What Is A Collection Company Pt. 2
How the debtor reacts to the demand will affect what additional notices (if any) the agency will select from its library depending on this reaction. Resolution that is voluntarily made (e.g. making payment arrangements and/or partial payments) may result in letters with a gentler tone. Deceptive or belligerent reactions from the debtor may result in a more threatening tone.
Collectors try to initiate a feeling of urgency, in an attempt to collect the debt within the shortest amount of time. Hopefully, this will encourage the debtor to prioritize that particular obligation. Deadlines may be set, such as, Pay this amount within 10 days. There may also be threats, such as, …Or we will proceed with further collection attempts. But most of the time, if a debtor fails to meet the deadline, all that will happen is that yet another dunning letter will arrive, making the same basic demand. The & further collection action usually just means more dunning letters.
Collection letters might usually attempt to coax the debtor to call the collection company directly on the phone If the debtor doesn’t call within thirty days, then a collector will usually attempt to contact the debtor again.
What are the phone calls like? Individual telephone collectors might be assigned a group of accounts, and spend their entire workday, every day, calling them. Their rigorous follow up can be attributed to performance evaluations and personal commission payments. The amount of a collector’s own paycheck is dependent upon how much money s/he extracts from debtors. Between that factor, and the relentless confrontations, this is a very high-stress job, with high employee turnover.
If a debt collector calls and reaches someone other than the debtor (e.g. a friend), s/he is legally prohibited from disclosing That this is an attempt to collect a debt. Every state is different but this may or may not include the debtor’s spouse. If the collector reaches an answering machine or voice mail, s/he will often leave a FDCPA approved message, but is prohibited from giving details for the call, since someone besides the debtor might hear it. The basic message goes something like, “I am calling for Jane Doe. It is extremely important that you call me back. My name is JR Rooney, and my number is 1-631-999-9999.” S/he will generally sound rather unemotional and stiff. Debt collection agencies might be required to provide a phone number which is free for the debtor to call. They also may attach their toll free numbers to caller ID equipment which instantly identifies and logs the phone number the debtor is calling from, in order to call the debtor at that number at a later date.
Mallory McGuinness works for a collections agency that works with a debt collection lawyer. She also writes articles on business, finance, the credit industry and collections agencies.
