Finance Matters

Posts Tagged ‘Collecting Debts’

By Jules Price

Every man and his dog either seem to be in debt or owed money these days so is it any wonder that debt collection has evolved with the times to offer people comprehensive services with a few clicks of a mouse button. What comes to your mind when you think of debt collection agencies? Perhaps you imagine a cartoon stereotype gangster knocking on your door, instrument of destruction in hand ready to bully you into submission or remove your belongings without any prior warning.

Regardless of which side of the fence you happen to fall on, either the debt collector or the debtor it must be reassuring to know that this Hollywood type image is not actually the norm and that some debt collection agencies are in reality far more user friendly.

A relatively new way of collecting debts is to possibly use an online debt collection agency, which often offer to remove all the of the complications and hidden costs, instead doing all of the collecting for you and taking part of the eventual collection as their fee. Peace of mind can result from knowing its being taken care of for you and that you wont rack up huge legal bills and still not get your debt recovered.

As an individual or as a business these online debt collection agencies offer up new avenues for recouping owed money as they can take a step back with confidence knowing that their issues are being dealt with professionally and privately whilst still being kept informed of each step in proceedings. Offering full support and a wide range of services(e.g. debtor tracing, credit checking) within the debt collection field, with varying but clear and simple pricing structures, these debt collection agencies are specifically designed to provide stress free solutions to an ever growing problem.

Some debt collection agencies have already had great success in collecting debts within twenty four hours of the initial sign up and claim to have successful debt collection rates as high as 85 per cent.

It appears that as the world spins and spirals into debt, collecting of personal or business debts need no longer be as daunting as they once were thanks to the many online debt collection agencies that are springing up.

In these days of credit crunch and an epidemic of debt it is easy to see why more people are turning their attention to online debt collection agencies.

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Debt settlement typically operates wherein the client stops making payments to his creditors directly. Moreover, most of the debt settlement companies suggest their clients not to speak to their creditors directly. However, collection companies and creditors keep calling and “harassing” debt settlement clients and often tell them how “bad” a debt settlement program is in order to keep collecting debts, and creditors usually don’t stop calling until they are paid, getting payments, or forced to stop calling by some legal mechanism.

Before we proceed further, it is important to know about FDCPA (Fair Debt Practices Collection Act).

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is an Act which creates guidelines under which debt collectors may conduct business, defines rights of consumers involved with debt collectors, and prescribes penalties and remedies for violations of the Act. Its purposes are to eliminate abusive practices in the collection of consumer debts, to promote fair debt collection and to provide consumers with an avenue for disputing and obtaining validation of debt information in order to ensure the information’s accuracy.

FDPCA is a federal law which protects clients from being called too late or too early or at specific times of the day, being threatened with harm, from relatives or neighbors being called, being verbally abused etc. Clients also have an option to tell creditors or collection companies to not call them at work or call their cell phone as these could cause unjust harm to client’s finances. Clients can also request in writing not receiving any calls at all, using a “cease and desist” letter.

FDCPA has certain uncovered areas:

1. FDCPA is only applicable to collection agencies and some debts are held for long periods of time by original creditors.

2. Collection agencies use a variety of techniques to not comply with the FDCPA. To name some, ignoring it altogether! Cease and desist letters are often ignored as well and the phone keeps on ringing. Unless the client has an ability to either record calls or hire an attorney or maintain a strict log of violations and calls, these violations will continue unabated.

A new service provided by DAAN group utilizing a new technology solves the problems described here. The technology allows for calls to be immediately routed to a law firm which monitors FDCPA violations and forwards the calls to the correct debt settlement company. The technology is easily installed into any home phone, the most problematic source of creditor phone calls. Over time, with correct usage of the DAAN technology, creditors typically find themselves no other outlet than to settle with the intermediary company.

There are few debt settlement companies that provide DAAN services to their clients. This helps the clients manage collection calls and live a peaceful life. Always make sure your debt settlement company offers you protection from collection calls.