The Skinny On Debt Collectors

Debt collectors, or bill and account collectors’ job is to try to collect payment on bills that are overdue. Many debt collectors are hired by third party collection companies. The creditor, or the business or company that is owed the debt, will often hire outside of the company; especially if their accounts receivable department is small.

Other collectors work straight for the original creditors; these people are known as in house collectors. Generally these are finance-based businesses like mortgage and credit card companies, health care providers or utility companies.

No matter what entity they work for, the goals of debt collectors are the same. First, they’re called upon to locate people or businesses that are in debt, and let them know that they are delinquent. Usually this will be over the phone, but sometimes they send letters.

When debtors (people in debt) move without leaving a forwarding address, bill collectors might check with telephone companies, the post office, credit bureaus and former neighbors to get the new address. This practice is called “skip tracing.” They will utilize computer systems to automatically track when companies or people change their contact information or addresses on any of their open accounts.

Once the bill collectors locate debtors they tell them about the delinquent accounts and request payment. If it’s needed, they will go over the terms of sale, or credit contracts. A good bill collector is a sneaky one. They’ll probably use their listening skills to try to figure out the cause of the delinquency.

Usually, they will have the authority to offer a repayment plan or some other aid to make it easier for people to pay off the money that they owe. Sometimes they are able to find solutions to the financial problem. They may even give useful advice or refer people to debt counselors.

Mallory Megan works for a debt collection agency. She also composes articles on business, finance, consumer spending and collection agencies.

A Brief Explanation of Bankruptcy And A List Of DONT’S Part 1

Let’s face it, filing for bankruptcy is a big deal. It\’s the most extreme of all financial makeovers, and financial analysts continue to warn us that it should be a last resort that should not be entered into without knowing what you are doing.

Bankruptcy is etched onto your credit report for a full ten years. One decade. And without an adequate credit report, it can put a damper on your ability to obtain a car, living situation or employment. If you are filing, do your best to plan for your bankruptcy.

In the U.S., there are five chapters of bankruptcy that you can file for. The most common form is Chapter 7. A trustee will collect non-exempt property and will sell it and distribute the proceeds to the creditors. Chapter nine is a bankruptcy that is only available to municipalities. It’s pretty much a form of reorganization, not liquidation.

Chapter eleven, twelve, and thirteen are more involved because under these chapters, the debtor gets to keep some or all of her property while they use her future earnings to pay off the debt. Most consumers file chapter seven or chapter 13. Chapter 11 filings are mostly for businesses, individuals are allowed, but are rare. Chapter twelve is similar to Chapter 13 but is only available to “family farmers” and “family fisherman” in certain situations.

And now its time for the list of bankruptcy DON’Ts.

First off, don’t use your credit cards once you’ve made this decision. It’s just a bad idea to incur even more debt that you don’t intent to repay. It makes you look suspicious, and you could lose your right to cancel out the debt in the bankruptcy. Thing is, there were bankruptcy reforms in 2005 that lowers the threshold on so called luxury purchases to five hundred dollars and extended the abuse period to ninety days before filing. Anything you buy in this period will be under extra scrutiny.

Mallory McGuinness works for a collection agency. She also writes articles on business, finance, the credit industry and debt collection.