The Process Of Debt Collection
There are various types of debt collection. There is first party, which means that money is directly owed to a company that has provided a loan, service, or product, and third party collections, which means another company has bought the debt and will attempt to collect the money owed.
When a consumer gets approved from a business for a service, loan, or product that is to be paid with payments in the future, a debt is created. A lot of companies require a credit application to be filled out to check the financial background of the customer. On an approved application, an account will be opened and the business relationship begins.
Taking loans from financial institutions, such as a bank or credit union, buying a new car or home, and using credit cards are a few ways to incur debt. All of these situations require calculated payments to be made on an agreed time frame.
If a person qualifies for the product, service or loan, a payment plan is usually written out on a contract or agreement and signed by the customer. There are several different payment plans that can range from weekly payments, bi-weekly, bi-monthly, and monthly. It is the responsibility of the customer to maintain all payments until the total amount owed has been paid. Anytime a payment is missed, the account is generally going to be sent to the collections department to initiate contact with the account owner.
First party companies collect for themselves and have their own policies and procedures for the collections process. Third party agencies collect for the company that the money is owed to, and must therefore follow the laws set forth to protect debtors from abusive or harassing bill collectors. These laws are defined by the FDCPA-Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.
Once contact has been made with the debtor, a “talk off” takes place, this is when the collector will negotiate with the customer to come to an arrangement on when another payment will be sent in to the company. However, an agreement is not always made and the account that was past due, remains unsatisfied.
Debt collection is successful when a payment arrangement has been made between the collector and the account owner. If the payment does not come in as promised, then collection efforts start up again, if the payment is made as promised, the account is no longer in collections and is back in good standing with the company.
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