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81. Is the Economy on the Road to Recovery?
    April 26, 2010
    The Commercial Collection Agency Association (CCAA) of the Commercial Law League of America reported that business-to-business accounts its members received during the first quarter of 2010 declined by approximately 12%. However, in the last twelve months CCAA members have received a record account placement with $17.5 billion in business-to-business accounts placed for collection. . . . keep reading
    
    
82. What's in a Name?
    Fraud prevention: several keys tipped off this credit veteran that something was wrong with the order. Find out what the clues were. . . . keep reading
    
    
83. Intuit Billing Manager "Get Paid Survey" Results
    March 19, 2009
    There are approximately 26 million small businesses in the U.S. of which 22 million are very small with few if any employees. This survey reflects the . . . keep reading
    
    
84. Too Good to Be True
    This credit manager has an advantage we'd all envy: an owner/boss who also runs Sales and who listens to her concerns. But even with that edge she's been caught with her receivables up. It happened when one slick customer figured out a way of looking like a prompt pay when they were only a partial pay. . . . keep reading
    
    
85. RMS' Online Business Center Brings Collection Success to Hundreds in Just Months
    June 8, 2010
    RMS, the leader in business-to-business Accounts Receivable (A/R) management, introduced their online debt collection services nine months ago, providing commercial businesses with the opportunity to purchase individual claim collection services --without a contract or subscription -- through the company's internet web site Business Center. Of the hundreds of users to date, half have chosen to send their debtor either the single DebtAlert® Collection Letter or the series of DebtAlert® Collection Letters; with each subsequent message escalating the urgency for payment. The other half of the Online Business Center users chose . . . keep reading
    
    
86. Truth in Lending Act
    Can bank charge back a borrower for courier's fees if not expressly listed? Would charging the borrower constitute a violation under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA)? . . . keep reading
    
    
87. Does the FDCPA Apply to Commercial Collections?
    "What's the big idea calling me at home and at this time of the night?" demanded Don Brandon, owner and operator of Brandon Distributors. "You won' . . . keep reading
    
    
88. An Innovative & Proven Strategy For Solving Collection Problems Before They Occur
    In some cases, unanticipated cash-flow problems will slow up a customer's payments. In other cases, the customer never really intended to pay you within terms anyway. There may not be much you can do about the first group. But, as this credit veteran shows, there are ways of solidifying payment commitments up front. When Sales presents her with a marginal account, Credit Manager Mary Lynn Jordan of Projections Unlimited, Inc. sends out when she calls a "goofy little terms letter." It basically says that if payment exceeds 45 days, credit terms (3/10, net 30) may be withdrawn. . . . keep reading
    
    
89. Online Skip-Tracing Secrets from an Expert
    By John Kenny
    A disconnected phone, an invoice in returned mail and payments past-due for more than 30 days are pretty good indicators that your debtor has "skipped" out on their obligation to you. But that doesn't have to be the end of the story. Now you have to get out the cross directory books and start looking up names similar to your debtor, names and phone numbers of their neighbors, etc., in an effort to find out where your debtor went, right? . . . keep reading
    
    
90. Letter Checklist: The "Seven Cs" of Collection Communications
    Lets say you've found a letter from our download area, but you find it's not EXACTLY what you need in your unique situation. If that happens, her . . . keep reading
    
    
91. Use This 10-Point Checklist to Make Sure Your Communications Get The Job Done!
    While there are literally 100's of ready-to-go letter templates you can download directly from the download area on this site, at some point, you'll w . . . keep reading
    
    
92. Too Aggressive Collecting?
    A battered veteran of the fiercely competitive computer market, this Credit & Collections Manager friend of ours is an ardent advocate of letting customers know exactly what payment performance is expected and of confronting delinquents immediately. This article details how she handled a complaint from a customer's accounting manager about supposed aggressive and inappropriate collections by one of her collectors. . . . keep reading
    
    
93. Nine Key Skills to Look For in Great Collectors: How to Hire and Train a Collections Staff
    By Robert Holt
    Aggressive hard-hitting collectors have been favorites for years, but... You have just been selected to open a new collection department office. What type of individual would make a good collector? Someone aggressive, right? A real go-getting, hard hitter that will collect all of the money--and quickly. I submit that this is precisely not the type of person needed. . . . keep reading
    
    
94. Competing Liens: the Basics
    by Ann Morales Olazábal, MBA, JD
    One customer of Denton Auto, a large supplier of auto parts, is Fitch Motors, Inc., a full service auto dealership in the business of selling new and used cars, as well as providing warranty, other service, and body work. Fitch has established a credit agreement with Denton, and as part of that arrangement Fitch has agreed to grant Denton a security interest in any and all inventory sold on credit until that auto parts inventory is paid in full. Fitch has experienced some cash flow problems and is now "slow pay." Invoices are 120 days out and a few are even longer, but Fitch has continued to send a steady stream of payments. Lisa Stein, Denton's credit manager, is concerned but not terribly so because she knows legal action can be taken, if necessary, to repossess the bulk of the auto parts Fitch stocks. However, in a telephone conversation with Fitch's accounts payable staff, Stein hears something that does give her pause. Apparently Fitch has also given a lien on its entire inventory of automobiles and auto parts, as well as in its equipment and receivables, to a local bank. Can Fitch do that? . . . keep reading
    
    
95. Checklist of Consignment Considerations
    An alternative to shipping material on open account is to ship the material to the customer with title to the material being still vested in the selle . . . keep reading
    
    
96. How Not to Select a Collection Agency
    Three of the most common ways of selecting collection agencies may well be three of the least effective. This article first examines what those three common ways are and why they're not good methods for choosing an agency. It then covers five investigatory measures you should take before you sign a contract with an agency. Learn six questions to ask references given by an agency. . . . keep reading
    
    
97. Legal Case Study: Debtor Sues Based on Deceptive Letter from In-house Collection Arm. Is that A FDCPA Violation?
    This legal case study explores a situation in which a retail credit card holder fell behind on her payments. This retailer's accounts were operated by Citicorp, which sent the debtor various dunning notices. When she failed to pay, she received a letter from "Debtor Assistance," which stated that "your account has recently [been] charged off" and which offered her a manageable repayment schedule. At the time of this case, Debtor Assistance was actually a unit of Citicorp that handles accounts that have been written off but not yet assigned to collection agencies. The debtor never paid and ended up filing for bankruptcy protection. She eventually sued Citicorp for violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), based on the letter from Debtor Assistance.
    Think she had a case? Read on for the answer and our analysis! . . . keep reading
    
    
98. Six Pointers to More Effective Collections
    "Have you been trying to reach me?" Yeah, right! What the delinquent has been trying to do is stay out of your way. But it's a question that puts delinquents on the spot--just the spot where you want them. Why haven't they tried to reach you, and why haven't they paid? It really works for this credit veteran.
    As vice president for credit at MJB & Associates (Fargo, N.D.,) William K. Blixt is responsible for collections for a total of eight companies, including Western Products and EMCO Building Products. The activities of these companies range from home improvement (from siding, gutters and windows to spas, pool tables and fire¬places, and also providing financing for some of these projects) to machining for auto companies and handling rental properties. Each company has its own credit terms and pricing tiers, and customers range from wholesalers to homeowners. All of this means that Blixt has to be both adaptable and creative.
    "You have to treat each group of customers differently," he says. "I shift gears many times a day depending on the group of customers I'm talking to." But as many times as he may shift gears, he is careful to keep six principles in mind . . .
    • How his first principle puts him ahead of the pack when people are deciding who to pay
    • A simple trick you can easily implement that helps him get customers' attention
    • His secret phrase to allow him to be aggressive, but still respectful, when tracking down hard-to-reach customers
    • Ways he keeps his collection expenses down
    . . . keep reading
    
    
99. The Problem With Post-Dated-Check Payment Plans
    A customer who was experiencing cash-flow problems recently proposed a payment plan that called for working down the $10,000 past due by $2,000 a month. The credit manager was reluctant to accept this relatively long payout, but decided to approve the plan provided the customer send him five post-dated checks to cover the balance due.
    The customer flatly refused to do so, noting that another vendor to whom they had sent a series of post-dated checks deposited all of the checks at the same time--and that this was what caused the company's cash-flow problem to begin with.
    So, is this correct? Can a bank honor post-dated checks before their date? Learn about changes to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) with regard to this issue. Also, what alternative might you use if you decide against the post-dated check strategy? . . . keep reading
    
    
100. Creditors' Liability for Agency Violations
     This legal case study looks at a situation in which a college student's defaults on her debt. The college refers her account to a collection agency, and she sues based on violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Does she have a case? Did the collge do anything wrong? Read on for the answers and analysis! . . . keep reading
     
     

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