How to Recover Leased Equipment Safely

If someone says debt recovery, what’s the first thing your mind goes to? If you’re like most people, you probably think of liquid cash recovery. And it’s true, plenty of businesses enlist our help to recover bills, rent, and other overdue money.

But in reality, there’s no one-size-fits-all recovery solution to every debt problem. Sometimes, it’s not money you’re owed, it’s equipment. Or it could be both. As a professional leasing company, an account becomes delinquent if a customer stops paying your equipment rental fee, or they fail to return the items they hired.

You don’t want to be the bad guy, but you need your equipment returned if you expect to keep your doors open. You deserve to collect past due rental payments. More still, you deserve to recoup the cost of repairing outstanding equipment that comes back broken.

If it’s long past the time since your customer was supposed to return something on their own, don’t wait any longer. Now is the perfect opportunity to connect with a commercial collection agency like Summit A*R. As one of the top commercial collection agencies in the U.S., we’re confident we can help you repossess overdue equipment.  

What is Repossession?

Repossession happens when a lessor (or creditor) takes possession of the property when the lessee (or debtor) fails to make payments or returns the asset by the date specified in a contract.

This contract outlines when and how a lessor can jumpstart the repossession process, but it may begin as soon as the account goes into delinquency. At this point, it’s a good idea to get a commercial collection agency involved to reclaim the overdue equipment.

You have a right to recover your equipment, but common repossession tactics carried out by repo men aren’t the way to go about it. These individuals aren’t highly trained professionals who understand the nuances of challenging debt recovery. They’re bullies for hire who aren’t afraid to resort to deception, intimidation, or outright violence to get their bounty.

In many cases, repo men are hired on a contingency basis, which means they won’t get paid until they successfully repossess the asset. This gives them the incentive to do whatever it takes to recover equipment. And that’s why you end up reading news stories of repossessions gone wrong, where repo men sneak around at night, break into homes and businesses, or even start fistfights with the debtor.

As an equipment leasing professional, the last thing you want is for your equipment recovery to get physical. It reflects badly on your business, and it could put people into harm’s way. You could also be held liable should a repossession violate the rights of the individual.

Why take that risk when there are safe and ethical collection programs available?

Equipment Recovery with a P.H.D.

Repossessions have a bad rap. Their reliance on robo-calls, physical threats, and other aggressive tactics fray the relationships you’ve worked hard to build, and they can cause irreparable damage to your reputation should word get out.

Here at Summit A*R, we do things a bit differently. We never resort to underhanded tactics that could harm someone, nor do we use aggressive language to intimidate people. These debt recovery campaigns are high-risk strategies that offer very little payoff. They rarely yield the results you expect.

That’s why we approach every equipment recovery account with our P.H.D. philosophy at the back of our minds. Short for “Preserve Human Dignity,” it’s our promise to collect debt with integrity, professionalism, and compassion.

Our debt recovery experts handle each account with the sensitivity and dignity it deserves, allowing us to recover equipment without alienating your customers.

We Have the Resources for Tough Cases

A courteous approach to commercial debt recovery works most of the time, but we’re fully prepared should your customer turn out to be stubborn. Our long-term staff of licensed collection professionals have access to resources that help us recover even the most challenging debt.

• Comprehensive Skip Tracing. When your customer skips town and takes your equipment with them, we can efficiently locate your debtor. Our comprehensive skip tracing team has access to the leading locate databases, ensuring our locate rates are greater than agencies that rely on free searches. And best of all, our skip tracing solutions are available at no extra cost.
• Credit Bureau Reporting. As a nationwide commercial collection agency, we can report delinquent accounts to the three major credit bureaus. We find stubborn customers are more likely to return overdue equipment when they know their credit rating could drop significantly if they fail to pay up. Turning over debts to the credit bureaus is something that your in-house collections department can’t do that we offer for free.
• Full-Service Litigation. Our licensed private investigators complete a thorough financial investigation to determine if legal action makes sense. If it does, we connect you with an attorney to pursue difficult-to-collect equipment in the courts.
• Accounts Receivable Consulting. Our experienced account receivable management professionals can help you maximize your A/R cycle’s efficiency. We can help you prevent customer delinquency and write-offs by giving your backend processes some TLC, increasing cash flow while retaining customers.

We’ve Got Your Back

Here at Summit A*R, we understand that the equipment leasing industry is unique, requiring a nuanced approach to collecting debt. Our P.H.D. philosophy helps us navigate equipment leasing recovery now more than ever.

While many states around the country begin to reopen gradually, the effects of the outbreak will likely continue to impact your business for months to come. We’re monitoring all local, state, and federal laws closely to ensure we understand how they apply to commercial debt recovery during the outbreak.

Whether you lease office furniture, delivery cars, or excavators for industrial use, we can pivot our courteous debt recovery style to your industry so that we can recover bad debt successfully.

Our team of seasoned debt specialists offers a personalized approach that works. How else could we boast a no-complaint policy and an A+ Rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB)?

If you’re tired of waiting on overdue equipment, contact us today to learn how our debt collection agency can help recover your assets and get your cash free-flowing again.