Internal Procedures

A Typical Collection Procedure – Internal

1.            Upon receipt of the account, we can immediately report the debtor by both company name and/or personal name to D&B, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, and, if not already received, ask for any supplemental documentation from the client, supporting the validity of the claim. This can include, but is not limited to, invoices, credit applications, purchase orders, and proofs of delivery.

2.             As a preliminary investigation, we utilize our Research Department to quickly gather information regarding the status of the corporation, its officers, addresses, and phone numbers. We run the principles names to find other businesses ventures he/she may have to determine assets, stability, and payment trends. By using both a reverse address and reverse phone search, we determine the legitimacy of the company and find secondary contact information about their homes, neighbors, and nearby businesses. We then contact our collection attorneys and representatives in the county, parish, province, or economic region of the debtor, to determine if our pre-positioned contacts may already be familiar with the company, principles, and/or the area in general. The sales team then follows-up to network with industry contacts to quickly determine if our other clients, and/or prospects, may be having similar difficulties with the debtor in question.

3.             At the same time, the collector(s) assigned to the claim(s) contacts the debtor at his/her place of business, and/or residence, to determine communication viability and for the purpose of notifying the debtor of our intentions to collect the debt. We often inform the debtor of our readiness and preparations to file a suit, unless our demands are met.

4.             In the rare event that communication is not possible, such as fraud, the account is given back to our Research Department for a maximum of 30 days. This department monitors the account for any new information that turns up and has a plethora of resources available to eventually ascertain both a functioning method of communication as well as new information concerning the status of the debtor and/or the principles. 

5.             Further collection attempts increase the urgency of the matter. Some early methods of persuasion include notifying the debtor that in most cases, the judge will award court costs, attorney fees, and interest to the plaintiff, in addition to any damages that can be assessed. The idea is to develop a sense of urgency to persuade the debtor to resolve the claim quickly, and amicably, with our internal collection staff. This stage of collection may involve letters, settlements, credits, returns, payment plans, conference calls, appointments, etc.

6.             In the event of a fraudulent transaction, or any NSF checks, our collection staff, attorneys, and/or local representation will deal directly with the sheriff's department to expedite the collection.

7.             At this point, we obtain either a promise of payment and/or a time to continue the conversation.           
        
8.                 Upon receipt of certified funds, we submit a faxed copy to you for your records, deposit the check into our trustee account, and remit accordingly.