Credit Repair Myths and Facts

Written by Jason A. Martin


Continued from page 1

Typically, mortgage lenders will require delinquent accounts be cured but this won’t improve your score.

Myth: You must pay any bill that comes to your home from a collection agency.

Underrepparttar law you haverepparttar 111986 right to challengerepparttar 111987 legitimacy of any bill sent to you—it is called validation. By sending a validation letter to a collection agency they must, by law, cease all collection activities until they can validaterepparttar 111988 debt. It is important to noterepparttar 111989 word is validation and not verification which mean two entirely different things. Validation means they must submit to you proofrepparttar 111990 bill is yours, which is not a simply an invoice sent to you. Until that is properly done, they can not reportrepparttar 111991 item to your credit report, ask you for money or do anything which can be deemed further collection activity. Do they anyway? Yes they do. This is why it is important to knowrepparttar 111992 law, which is on your side.

It is vital that you check your credit report often as most individuals have erroneous data in them. Don’t assume that everything will work as it should because it almost never does. No one will be looking out for your credit identity but you. Credit standing has never been more necessary than it is today. Just about everything we do in life from applying for a job to booking a hotel room has something to do with our credit worthiness.

American Consumer Group, a non-profit organization, has set up a free credit repair site with allrepparttar 111993 information mentioned in this article. Go educate yourself and spreadrepparttar 111994 word.

This article is copyright Jason Andrew Martin LLC.



This article is copyright Jason Andrew Martin LLC.

Jason A. Martin has been conducting business on the Internet for 11 years. He is a free-lance writer on many topics and is currently working on obtaining a degree in Journalism and Law.

His blog is displayed at: Jason A. Martin




Best Practices: In House Consumer Collections

Written by The Collector


Continued from page 1

7] Keep Accurate And Timely Payment Records

Once a new consumer customer is accepted on credit, it is vitally important to maintain accurate and timely records on their payment history. If you see any deviation from past payment patterns, and especially if payments become unusually slow, immediate follow-up is warranted. This not only gives you an early alert to impending payment problems, it also gives yourepparttar chance for early intervention if there is an outside influence.

8] Followrepparttar 111985 Collection Laws in Your State

In many states, businesses are governed byrepparttar 111986 same collection laws as are collection agencies. For example, calling customers at an odd hour or disclosing to a third party that they owe you money are just a couple ofrepparttar 111987 numerous collection practices that can cause serious repercussions. If you're not sure, call your state's department of finance which governs and monitors collection agencies. Click Here for a summary ofrepparttar 111988 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

9] Use a Third Party Sooner

If you've systematically pursued your delinquent consumer accounts for 60 to 90 days fromrepparttar 111989 due date, (and they still haven't paid) you're being delivered a message by your client. More than likely, you've requested payment four to six times inrepparttar 111990 form of phone calls, letters and statements. Statistics show that after 90 days,repparttar 111991 effect of in-house collection efforts wears off 80%". That means thatrepparttar 111992 time and financial resources budgeted for consumer collection efforts should be focused withinrepparttar 111993 first 90 days whererepparttar 111994 bulk of your consumer accounts can and should be collected. From that point on, a third party can motivate a consumer customer to pay in ways you cannot, simply becauserepparttar 111995 demand for payment is coming from someone other than you. Before paying a percentage to a consumer collection agency, or using small claims court or an attorney, check into using a fixed flat fee collection service.

10] Admit And Correct Any Mistakes On Your Part

Sometimes your consumer customers do not pay because they feel you have made a mistake. Unfortunately, many consumer customers believe that "the owner/president doesn't needrepparttar 111996 money". Denying an obvious error only fansrepparttar 111997 fire of resentment your customer may already feel. Ifrepparttar 111998 basis ofrepparttar 111999 non-payment is a dispute overrepparttar 112000 quality of your product or service, a mutually agreeable settlement between you andrepparttar 112001 customer should be arrived at promptly. The consumer customer may use a minor dispute to withhold substantial payment. Insist thatrepparttar 112002 undisputed portion get paid immediately, indicatingrepparttar 112003 balance will be negotiated. This will not only help to collect payment payment, it showsrepparttar 112004 consumer customer that you are listening to his or her concerns.

11] Remember that Nobody Collects Every Account

Even by setting up and adhering to a specific consumer collection plan, there are a few consumer accounts that will never be collected. By identifying these accounts early, you will save yourself and your company a great deal of time and money. Even though a few may slip by, you'll find that overallrepparttar 112005 number of slow pay and nonpaying consumer accounts will greatly diminish, and that's a victory in itself!

Courtesy of http://www.collectionagencyservices.net

An advocate for small business.


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