Collecting Judgements
Business owners typically choose to pursue delinquent debt by suing the organization that is indebted, using the court to remedy the situation by seeking to be awarded a judgment. This is often looked at as the first step in the collection of past due business debts, though what many business owners do not realize is that, because most courts do not enforce the judgment and repayment, the court ruling means little.
With the judgment awarded and the difference between right and wrong determined, the court often sees its purpose fulfilled. They’re more concerned with what should be remedied rather than enforcing what will be remedied, simply because the resources required to pursue payment from an indebted party, or even to monitor the activity ensuing after a judgment award, is too much of a drain on the courts in terms of money and time. Because they do not want the costly burden, business owners are left to their own resources.
With judgment in hand and a lack of assistance in enforcement by the courts, the next resource to collect on the judgment is often a commercial debt collection agency. The logical result in the minds of many business owners is that, with the weight and credibility of a court-awarded judgment, a collection agency can easily recover the indebted total.
There are, however, numerous flaws in this logic. First, when a business takes a non-paying debtor to court in search of a judgment award, the business relationship between the two parties has significantly deteriorated, hardening the debtor against repayment. A Commercial debt collection agency is rarely interested in taking on these pursuits, knowing that the individual owing money isn’t going to be inclined to pay at all once he finds out the court isn’t willing to enforce the judgment.
One way to secure a greater chance of collecting the unpaid debt is to contact a commercial debt collection agency BEFORE seeking a judgment award, rather than after. An agency should be the first optionnot the last.
Most commercial collection agencies work on a contingency-only basis. This means they get paid if, and only if, they successfully collect your past due debt. Obviously, this gives them great incentive to successfully resolve your past due debt. Commercial collection agencies also tend to charge the least in contingency fees, typically around 30%, or even less.
Consumer debt is not the same as commercial debt, so business debt collection agencies are privy to a completely different array of tools and resources to help recover delinquent debt. Using asset and private investigation, for example, can yield a better outcome than contact via demand letters and frequent phone calls. This allows for rectifying delinquent accounts much more quickly and efficiently.
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How Will A Collection Agency Try To Collect My Debt?
Collection agencies primarily use letters and phone calls to achieve collection. Collection letters are typically computer generated, and differ in severity. The first letter usually starts with a simple “reminder” tone and as the letters progress they may build up to a final demand.
The first demand letter legally must inform the debtor that they have the capability of disputing the validity of the debt, or if they choose to, request written verification of the debt. If they would like to receive written verification, the agency by law must send some sort of confirmation after verifying it with the original creditor. Demand letters will also confirm that they come from a debt collector, and that any information obtained will be utilized in the attempt to collect debt.
The envelopes of collection correspondence cannot reveal anything that might suggest that it is a collections letter. Therefore, any type of mail that might be embarrassing or public, such as a post card, would be strictly prohibited. The return address should also be discrete; as a result many collection companies will just use their company’s initials, or some other type of vague name.
The nature of the additional notices will depend on the debtor’s reaction. If a debtor agrees to pay off the debt this will most likely result in letters written with a gentler tone. Belligerent reactions, or even a lack of reaction from the debtor might result in a more threatening tone to the letter.
The idea of debt collection is to try to achieve a sense of urgency. Most debt collectors are aware that many debtors owe many types of debt and seek to instigate the debtor to prioritize their particular account. Deadlines may be set, with vague threatening tones, but failure to respond usually results in only more correspondence. Collection letters will always try to convince the debtor to call the collection agency on the telephone directly. If the debtor does not within thirty days, then the collector will often initiate phone calls.
Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on commercial collection agencies Check here for free reprint licence: How Will A Collection Agency Try To Collect My Debt?.
In A Time When Americans Are Going Without Health Insurance The Medical Debt Relief Act Is A Godsend
From 1999 to 2009, premium costs for family insurance have risen by one hundred and thirty one percent. That’s easily over three times the rate at which working wages rose during this time. In this period of economic hardship, millions of jobs have been lost, putting workers who have just lost their jobs at risk of living without health insurance also. For those who remain employed, employers are pushing more of the costs of health insurance onto their employees as they struggle with economic uncertainty. Then there are blue collar and retail workers, waitresses and the like who are paid less, work harder and are not offered health insurance plans at their jobs. No wonder that Americans are struggling to pay their medical bills.
In 2007, about seventy two million Americans struggled with their medical bills. A large amount of these people made paying off their medical bills their top priority, while they had to struggle to pay for basic necessities like food, rent or heat. More than THIRTY MILLION American adults used up ALL of their savings or BORROWED AGAINST THEIR HOMES in order to pay off medical bills. Unfortunately, in this time of economic hardship, many Americans could not stop the bill collector from knocking on their door.
Thirty million Americans are contacted every year by collection agencies for delinquent medical bills; many struggle to pay these. Many people are unclear as to why their insurance refused to pay a claim, others are confused about the amount they owe. Over half of people who took the survey reported that they were puzzled by the medical jargon on their bills, and one in four reported confusion led them to allow bills to go past the due date or to be sent to a collection agency.
A delinquent medical bill that gets sent to collections will typically be reported to credit bureaus. This will result in a lower credit score. Medical accounts, even those that have been paid off in full will stay on a credit report for up to seven years. This will result in lower credit scores and increases the costs of mortgages, car loans, or credit card interest.
Luckily, Ohio Congresswoman Kilroy saw the consequences of outstanding medical bills. She decided to take action because she saw medical debt as unique. She introduced The Medical Debt Relief Act, which states that medical debt that is fully paid off or settled must be removed from a consumer’s credit report within thirty days.
Even though this will not fix our chaotic healthcare system, it will provide relief for those who have paid off medical debt, while the rest of us wait for better health care reform.
Mallory Megan works for a debt collection company. Also she writes articles on business, finance, consumer spending and collection agencies. Click here to get your own unique version of this article with free reprint rights.
Declaring 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 typically prevent the enforcement, commencement, or appeal of actions and judgments against a debtor from the creditors they owe money to who are trying to collect these debts incurred prior to the bankruptcy petition. The automatic stay also protects property of the bankruptcy estate itself from collection actions and proceedings.
Any action that a creditor might take that violates the automatic stay will be 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 will 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 of the automatic stay creditors could hypothetically race to the courthouse in order to improve their positions against a debtor. If this happened, and let’s say that a debtor’s business was 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 writes articles on business, finance, consumer spending, and collection agencies. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service