Helpful Information About Professional Collections

| Thursday, June 13, 2013
By Teri Farley


Professional collections follows industry standards which encourage ethical behavior on the part of those who attempt to collect debts. Procedures ought to be consistent with federal, state and local laws. All those involved with contacting consumers in order to collect debts must do so in an ethical manner. The objective is to resolve the problem by working out a payment plan that is workable for the person owning the debt. The objective is certainly not to punish the debtor or to give them a Sunday school lesson about paying their bills.

Just because a person owes money does not make them a criminal. In fact, it only backfires to harangue someone about money that they owe. On the other hand, most people will cooperate and work with the collector to make payment arrangements when they are treated politely. For these reason, a collector ought to adopt a helpful attitude. As the old saying goes, you kill more flies with honey than vinegar.

When the collector receives a written request from a debtor to verify the debt, then all efforts to collect from the person must be suspended. The debtor must be given verification of the debt. If verification is not provided, the person's credit reports must have the item either removed or flagged as disputed. Both the creditor and the debtor must be notified in writing that the debt was unable to be verified.

Time-Barred debts must be recognized. After a certain period of time a debt can no longer be collected. This time period is based on the statute of limitations, which is different from state to state. A debtor can not be sued for an obligation that is time-barred.

One of the biggest problem in the industry currently is identity theft. The popularity of the internet has made this crime easier to commit. Part of the process of determining if an obligation is valid is finding out if there has been identity fraud. Everyone should review a copy of their credit reports from time to time to make sure their identity is safe.

The telephone is the primary method that a collector uses to communicate with a consumer. Some unethical collectors have used the telephone as a tool to harass and annoy debtors. Collectors are not permitted to make frequent phone calls in a continuous manner. Debtors can only be contacted via phone between eight in the morning and nine in the evening. Telling a person that they will be sued if they do not pay by the end of the day, or that they have violated tax laws and will go to prison, can be a possible violation of federal law.

Contacting employers, neighbors, friends co-workers, and family friends in an attempt to alert them that the consumer has unpaid bills is no longer permitted. These types of abusive methods to collect money owed were once common. They are now forbidden by law.

The rules of professional collections state that the collection efforts be done only on valid legal debts. Members of the public must always be treated with utmost respect and courtesy. These industry rules of conduct help create an environment where collectors can work with debtors in a friendly way to establish reasonable payment plans.




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