Debt Recovery

Vineyard owners regularly face problems with outstanding accounts receivable from clients, contractors, and suppliers. Smooth cash flow is critical for your winery’s ongoing operations and expansion.

Collection agencies classify the debt as “Commercial Debt” or “Consumer Debt“.

Commercial Debt (B2B): The debtor is a business (not an individual). Collection balances are higher, and settlement is attempted so that the business relations of the two parties are not damaged. Before starting the commercial collection process, a collection agency will give you a final fee quotation after studying the complexity of your case. Agency collection fees vary from 15% to as high as 50%.

Consumer Debt (B2C): In this case, the debtor is an individual. Collection agencies can provide cheaper flat fee services in the form of diplomatic “Collection Letters“. A 40% contingency fee is charged if the account is transferred to a “Debt Collector” who makes Collection Calls to your debtor.

From the debt collection point of view, commercial and individual accounts are treated very differently. The federal and state debt collection laws are also drastically different for each of them.

The last resort of collections is to file a Legal Suit.

Top wine-producing regions in US are – Lodi, Napa, Paso Robles, Sonoma Valley, Palisade in California , Snake River Valley in Idaho, Willamette Valley in Oregon, Albuquerque in New Mexico, Finger Lakes, North Fork and Long Island in New York, Fredericksburg in Texas and Leesburg in Virginia

It is recommended that a winery should transfer the debt to a collection agency once it is about 90 days past due. Faster you transfer a past due account to a collection agency, the chances of an amicable settlement are higher.

Do not burden your untrained winery staff with engaging in debt collections. Collection agencies are experts in collecting money. While you focus on the daily running and expansion of your winery, let the collection agency handle your accounts receivable in a legally-complaint manner.

If you need a collections agency to recover money from past due accounts: Contact us

The same is true for beer and spirits producers.

Unpaid tuition fees can cause a lot of financial burden on Daycare Centers, Kindergartens, Preschools, and Child care centers. Many daycare centers attempt switching to a 100% prepaid model, but it generally results in a loss of enrollment as most parents prefer a postpaid model.

After sending several reminders to the parents, an amicable resolution seems impossible. Some daycare centers try taking the matter to a Small Claims court, which requires significant preparation, fees, stress, and time. This time could have been utilized for getting new clients or enhancing your daycare facilities. Even if a daycare center wins the judgment in a small claims court, it does not guarantee payment. Many parents either fall into the low-income bracket category or are experiencing temporary financial problems ( like job loss, medical emergency bills, etc.). Regardless of their situation, a daycare center should attempt to recover their tuition and meal fees, which they rightfully deserve.

In most cases, without the help of a professional collection agency, daycare centers are forced to writing-off these overdue accounts receivable as a complete loss in their accounting books. Collection agencies can recover money diplomatically and amicably while preserving the reputation of your daycare. Taking your unpaid AR seriously will boost the profits of your business.

Need an Experienced Daycare Collection Agency: Contact us

Low-cost Collection Letters offered by collection agencies are an excellent way to collect money from your past-due accounts. There is a massive difference between parents getting an invoice from a child care center versus a collection demand from a debt collection agency. Communication from a collection agency means it is just the beginning of the collection process, and a lot more is still to come. Parents will dig their pockets deeper to get rid of the collection agency, especially when it has to do with their child.

Collection Letters Service

Upfront cost for 5 Collection Letters is about $15 per account. Debtors pay directly to you, no other fees. Low-cost option. Good for accounts less than 120 days past due.

Collection Calls Service

Contingency fee only. No upfront or other fees. Agency gets paid a portion of the money they recover.  No recovery-No fees. Best for accounts over 120 days. A debt collector calls debtor many times. If everything fails, a possible Legal Suit if recommended by the attorney.

Check this: Cost of hiring a collection agency

There are some unbeatable advantages when using a collection agency:

1. Five diplomatic Collection Demands are sent out at an average cost of $15 per account. They also perform scrubs like “USPS Change of Address” and “Bankruptcy” validation at this price. This enables the agency to send letters to the latest address of the parent. If a parent has filed for bankruptcy and they may be exempted from paying debts, including the fee of your child care center.

2. If the amount remains uncollected even after the Collection Letters service,  with your permission, these accounts will be forwarded for Collection calls or to file a Legal Suit to recover your money. These are contingency-based services.

3. Collection agencies allow parents to make payments in installments, online or over the phone. The installments approach facilitates parents of lower-income groups and those having temporary financial issues to make smaller payments.

4. An online portal provided by a good collection agency allows you to submit debts easily and quickly. It is recommended to submit an account for the Collection Letters service after the debt has been 60 to 180 days past due.

5. You should add in your initial “Childcare Center-Parent” contractual agreement that the parent is responsible for all debt collection costs on unpaid bills, not limited to late fees, court fees and the collection agency fees. Even if you do not attempt to recover the amount spent on collections, still a large portion of the money should come back, which otherwise would have been a 100% loss for your daycares.

6. Ask the collection agency if they have a diplomatic and empathetic approach to collections; it helps to maintain your positive reputation. There will always be some parents who will get very upset the moment they get a letter from you or the collection agency, but it does not mean you should write off that debt, fearing an adverse reaction. You have the right to recover your money to help run your own business and improve its cash flow.

7. A collection agency ensures that they comply with collection laws like FDCPA, TCPA, and several state debt collection regulations.

Forwarding a case to the collection agency means you can keep your 100% attention running your Child Care center and let the collection agency experts work as an extension to your business to recover the bad debt.

 Contact us: If you need a collections agency to take care of your unpaid accounts receivable:

Total student loan debt in the USA is more than $1.78 trillion. College grads with loans owe about 37,000 on average. Unlike elementary school debts, which are easier to collect, student loans for engineering, management, and medical courses carry a much larger balance and are much harder to collect.

Diplomacy is essential in the debt recovery process for colleges. Unlike other debts, the probability of recovering student loans improves as people make more money and settle in their careers.

Unlike other loans, student loan obligations do not go away even if the borrower files for bankruptcy. A private student loan is considered in default after three straight months of non-payment. This delinquent debt is usually forwarded to a professional Debt Collection Agency. An experienced collection agency can reduce the dropout rate and even encourage students to re-enroll by explaining how the federal Pell Grant program will likely cover their unpaid fees if they re-enroll.

Collecting money for colleges nationwide Need a Student Loan Collection Agency? Contact Us

A professional debt collector can usually deliver high recovery rates on these accounts.

Student loans are rising, and so are the defaults. It is undoubtedly an unfortunate scenario for students, but even the lenders are taking a big financial hit and, in some cases, are forced to write off these loans completely. Banks and Credit Unions primarily issue private student loans. After the 2008 recession, many lenders cut back on their student loan programs.

A Collection Agency will seek repayment from the borrower and the cosigner (or the guarantor) if required. Education loan collection requires sending collection demands, making several collection calls, and sometimes escalating for legal action. A collection agency must follow many debt collection laws like those specified in the “Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)”. Upon the lender’s request, a college collection agency may report this debt to the Credit Bureaus, damaging the borrower’s ability to take further loans like mortgages, credit cards etc. 

Check this: Cost of hiring a college debt collection agency

The collection agency fees can be added to the principal amount. All these clauses are defined in the promissory note signed during the initial student loan processing. Some state laws set a lower limit. The borrower is still responsible for any unpaid interest, late fees, and principal, which keeps getting more significant as time passes by.

Higher education is expensive in the United States. It is crucial to involve a Collection Agency ASAP because the amount becomes too big to repay as the interest increases. In such a scenario, the borrower often gives up entirely on repaying the loan, ready to face whatever consequences that may follow.

Even if the lender/collection agency gets a court judgment against the borrower or cosigner for wage garnishment for private student loans, this garnishment can be only up to 25% of disposable pay in most states. With the court order, a lender/collection agency can sometimes seize assets and bank accounts and place liens against property owned by the borrower or cosigner. Laws vary a lot from state to state. Getting a “highly favorable” judgment is understandably hard because the lender, the big guy, is often seen as the bad guy and the borrower is seen as the victim of circumstances.

Furthermore, there is a different approach when collecting medical debt versus non-medical debt. Therefore you cannot just hire any collection agency; you must engage a debt collection agency with extensive experience recovering money from these higher-value student loans.

Collection agencies are experts in collecting debt, including private student loans. They do a far superior job, provided the account is transferred early enough. Another huge disadvantage of waiting for private student loans is that the “Statute of limitations” applies here and could shield the borrower eventually. The statute of limitations does not apply to Federal loans. Courses like Under Grad, Graduation and Post Graduate courses are far more challenging to collect by engaging in-house staff and eventually require the intervention of a professional collection agency.

Startling Statistics 1 in 4 American adults has student debt. Medical Student Loans carry the highest balance. 7 in 10 college graduates are now graduating with student debt The price of a college education has quadrupled since the 1980s, rents have doubled. ( Wages haven’t kept up) 40% of borrowers are expected to be in default by 2023. 3 million Americans over the age of 60 are paying off student debt. Thousands are having Social Security payments garnished. The largest private student lenders in USA are College Ave, CommonBond , Earnest , Navient, Sallie Mae and SoFi.

Reference:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/m-29-old-235k-student-151734965.html

We help fitness clubs and gyms recover a wide range of unpaid bills, including membership dues, personal training sessions, class fees, initiation charges, bounced payment plans, and even unpaid merchandise or facility rentals. Our professional and compliant collection approach delivers strong recovery results while protecting your brand reputation.

Health and Fitness clubs operate in a vibrant ambiance full of energy, motivation, the sound of heavy metal, and grunting.

Although you expect your staff to deal with clients with utmost respect and professionalism, keeping the head cool, especially when dealing with those tough-to-handle clients, is not always easy.

Gyms depend on recurring monthly fees, so when a member cancels, it can impact their expected cash flow.

• Despite having agreed to the cancellation policy at the time of joining, some members still dispute the charges.
• Sometimes the recurring monthly fee gets denied due to card expiration or chargebacks.

The fitness industry often experiences high member turnover. High churn rates make it difficult to maintain steady revenue and can complicate billing processes. Collecting money from unpaid invoices is extremely important for Gyms.

Need a Collection Agency for unpaid membership bills? Contact Us Serving Fitness Centers Nationwide

Most employees collecting membership fees are either back-office accounting clerks or front-desk receptionists making calls during non-rush hours. Engaging an untrained club employee to do debt collections is a huge mistake. He/she has no formal training (or experience) and may easily risk your health club into a lawsuit if certain debt collection laws are violated. Yes, some very stringent Federal and State laws exist around recovering your money.

Let your staff do what they are the best at, handling their core health club responsibilities. Demanding to pay past-due membership bills from a vibrant place like a club can be challenging.  Once your member has not responded to your reminder calls and notices for over 60 days, it’s best to forward that account to a professional debt collection agency. Start with Collection Letters followed by Collection calls if required.

There is a common misconception that once an account is transferred to a debt collection agency, the collector would misbehave with your customer to extract money – Wrong. Collection agencies must follow strict debt collection laws like the “Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)”, due to which they must deal with all debtors professionally and diplomatically, or the debtor will sue them back. Debt collectors are experts in collecting debts; that is what they do all day long. Collection agencies have numerous tactics and tools to recover money from past due accounts successfully.

A typical collection agency will be able to work on overdue accounts of a fitness club for debt recovery, preferably no more than three years old.

Collection Letters Service

Upfront cost for 5 Collection Letters is about $15 per account. Debtors pay directly to you, no other fees and a low-cost option. Good for accounts less than 120 days past due.

Collection Calls Service

Contingency fee only. No upfront or other fees. Agency gets paid a portion of the money they recover.  No recovery-No fees. Best for accounts over 120 days. A debt collector calls your debtor many times. If everything fails, a possible Legal Suit is recommended by the attorney.

Once an account gets transferred to debt collectors, most health clubs prefer using the “Collection Letters” service initially. This is a lot more “softer” approach to collecting on past due accounts. Collection letters service also takes care of customers who have probably shifted their residence to a new location, but your fitness club still has their old address on file.

Collection agencies perform various scrubs on each account placed, that includes “Change of Address” and “Bankruptcy Check”. Letters by Collection Agencies are carefully crafted for maximum impact, yet they are a low-cost approach to collecting money without ruining the relationship with your members. Members pay directly to the club. The “Collection Letters” cost is only about $15 per account. Up to 5 collection letters are sent out. Your staff can never match this cost. Outsourcing debt collections saves your staff time, paperwork, and all the additional overheads.

Check this: Cost of hiring a collection agency

Before you select a health club collection agency, make sure they have the following:

1. An online portal where accounts can be placed. Collection efforts can be stopped once a member has cleared his bills.

2. Their systems are PCI compliant, which means the information about your members is handled securely in their IT systems.

3. They should be able to send demands in both English and Spanish.

4. You Should be able to report an account to credit reporting agencies like Transunion, Experian and Equifax if you want.

5. Ability to accept payments online or over the phone.

6. Collection letter accounts are usually purchased in a bundle. Like 100 accounts for $15 per account. Check with your agency if your unused accounts have an expiration date or if you can use them forever.

7. Insist that you want to use the diplomatic “collection letters” service for your fitness club bills before a debt collector gets involved.  They are best for accounts that are less than 120 days past due. Check if they offer any guarantee on their collection letters service.

Note: If the staff of a Health Club waits too long to transfer an account to a collection agency, recovery money from that account will only get tougher.

 

Accounts receivable for chiropractors is an ever-growing problem all across America. Insurance coverage is getting more restrictive, and treatments are getting costlier. Depending on which region of the USA you belong to, the unpaid medical bills issue may vary from moderate to severe. Unpaid bills from patients and reduced coverage from insurance companies can severely impact any chiropractic rehab and wellness center.

To give you an idea of how past due accounts quickly eat up into profits – If a chiropractic practice works on a 20% profit margin, say 5% of their patients do not pay, then effectively 25% of their net profit is gone. Collecting money from existing patients is more important than getting new patients.

Serving Chiropractors Nationwide Need a cost-effective Collection Agency for unpaid bills? Contact Us

Chiropractors generally work in small teams. Their in-house staff are neither trained nor well equipped to recover money from those hard collect unpaid bills. Therefore, the chiropractor’s office must take proactive measures to minimize accounts receivable. This includes communicating the cost to the patient in advance and insisting that he should make the payment in full on the day of treatment. For individuals who have a hard time even shelling out the insurance co-pay fees, you should reschedule their appointment as they have a higher chance of not paying for their out-of-pocket expenses anyway. To maximize cash flow, send notices to your patients more frequently than once a month. Before taking any intensive measures on your patients, ensure that there are no accounting errors otherwise, your mistake can prove costly later.

Despite all your efforts, a sizable number of patients will not clear their medical bills, with reasons as simple as forgetting to pay to more sophisticated excuses. Patients may dispute the cost of services, especially if they did not fully understand the cost at the time of service.

Instead of writing these off as bad debts, involve a good chiropractor collection agency to recover money on your behalf. Chiropractors may be a part of a large practice/hospital or running their clinic, but bad debts hurt all.

Our recommendation: Once you cannot recover a patient’s medical bill within 60 to 90 days, forward this account to a good collection agency. Delaying to act on a past-due account will make it harder to collect.

Summary of Collection Agency’s Services

Collection Letters Service

The upfront cost for 5 Collection Letters is about $15 per account. Debtors pay directly to you, no other fees. Low-cost option. Good for accounts less than 120 days past due.

Collection Calls Service

Contingency fee only. No upfront or other fees. Agency gets paid a portion of the money they recover.  No recovery-No fees. Best for accounts over 120 days. A debt collector calls a debtor many times. If everything fails, a possible Legal Suit is recommended by the attorney.

Check this: Cost of hiring a collection agency

* Services offered by a collection agency include Collection Demands, Collection Calls and Legal Action. Their representative should be able to explain which service is appropriate for you.

* Make sure that your chiropractic debt collection agency is accredited by ACA (American Collectors Association) and follows all the debt collection laws specified by the government.

* Debt collectors should be adequately trained and follow a diplomatic approach to collecting your money. They should move over to a more intensive approach if required.

* Chiropractor debt collection agency should have a 24/7 online collections portal and follow steps to secure your data. They must be HIPAA certified as well.

* Their services should be easy to use. No hidden costs or surprises. They should have adequate security, data protection measures, and certifications.

* Their collection attempts should be persistent, and to avoid any argument with debtors, the debt collectors must maintain their patience.

Contact us if you want a collection agency to recover money from unpaid chiropractor bills.

 

 

Property management is a well-paying business and a good income source for landlords. But the biggest stress for landlords, property managers, and apartment managers is collecting rent from tenants on time.

Once the rent is past due, the landlord starts evaluating whether or not he should continue his association with the tenant, pressurize him with warnings or late fees. If the rent is further delayed then should he serve an eviction notice?

Even after the tenant leaves, the property may require fixes, a painting job, and finding a new tenant. All this can lead to at least 30-60 days of further loss of rental income. A collection agency for landlords will swiftly act to recover all/maximum money from the defaulting tenant using all amicable and intensive techniques allowed legally.

Serving Landlords and Property Managers Nationwide Need a Rent Collection Agency? Contact Us

Tenants often do excessive damage to the property. They are supposed to bear the cost of fixing it. Unfortunately, many tenants don’t pay, simply walk out the door and become untraceable too. Property damage costs are tough to recover.

Debt write-offs are common in the rental and property management business. But it can be minimized if landlords have a proper accounts receivable plan.

Have you already sent a late rent notice, made phone calls, even imposed a late fee, and nothing seems to be working? Or maybe the tenant has been evicted and is untraceable now. Not sure what to do next? 

Involving a Rent Collection Agency at the earliest will improve cash flow and mitigate the risk since they are experts in collecting money. That’s what the debt collectors do all day long, every single working day of their life. Very few collection agencies efficiently work in the rental default recovery segment as it is considered a tough paper to collect money.

Collection Demands Service for Landlords

Upfront cost for 5 Collection Demands is about $15 per account. Debtors pay directly to you, no other fees and a low-cost option. Good for accounts less than 120 days past due.

Collection Calls Service (Intensive Collections)

Contingency fee only. No upfront or other fees. Agency gets paid a portion of the money they recover.  No recovery-No fees. Best for accounts over 120 days. A debt collector calls debtor many times. If everything fails, a possible Legal Suit if recommended by the attorney.

The involvement of a rent collection agency is a game-changer. Not only can collectors use various tactics and tools, but once your tenant knows that a collection agency is involved, he knows that things have become a lot more severe. He is more likely to settle past-due rent than when the property manager was trying to handle things himself. The financial situation of a defaulting tenant deteriorates quickly. Therefore it is essential to act fast.

Landlords should hire an expert rent recovery collection agency in their best interest of landlords. Landlords will get more time to focus on your property management business while the collection agency works hard to recover your money. Always take proof of income from your tenant. Keeping communications in form of Text messages and Email is beneficial because you have written proof of what the tenant had agreed to. Verbal assurances given by the tenant to his landlord are of no use for debt collectors or the courts.

Collection Letters, Collection Calls, and Legal suits are the three primary services that collection agencies offer.

What filing a legal case against your tenant?

If home or apartment owners go to the small claims court, they may be able to recover rent, additional damages, late fees and legal fees. However, you must understand that it requires considerable time and energy and, most importantly, that you have followed all rental laws issued in your state, and you are sure that there is no chance that your tenant can sue you back ( like unhygienic or dangerous conditions of the rental unit or that he was threatened). Even with a judgment, it can get really hard to recover your money.

Tips for Selecting a good Rent Collection Agency

1. A collection agency should attempt to collect the rent diplomatically without damaging the relationship between the tenant and owner/manager. They should be well aware of debt collection laws and professionally handle all debtor excuses.

2. It should be able to perform collection activities on tenants of single-family homes, retail shops and apartments. Suppose the unfavorable financial situation of the tenant is temporary. In that case, the debt collector can negotiate and place the tenant under a payment plan so that all rental dues are settled amicably.

3. A rent collection agency should be able to provide various payment options, including online payment, PayPal and wire transfer. Collection agents should also be able to accept major credit cards and checks over the phone.

4. For eviction cases, a collection agency will go for intensive collections directly. This includes Collection Calls or a legal suit.

5. A collection agency should have an online client portal using which a property manager should be able to stop the collections activity if you want. Provide backup documentation to the debt collector when the need arises, monitor real-time performance reports and submit additional accounts online.

6. Using advanced Skip Tracing methods, a collection agency should have an effective method for tracking down tenants who have changed their address and are untraceable.

7. There should be a clear accounts receivable strategy with no exceptions. A collection agency should convey to the property managers and owners the importance of assigning the accounts early rather than repeatedly falling back on the inner feeling that the rent may get paid next month in full.

8. Should report accounts to credit reporting agencies: Experian, TransUnion, Equifax whenever needed.

9. Provide a flexible strategy for early- and late-stage (over 120 days past due). There should be no commission or contingency fee with their flat fee process.

10. No hidden costs or minimums and must have a national network of legal advisers.

By assigning the accounts to a rent collection agency on time, landlords will see an increased rate of return on their past due accounts.

These cities and nearby regions face the maximum number of defaults:
1. New York City, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Rochester
2. San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles and Glendale, California
3. Miami and Orlando, Florida
4. Province, Rhode Island
5. College Station, Dallas, Houston, and Irving, Texas
6. Boston, Massachusetts
7. Cincinnati, Ohio
8.  Washington, D.C. and
9. Philadelphia