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Two Powerful Prosecutors Go After Debt Collection Agencies

By Mallory Megan on Saturday, April 24th, 2010 | No Comments

It was revealed in recent news that top legal prosecutors in Washington and Louisiana announced actions they had taken against accounts receivable management firms and their owners and managers.

Louisiana’s attorney general James Caldwell announced on Friday that his office had gotten a hold of injunctions against two collection agencies and their owners. On the same day, Rob McKenna, Washington’s Attorney General said that his office had settled charges with a collection agency that had promised to stay on the straightened arrow. In a press release, Caldwell’s office stated that in late December they had gotten a hold of an injunction against Bush and Kennedy, Inc, a Baton Rouge based collection company. The order he won placed restrictions on the business, banning them from operating further, and specifically, ordered that two of the firm’s principals, Quay W. Pattott Jr, and William S. Fesguson were banned from conducting business together.

Late last week, a judge hit Ferguson and Parrott with additional injunctions as was requested by Caldwell’s office. Ferguson is barred from using deceptive and unfair acts and practices at his current place of business, Franklin, Grant and Associates Incorporated, a collection agency based out of Metairie Louisiana. Parrott is completely restricted against conducting any new business at his new place of work, Metairie based Halsey and Associates, LLC.

In Washington, McKenna’s office stated that Topco Financial Services Inc, a Washington based collection company agreed not to harass, curse out, or threaten consumers as part of a settlement. The collection company must pay around $38,000 in legal fees and penalties. An additional $82,000 in fees and penalties were suspended pending that the company agrees with the settlement terms.

As per the agreement, Topco is restricted from harassing, intimidating, threatening and embarrassing debtors, including using profanity. They are banned from implying that failure to pay a delinquent bill will result in suspension, a revocation, or impairment of the debtor’s driver’s license. They are no longer allowed to threaten debtors with impairment of their credit rating. However, the company is allowed to legally report debts to credit reporting agencies.

Mallory Megan works for a debt collection company. Also she composes stories on business, finance, consumer spending and collection agencies. You can get a unique content version of this article from the Uber Article Directory.

Reinventing The Collection Industry

By Mallory Megan on Saturday, April 17th, 2010 | No Comments

Like every other profession, the collections business has become even more trying as the economy takes a nose dive, and the rate of unemployment rises. With the advent of more and more unpaid bills, the collections industry may be booming. However logic dictates that with unemployment, and a bad economy more and more people in debt will be unable to pay. These days, if a collector is able to recoup anything, they will usually have to accept smaller payments over longer periods of time.

Collection Agencies like Rapid Recovery Solution feel that most people desire to pay their bills; it’s simply that they need a bit of assistance. John Monderine’s, (owner of the company) callers are on call to bring this help. With a laid back environment and thoroughly trained callers, they strive to work with the debtor to come up with a payment plan.

Bad, untrustworthy collection agencies do make things harder for the ethical ones. There is an industry-wide effort to turn around collectors’ image. Working with a commission based, tough business, being cooped up in a cubicle all day and making three hundred words a day can be very difficult. Yet it has been documented that forty billion dollars are pumped back into the economy.

Technology is capable of making the work more efficient. Using “predictive dialers,” which is the same technology that helps telemarketers determine when people are more likely to answer the phone. The industry also now uses something called skip tracing. This strategy allows a caller to locate debtors who may not want to be located. This system allows the agency to make a financial profile of each debtor, and that will aid collectors in determining the probability of a consumer to pay.

Despite the fact that consumers continue to complain about debt collectors, and the complaints have reached an all time high, the industry is striving to reinvent their image. So next time a debt collector calls, try picking up the phone. You very well might be surprised.

Mallory Megan works for a debt collection agency. She also composes articles on business, finance, consumer spending and collection agencies. This and other unique content ‘collection services’ articles are available with free reprint rights.

Student Loan Consolidation Might Be Your Best Bet For Debt

By Mallory Megan on Friday, February 5th, 2010 | No Comments

Money is limited these days for everyone struggling to keep their standard of living. In the past, loans carried you through college, but now that you\’re out these debts have come out to haunt you. You may be contacted by various debt collectors and left a frantic mess seeking someone who can help you with a school loan consolidation.

A good deal of students that have just finished their education and are currently looking for jobs try for federal school loan consolidation first. This loan has a great deal of benefits. First, the government is the source of this loan but it is issued by private lenders. That means that the time you have to repay the loan can be extended for a long duration.

Perhaps the most enticing benefit of school loan consolidation is that the multiple student loans are substituted with just one loan. The overall sum of the debt is reduced; at times this reduction can even go up to 60%. This, of course leads to reduction in your monthly payment.

Even better, the new rate of interest is determined by the weighted average of the rates that are applied on your present loans. In addition you\’ll get rid of the mental stress associated with remembering the details about multiple loans. Consolidation does not require a cosigner or any checking of the credit score, and you can utilize this opportunity to improve the credit score or rating.

The only con of the situation is that is it is very difficult to prove yourself eligible for the federal school loan consolidation. Typically, you will need the assistance of a good debt consolidation expert to prove that you are eligible for this kind of consolidation. The standards to be qualified for this loan are very rigid, leaving many ineligible for the loan. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to check to see if you qualify. It could be a good resource for protecting your finances in the future.

Mallory McGuinnessworks for a debt collection company. She also does articles on consumer spending, business and finance, and debt collection. Click here to get your own unique version of this article with free reprint rights.

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