• Hours For Calling
• Collectors can only call consumers between the hours of 8:00 am and 9:00 pm local time.
• Failure to stop communication upon request
• Collectors must cease all communications with consumers (other than litigation) after receiving written notice that said consumer wishes no further communication or refuses to pay the alleged debt. Some exceptions do apply.
• Calling with the intent to annoy, abuse, or harass any person at the called number.
• Contacting debtors that are being represented by an attorney
• Using deceit or misrepresentation to collect the debt. This includes misrepresenting the amount of debt owed or the collector informing others that he or she is an attorney or law enforcement officer.
• Discussing the debt owed to third parties with the exception of the debtor’s attorney or spouse.
• Using abusive or profane language
• Publishing a debtor’s name on a “bad debt” list
• Reporting false information on a consumer’s credit report

When hiring a debt collection firm, it is important to make sure that they will comply with the all regulations in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The debt recovery firm Johnson Morgan & White has highly trained professionals who fully comply with the governing laws.

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This is not a new use of social media sites. For years we have heard stories of businesses using social sites to do informal backgrounds on potential employees. Now, debt collectors are using it as a tool to find their debtors or their friends.

“It’s public information and if someone has a MySpace or Facebook page and they’ve incurred a debt than there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a debt collector using this information to locate them.” says Jay Gonsalves, president of the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals. While there is nothing wrong about this practice, there are laws that prevent collectors from posting comments or disclosing information to another person online.

For more information on commercial debt collection services, contact Johnson, Morgan & White.

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Keeping up with a changing consumer dynamic
It’s just a fact of life that things change over time, and that means paper trails are going away. These days, if you want to collect on a debt, then you need to be in control of all sorts of information. People use their computers, their PDAs, their cell phones, and a host of other devices in order to do their business. What a forensic corporate collections agency can do is manage that information and collect data in order to force consumers to make good on their debts. When people continually skip out on their debts, there is a real issue. Getting these people in a court of law comes down to how effectively you can present the information.

Operating within the law
One of the issues with debt collection agencies in general is that many of them don’t have any regard for the law. They do their jobs pretty well, but they break all sorts of personal privacy and consumer protection laws in the process. This can hurt a firm’s chances of collecting a debt, because the means employed by a third party agency can be held against them. Because the primary function of a forensic corporate collections agency is to have information ready for the courts, they operate completely within the law. That should be a given for any agency, but unfortunately it is not with the way today’s debt world operates.

Staying on the cutting edge
When you think about the forensic corporate collections industry, you think about the cutting edge of software and technology. These collections firms employ only the most advanced software in order to aid their data collection efforts. By staying with the cutting edge, it insures that they are not only staying on top of things now, but they are constantly keeping up with what things might be around the corner. Getting all of the information is not easy, which is why these collection firms take their software capability very seriously at this difficult time.

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Debt collection is embarrassing, both financially and personally for a business owner. Whether the unpaid debt is indicative of problems that may be of the business’ own making or the result of an economy in recession, but the result is the same. When a commercial collection agency gets involved it’s already too late to save your good name and may be the first step towards bankruptcy court. Debt collection against your business assets should be avoided at any cost.

Sales suffer when word gets out that your business has been turned over to a commercial collection agency. Confidence in your business is the foundation for your sales and reflects either favorably or unfavorably on how your customers view your products or services. If consumers fear that your business is unstable and untrustworthy, this fear will carry over onto your product line. Consumers may question your ability to honor warranties and whether you will be there to accept returns or make exchanges. Consumer confidence is critical to successful sales and the appearance that your business is in financial trouble may cause your sales begin to plummet.
Sales mean profits and the converse is also true. If your marketing strategy is failing due to commercial debt, your profits will dive as well and further complicate an already unfavorable financial situation.

A commercial debt collector can sometimes handle things discreetly and avoid unnecessary publicity concerning the financial stability of your company. Working closely with a commercial debt collector can minimize the effect that bad debt has on your sales and profits.

Bad debt can also hurt your sales and profit margin by causing you to be turned down for additional credit lines during crucial times. Regular debt is incurred when ordering raw materials or supplies, when opportunities are experienced that require capital outlay, or when normal and expected seasonal slow-downs occur. This cycle of debt and repayment is standard operating procedure and a fundamental requirement for doing business. If bad debt prevents you from borrowing and destroys your credit, your business may not survive the ebb and flow of the business world and you may not be able to borrow the funds needed to survive.

Sales and profits may suffer when your debt prevents your retaining important employees. Hiring the right people is one of the wisest things a business owner can do. They literally make or break the business. Bad commercial debt presents the strong possibility of losing those valued employees because of the lack of your business’ ability to provide insurance, give raises, and award bonuses. If word gets out that your business has been turned over to a commercial debt collector, employees may see the writing on the wall and start looking for other employment. If hiring the right people is important, retaining them is just as important.

Bad debt can and does adversely affect your sales and profit margins. Avoiding bad debt is the preferred course of action but it isn’t always possible. If your debt is being handled by a commercial debt collector, cooperate as fully as possible to reduce the damage to your business. Bad debt can be handled in such a way that your business survives and becomes profitable once again.

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A commercial debt collector must understand all aspects of the situation. There could be many different reasons that a certain corporation is not paying its debts, so background checks, timeliness of payments and all other available information must be available to the debt collector. Doing as much research as possible will help provide basic understanding of the situation and at the same time help a commercial debt collector formulate a plan for recovery. Research can be done in a myriad of ways. Obviously the internet is a valuable tool, but a commercial collections agency has many options available, such as skip-tracing and access to non-public databases.

Following the letter of the law is also important to a commercial debt collector. Understanding local regulations and state laws is imperative in this business. From doing the research, making contact with the debtor and recovering the debt, all laws must be followed closely. Commercial debt collections agencies work with lawyers and other industry experts to ensure that the debt is recovered quickly and legally. The training for commercial debt collectors is an ongoing process so that they may stay current with the regulations of the industry, which are ever changing. A commercial collection agency will be able to recognize illegal maneuverings that are sometimes committed by corporate debtors. They will know when it is time for taking cases to court or if using other tactics will bring about better results.

Industry recognition is an important thing to a commercial collections agency. Being a member of the International Association of Commercial Collectors, Inc. (IACC) guarantees that industry standards are being met and that unfair practices are not tolerated. Another important industry watchdog group is the Commercial Law League of America, or CLLA. Again, certain standards must be met in order to become a member of this esteemed group.

Every case is different. But a commercial collection agency can use its extensive knowledge and resources to find debtors and recovery money. Using hard work, intelligence and perseverance, a commercial debt collector can get results that no one else can. Retrieving money while still maintaining client relations is an important facet to commercial debt collection. A commercial debt collector can collect a debt in a timely and legal fashion.

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Besides settling business debt, commercial collections works closely with the creditor(s) in uncovering fraud while securing their delinquent receivables and bad debt. A company’s investigative and forensic techniques are especially helpful in exposing debtor deception. With identity theft on the rise, corporate debt collection agencies often have to play a very advanced game of cat-and-mouse to get debtors to pay, even employing skip tracer technologies. That said, it is important for an agency to remain professional and respectful of the law, never forgetting their main objective in locating a debtor or debtors and getting them to make good on their debt while maintaining positive relations between them and clients. To this end, reminder letters can may be designed and distributed on the agency’s company letterhead (or their clients’) in regards to outstanding accounts that can be paid discreetly, without telephone or other communications.

Although the bulk of corporate debt is brought on by fraud, identity theft and various other subterfuges, there are those debtors whose accounts have been placed with a corporate debt collection agency due to miscommunication between suppliers and customers, misunderstandings regarding accounts receivable, and other circumstances. Even so, most debtors typically fit into a specific category or type; this categorization allows corporate collection agencies to utilize the latest in proprietary organizational technologies and investigative tactics to locate debtors on a specific case-by-case basis. Once a debtor is located, a personal file can be compiled on the debtor’s financial condition. This technique often allows the agency to formulate the most effective collection method for a particular debtor, and can provide the client with a means to make future credit decisions that will avoid future run-ins with habitual debt offenders. Clients can also request that reports on account activity be made available to corporate credit bureaus.

After all investigative account management techniques have been exhausted, a corporate collections agency may turn to litigation of the debtor to collect an overdue debt. However, a good corporate debt collection agency’s first order is to collect the debt in their possession using the means they have at their disposal. This is generally achieved by employing a dedicated and knowledgeable staff that is familiar with the latest collection technologies their firm has in their arsenal. Once a team of globally tuned and experienced agents is coupled with the latest technological debt collection approaches and communication techniques, they and their firm’s reputation lies in their combined ability to acquire the debt in their possession in full, and present it to the client upon collection through a secure means of remittance.

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Commercial collectors start out by contacting and negotiating with the borrowing company through e-mail, phone calls and other means of contact. They know how to apply pressure through the borrower’s credit rating and reputation to ensure they pay up as they are expected to. They will only get more aggressive if necessary, and will move to take the business into court if required, however most companies pay up when they are properly reminded of their responsibilities. Their professional, yet firm nature insures that they apply only as much pressure is needed, and that they do not antagonize the debtor. Gentle but insistent pressure is key, along with patience and a cool demeanor.

Commercial collections is often hard work that requires lots of time, research and negotiation by dedicated staff, and the advantages of information and experience that commercial collection agencies have gives them a decided edge. They know how to push just hard enough to get the money back, and when to take the case to court. Companies who do not specialize in finances and only lend money to companies now and then will find that even the threat of contacting a well-known commercial collections agency may get some deadbeat debtors to pay up, and in any event hiring an agency will permit the lender’s staff to go back to focusing on the more important day-to-day functions of the company.

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In principle, commercial debtors should appear as they do in their day to day business operations, with the courtesy and professionalism that earns them clients and retains new ones, but they can be more demeaning in regards to company finances than their personal collection counterparts.

One advantage of operating a commercial collection agency over a personal agency is that many businesses delay collection accounts due to their priority level –day to day operations that produce revenue for the company is first and foremost-, and not due to a lack of the ability to pay it off. By advising the accounts payable representative of the importance of maintaining an impeccable credit rating for the company, the faster the commercial collector can convince the accounts payable representative to address and resolve the issue. Maintaining a pristine credit rating, the company can better assure that potential clients will be more confident in doing business with them.

Commercial collectors have a responsibility to act professional, but firm in their demand for repayment on a delinquent account. Experience in collections teaches one to assume that any contact with the debtor will be the only contact. Resolving accounts in arrears on the initial contact, on as many accounts as possible, is the primary goal of any collector. While client collectors get paid a salary no matter how much debt is recovered, the third party commercial collection agencies are often only paid when they collect.

In commercial collections, the client that refers an account to a third party agency has no intention of losing existing business and sometimes one collection notice is enough to urge the debtor to resolving the account. Unfortunately, not all commercial companies are so quick to pay off accounts. Some company policies dictate that they hold onto their payables until strict demands are made directly from commercial collectors or from correspondence.

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Such an agency is experienced in commercial collections. By using one, you can devote more of your time to concentrating on the day-to-day tasks of running your business, not trying to collect money on past due bills. You can reduce your bad debt.

Make certain you choose the right commercial collections agency, however. Not all commercial collectors have the same amount of experience. Make certain you choose the right agency. Find out if it has experience in the type of work it will do for you, if it will be able to collect the amount of money you are seeking, and if it can give references.

Do you have confidence the commercial collections agency can deal professionally with your customers? If someone from the agency would have one bad conversation with them, it could ruin your reputation and even involve legal issues.

Does the commercial collections agency you are considering using know the law on such issues? Does the agency have enough resources to use skip tracing, one of the methods used, to find those who are avoiding you? There are local laws to consider, and does the company know them well enough to avoid breaking any rules? If you would hire a company that would break a law, that could be worse than having the debt.

How many methods of debt collection does the company you are considering use? Will it use only the methods you approve?

A commercial collections agency can help a large or a small business. Not all businesses pay their debt on time. Some do not pay at all. If you get tired of filling your balance sheets with such terms as andquot, bad debt, or other receivables, you might one to find a reliable one. You will find your debts will be paid much sooner. You will have more revenue, and your salespeople will receive their full commissions, not spending some of their time working as debt collectors. You will also be to retain current customers and seek additional ones.

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