I am not an attorney; nothing in my post should be considered legal advice. If you need legal advice contact an attorney.

I read a Wall Street Business Journal article last week that talked about an in-house collector for an auto dealership, purchasing a new software program and digging in her heels and tracking down debtors to collect on the dealerships delinquent accounts. She was able to reduce the company debt by a substantial amount but at what cost? The article did not fully delve into how many man hours and other resources that were dedicated to this task.

While I feel that there is a great need for in-house collections, I believe that many business people do not understand the full power of the small claims and civil legal system.  Once a legal judgment is awarded the collection game changes. When collecting a legal judgment you have the power of the court behind you, plus the money judgment award begins to accrue interest. The amount of interest varies from state to state. In addition, judgments can be assigned to third parties, who, by filing the proper paperwork with the court, can also proceed with collection using the remedies the court offers, such as Wage Garnishment, Property Seizure, Liens and Foreclosure, Bank Account levies etc… again these remedies vary state to state.   Third parties do not necessarily need to be attorneys but shoud have experience working with the courts and adhere to all state and federal laws that govern debt collection.

I recently read a post, and it’s subsequent thread, the other day where the author was bashing on debt collectors. The names and references flying around would have made a sailor blush. People hate debtor collectors- Why? Gone are days of the lead pipe carrying, knee cap busting, thugs of old. Granted there are some unscrupulous collectors still left, but the industry as a whole shuns them.

Does all this animosity stem from the fact that collectors hold individuals accountable for their actions? I think maybe it does. I think that at some level it also stems from bruised pride and/or embarrassment.

Debt Collectors are integral to this nations economy. I was reading an article from the Feb 2007 issue of Collectors Magazine entitled “Perpetuating the Industry” by Gary D. Rippentrop, CAE. In his article Mr. Rippentrop talks about a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) study commissioned by the ACA. The information from this study has helped the ACA demonstrate to government officials and members of the news media that the work of professional collectors returned $39 Billion to U.S. Businesses and saved the average household $351 in 2005.

We’re talking BILLIONS of dollars. Imagine how many businesses would have ‘went under’ and how many hard working American would have lost their jobs if collectors had not recovered money owed to these businesses.

Collectors are not the bad guy. They perform a necessary, albeit unglamorous job that society as a whole benefits from.

Hello all,

We have decided to start this blog as a way to reach out with news and information about our company. We will be posting on topics we feel are relevant to the debt buying, judgment recovery and collections industry. We will also share unique success stories and discuss why it is beneficial for businesses to assign their judgments to established and ethical third party collectors. We encourage feedback and questions from others working to collect, whether as a 3rd party, or just doing internal collections for yourselves or employer.

I am not an attorney, nothing in my posts should be considered legal advice. If you need legal advice I encourage you to contact an attorney.