information on the debtor. Notes of these contacts will help you in later phone calls, and may be invaluable if litigation is needed. Great notes will also help in credit decisions in the future or in cases where skip tracing may be needed.

PRODUCTIVE: Keep contact brief and to the point. This is a business call, not a social one. View your efforts on a ratio of time expended to results achieved. Long conversations probably mean the customer is stalling you, or trapping you in the buddy syndrome.

PRECISE: Never leave a call open ended, such as “Well talk next week,” or “Ill send what I can.” Every single call should result in a commitment to some kind of payment, You need a specific amount, by a specific date, even the check number the customer is using to pay the promise.

TIME: The longer an account is outstanding, the less likely it is that it will be paid. If payment is not arranged or a payment plan is not established within 90 days, place the claim with a collection agency or start legal proceedings.

PLACEMENT: Try to choose an agency that does not have to pay to get your information. Just type in “Collection Agency” to any search engine and pick a firm that ranks organically.

Mallory McGuinness is employed by a collections agency that works with a debt collection lawyer. She also does pieces on business, finance, consumer spending and collections agencies.

On November First of 2009, financial institutions and other creditors were ordered to comply with the Red Flag provisions of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. The purpose of the Red Flag rules is to mitigate and prevent identity theft. Identity theft could be defined as any fraud involving people getting particular benefits by pretending to be someone else.

Broad in scope, the Red Flag rules definition of financial institutions is any organization engaged in insurance, banking, or similar activities, and a good amount of the definitions come with leeway to expand compliance demands. Any consumer account involving multiple payments or transactions that is offered to organizations can be subject to the rules.

The rules in a nutshell state that any financial institution or creditor that may be subject to a reasonable and foreseeable risk of identity theft must develop an identity theft prevention program in order to remain in compliance. These programs should include identification of any activity that may be considered identity theft. They should pursue red flags that have already been identified, and should take action to prevent and mitigate theft. Finally, period review and updating of red flags are necessary to comply with the Red Flag provisions.

Additionally, the Red Flag provisions say that an institution’s identity theft prevention program should be managed and written by senior company management. Training and overseeing this service are required.

Identity theft is an expensive and disparaging issue; business and consumer losses came to about $56.6 billion in 2005 alone. But when one considers how harmful identity theft can be to a business, not complying with these regulations can be even more expensive and harmful. Potential losses, costly investigations, regulatory fines and potential lawsuits are all negative consequences of non-compliance. It seems as though their best bet is to follow the rules.

Mallory Megan is employed by a debt collection agency. She also writes articles on business, finance, the credit industry and debt collection.

There is no doubt that text messaging has become a major medium for exchanging information. Easy, painless, no speaking on the phone. No wonder that according to the latest statistics that have been taken there were almost 750 billion text messages sent in the U.S. in 2009, almost double the number from one year before. Actually, technology and research firm executive Jacob D. Almeida recently predicted that money transfers will be the top mobile application by as early as 2012.

Debt collectors have stayed out of this field for now; The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was a landmark legislation that went into effect in the late 1970s and has strictly outlined how debt collectors can call and when. Seeing as this act is even older than a stereotypical “Saved by the Bell Cell phone” from the 90s, it might be due time to adjust the law. But analysts are saying that any change in this area would have to come from consumers seeking change, not collectors.

Under the FDCPA, communications with consumers require a notice that the text is in fact from a debt collector, which leads to issues with the 160 character maximum length of money transferring messages. Another hurdle is determining who will pay the message. There is no current way for a collection agency to know if a consumer has a plan that includes unlimited text messages; the kicker being that if a contact is paid for by the debtor, it is illegal.

Another potential hurdle for debt collection agencies is determining the ownership of the device itself. The debtor might be utilizing a company owned wireless device for example. Said company might be monitoring the usage of the device, which would lead to third party disclosure issues if there were communications based in text that discuss a debt.

Sadly, Congress has to vote on health care, the budget, cap and trade and many other issues first before it can get down and tackle this text message issue. So time will tell.

Mallory is employed by a debt collection agency. She also writes articles on consumer spending, the credit industry and debt collection.

Collection company American Profit Recovery recently began a fund raising effort so that they can assist those trying to deliver relief to the Haiti earthquake victims. American Profit Recovery has chosen the Saint Rock Haiti Foundation which is a charity that provides medical care for the people of Haiti.

There are three different ways in which the debt collection company will raise funds. One will be the dedication of five percent of the revenue from their largest trade show. The cash will come from all sales at the show in addition to any that come in until the end of February.

Employees are given the option to contribute by paying to have the chance to dress casually each Monday in February. Food that is bought at their three locations will also go directly to Saint Rock Haiti Foundation.

American Profit Recovery chose Saint Rock Haiti Foundation after one of their employees brought the organization to its attention. And by picking this charity, it will have the opportunity to apply to the Grand Lodge of Masons over in Massachusetts to match their donation, doubling fund raising efforts.

American Profit Recovery is a collection company with offices in North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Michigan. It was founded in 2004. APR concentrates on the collection of third party debt in professional industries such as banking, trades, medical and dental, and lawn care.

APR has a large interest in good business practices and diplomacy with debtors. They work to keep the relationship between client and consumer intact; their goal is to keep the business relationship going.

Recent studies suggest that collection companies that train their collectors in empathy are the latest trend and the most successful. If someone is being contacted by numerous collection agencies, they are more likely to work with the collector that has shown compassion. More debt collection agencies could take a lesson from APR and start giving back to the community.

Mallory Megan works for a debt collection company and does pieces on consumer spending, business, finance, and debt collection.