Here Is What an Ethical Debt Collection Agency Can and Can’t Do

Here Is What an Ethical Debt Collection Agency Can and Can’t Do

You can improve your accounts receivable ratio by refining your invoicing process, offering credit to customers more selectively, and incentivizing early payments. However, a business of any size and from any industry can suffer from delinquent accounts. It’s a part of doing business.

Instead of writing off debt, many businesses partner with a debt collection agency to recover their revenue. Choosing the right one is crucial. At Summit A*R, we offer a wide selection of debt collection services – including medical, dental, commercial, consumer, and more. In each industry, we treat consumers with dignity and respect.

Nearly eight thousand debt collection agencies operating in the United States alone. Although the vast majority are good and ethical businesses, some resort to ill-advised tactics to collect your revenue.

As a business, it’s in your best interest to use a collection agency that avoids using poor practices for a variety of reasons.

• Even if partnering with an unethical agency helps recover your revenue, it’s bad karma for your company.
• Poor collection practices may dent your reputation. In the digital age, negative information can easily go viral and hurt consumer and investor confidence.
• Poor collection practices can also hurt the important business relationships that you’ve carefully developed.

Moreover, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has passed the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which forbids agencies from acting immorally. Ignoring the FDCPA can result in legal trouble. Some agencies have been fined and blacklisted. It’s in your best interest to avoid partnering with such agencies.

There are several practices a debt collection agency must avoid.

• Harassment: While debt collection agencies can contact a customer, they must not harass them. Calling every hour, sending 100 demand letters in a day, or visiting their workplace, family, or friends to humiliate them are bad practices.
• Swearing: Cussing at customers is strictly prohibited as is threatening them with bodily harm.
• Misrepresentation: Pretending to be someone you’re not is also not allowed.
• Robocalls: It’s illegal to call a customer using a prerecorded message. Computerized dialing systems used to call debtors every few hours, sometimes in the middle of the night, are illegal.  
• Sleep deprivation: Debt collectors may only call a customer at reasonable hours, usually between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Calling in the middle of the night to harass a customer is illegal.

We don’t swear at customers nor do we harass them. We also don’t use robocalls. And we never misrepresent ourselves. We don’t need to because our name carries weight in the debt collection industry. Usually, customers respond positively to us because of our reputation.

As an ethical commercial debt collection agency, we take the same approach when recovering revenue from other businesses. After all, human beings work at these businesses and deserved to be treated with respect.

It’s a misconception that unethical practices work. We are proud to have twice the national recovery rate. Instead of using shady tactics we use a stern but friendly approach. When you give us an account, we begin our campaign of phone calls and official demand letters. This is enough to convince most debtors and businesses to pay off their debts.

We have the power to report debtors to the major credit bureaus unlike the collection department of your company. Both businesses and consumers want to avoid this because it can affect their ability to perform financial transactions.

Most customers are good people who want to pay off their debts. If they’re unable to clear their dues, then we use our skilled negotiation tactics to find them a way.  

It’s best to begin the debt recovery process at the first sign of trouble. Statistics show that debt grows harder to recover with time. You can call us, email us, or request a callback through our website if you want to get in touch with us for help with a customer who isn’t responding to your invoices. We will recover your revenue while preserving your reputation and maintaining your relationship with your client.

Over the years, Summit A*R has also recovered some particularly difficult debts. Don’t write off a debt if you’ve been unable to collect it. Give us a chance. We can even find customers who have crossed state lines with our excellent skip tracing department. It’s led by an experienced private investigator. We have a better find rate than other collection agencies.

We can locate debtors and their assets even if they’ve crossed state lines. Remember, laws vary from state to state. If you suspect that your customer is in another state, then partner with a company that’s well-versed in local laws, like Summit A*R.

For particularly stubborn debt, we can also pursue legalaction. Our full-Scale litigation program is available after our investigators perform a cost-benefit analysis. If it’s feasible to take the matter to court, we approach you for written authorization and an upfront payment of the legal costs. However, if you don’t wish to file a lawsuit, your account is returned to the pre-legal queue where our recovery team renews its efforts.

When we say that we’re the real deal, we mean it. We can help you without damaging your company’s reputation or harassing delinquent customers. You can visit our website to read some of the hand-written testimonials from our clients. You’ll also find feedback from debtors who were happy to have been treated fairly by Summit A*R.

You can tell that we’re a top debt collection agency from our affiliations. With over 28 years in the business as licensed and bonded debt collectors, we have developed close reputations from some renowned organizations.

This includes the Better Business Bureau (BBB). We are honored to have the A+ rating from them. To get an A+ rating you must have at least 97 points. You must also stay compliant, reduce the complaint volume by focusing on customer service, respond to complaints, cooperate quickly with the BBB, and monitor your points.

We take these steps to maintain our A+ rating because we believe in being honorable. If you need to recover your revenue from a debtor, then don’t just trust anyone. Partner with a company like Summit A*R that can get the job done ethically and legally.