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Aug23
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If you have gone through small claims court to get your money from your customer, and won, you now have a judgment. A judgment is not a guarantee of payment, it is a tool you can use to "force" a customer to pay legally.
Once you have a judgment, the court gives the debtor 30 days to pay, if they do not pay, you have to file a motion for periodic payments with the court. You will have a hearing and the court will decide if the debtor can pay in full or make payments, they will set a payment amount and how often you should get paid.
If the debtor still does not make the payments, you can file a contempt of court charge. Since the periodic payments are a court order, if the court order is violated, the customer is in contempt of court which is punishable by being arrested until they make good on the order.
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Aug22
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If you are a business owner and have never used an outside collection service, there are some things you will want to be aware of. The more detailed information you give the agency that you choose, and the sooner you...
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Aug21
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In yesterday's New York Times, they did a story titled "I.R.S. Enlists Help in Collecting Delinquent Taxes" by David Cay Johnston. When I owned my collection agency, this was a topic that came up probably over 6 years ago. I...
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Aug20
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If any of the following things are happening within your business, you may need to work with an outside collection service or agency. Look for these signs: A new customer does not respond to a first letter. for some unknown...
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A successful in-house Credit Policy MUST: Be tough yet flexible Have specific guidelines of action Be consistently enforced Proper and consistent attention to accounts while following guidelines will make your credit policy successful. Follow up is the key point in...
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I would say it is very hard to eliminate bad debt completely, but you can take steps to reduce the bad debt you have.You should have a standard in-house written policy on handling all of your accounts. This policy should...
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Aug18
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You can keep your bad debt to a minimum and have more success recovering the bad debt you do have if you can identify bad debt early on. When you identify potential bad debt, you need to act quickly and...
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If you own a business and "extend credit" this means you allow consumers to use your goods or services immediately and pay for them later. While extending credit will increase your gross sales, it also puts you at risk for...
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Aug16
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On Monday, August 14, 2006 NPR's Talk of the Nation did a live story “In Debt, with no easy way out” and Walter Robinson, the editor of the Boston Globe, Robinson stated that the debt collection industry is not regulated....
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Once you decide to place an account with a collection agency, remember that you must stop working the account, adding late fees or interest and stop sending them any correspondence. If the debtor contacts you, which happens quite often once...
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There are some indicators you can look for that can send up a red flag that you should stop your in-house collection efforts and place those accounts with an outside debt collection agency. Some things to look for are: Non-Sufficient...
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Business owners ask me this question quite often. Some of them think if they have in house collectors or a credit manager they don't need a debt collection agency.Unless you collect all the money owed to you with minimal effort...
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Aug13
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Professional Collector, a Western Union newsletter for debt collectors asked me if I would like to serve as an expert in a column they are writing about mitigation techniques for collectors to deescalate difficult calls -- particularly around the holiday...
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I ran across a great new blog about credit issues. It is called Credit Slips, a discussion on Credit & bankruptcy. It is a blog about all things about credit and bankruptcy. There are seven authors who blog about what...
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Debt collection has certainly been popular lately! The Boston Globe did their series called "Debtor's Hell", MSN's Liz Pulliam Weston wrote a story called "Sleazy new debt-collector tactics" and Warren Reports' Elizabeth Warren did a story called "The Dark Underbelly...
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Aug 9
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Lately the big stories on the news have been about how debtors are being "Gouged" by collectors. The Boston Globe is doing a Series called "Debtors' Hell" and I had to send a letter to the editor. Check out the...
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Aug 3
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When you create your credit policy, you must realize that no matter how great your policy is, you will never collect everything from everyone. There will be times that you will need to use the services of an outside collection...
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Aug 2
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I have been getting asked, what can your books do for me? And also, who needs these books? I thought I would answer that question here. Examples of the perfect person who needs my books and how it will help...
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Aug 1
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If a customer calls to set up a new account from a business that has a previous account, the previous account needs to be terminated and a new account opened for the new owners. You must have them fill out...
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Some helpful websites that can help you or your credit manager be more effective:Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)State laws listed by stateInformation on Communication SkillsInformation on negotiation skillsInformation on mediationPast due stickersCredit & Collections ResourcesThese helpful websites have many...
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